Catawba Ridge boys cruise to first-round win over Wade Hampton, 81-38

Catawba Ridge never trailed in its 81-38 win over Wade Hampton in the first-round of the 4A boys state playoffs Wednesday night.

The Copperheads got out ahead of Wade Hampton early, leading by as many as 32 in the first half as they went into halftime ahead 44-16.

Catawba Ridge played its usual full-court zone press that forced Wade Hampton into some turnovers in the backcourt, leading to some easy transition points for the Copperheads.

After some admittedly shaky play from his team to close out the regular season, Catawba Ridge head coach Brett Childers was happy to see his team play up to its standard Wednesday.

“I felt like that looked more like us,” he said. “Over the last couple of weeks, like any other region in the state, the games get a little tighter the second time you see somebody or they know what you’re doing, we kind of got bogged down a little bit. We had some fresh legs tonight, we got the ball up the court, our defense was pretty fierce, and that got us going. So that looked more like us.”

The second half went about the same as the first, with Catawba Ridge displaying an efficient offense while preventing Wade Hampton many of the same opportunities.

Sophomores Quh’Mareon Webb (19 points) and Lance Barnes (18 points) and senior Zyan Hager (17 points) led the Copperheads in the dominant performance.

Catawba Ridge (23-3) will play Greenwood at home on Saturday in the second round of the playoffs. This is the first time in program history that the Copperheads have had this luxury, and it’s one Childers will not understate.

“We really hope it helps us a lot,” he said. “Going on the road is a lot tougher in the playoffs. We play well on the road, but we’d prefer to be at home if we can, and that was one of our goals: to make sure we’ve got one, two or even three home games before you get to that next round. That’s going to help us immensely so we don’t have to travel. That was really big on our legs last year, traveling to back-to-back games like that. At least we get one more (home game) and that’s a good thing for us.”

Saturday’s game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m., but may be flexed ahead to 6 p.m. if necessary.

Other first-round scores from tonight

Class 5A Boys

Nation Ford 77, Spartanburg 55

Fort Mill 59, Woodmont 51

T.L. Hanna 62, Clover 60

Byrnes 93, Rock Hill 46

Class 4A Boys

Lancaster 51, Eastside 49

Greer 47, Indian Land 45

Riverside 70, South Pointe 36

Westwood 65, Northwestern 52

Class 3A Girls

Wren 86, Chester 11

Class 2A Girls

Andrew Jackson 89, Edisto 42

Lee Central 53, York Prep 20

Class 1A Boys

Dixie 63, Lewisville 49

McCormick 37, Great Falls 34

This story was originally published February 14, 2024 at 9:30 PM.