HS hoops wrap-up: Region 4-5A boys’ playoff race is bunched

The Region 4-5A boys basketball race is competitive once again this season.

When Tuesday’s games were completed, Nation Ford was in first place with a 3-1 mark. Fort Mill, Northwestern and Clover were all even at 2-2. Rock Hill was 1-3 in region play.

Four of the five teams in the region will make the playoffs, and all five are still in playoff contention. With all of the games in the first half of the season being competitive, it will be another dogfight down the stretch to see who wins the region title and who makes the playoffs.

Nation Ford played three of its four region games on the road, and that means three of the Falcons’ four remaining region contests will be at home.

First-year coach Jared Adamson attributes the Falcons’ success thus far to several factors.

“We have had balanced scoring which makes us hard to defend,” Adamson said. “We also have had different players be the leading scorer, and in some games we have had multiple players in double figures.”

He needs more of the same in the second half of the season.

“We have quick guards,” Adamson said. “We need to utilize their speed, and let that get our transition game going.”

Fort Mill won last year’s region title, but lost five standout players off that team. But the Yellow Jackets are in the thick of things again this time around.

“I have been here six years,” said Fort Mill head coach Dwayne Hartsoe. “We have built a program, and we are beginning to reap the rewards of that.”

Hartsoe credits the success in the first half to a couple of key factors.

“When we can score, we play very well overall,” Hartsoe said. “In the region games that we lost, we did not shoot the ball very well.”

Hartsoe knows the key for his team to be successful down the stretch is consistency with the ball.

“Our team plays hard every time out,” he said. “However, when we play well on offense, that leads to a better defense for us. We need to be consistent on offense in the last four region games.”

Clover is looking for more consistency in the second half.

“We played well overall when we shot the ball well,” said Blue Eagles coach Bailey Jackson. “We need to be more consistent when we go around the region for the second time.”

Jackson knows the importance of every detail in getting the Blue Eagles prepared for a game.

“You cannot take a break, because every play in every game is important,” he said. “We know we will have to play well the second time around to be successful.”

Northwestern is in the middle of the region standings at the halfway mark.

“I like our team chemistry, and we have done a pretty good job of shooting so far,” said Northwestern head coach John Bramlett. “We have been excellent from the free throw line in most of our games.”

He said the Trojans need to execute at both ends of the floor for a successful finish this season.

“We have to keep people out of the paint,” Bramlett said. “We also need to be more consistent on offense and get back to our earlier success from the free throw line.”

Rock Hill is at the bottom of region standings, but the Bearcats are looking at building off their road win at Northwestern on Tuesday.

“That was a huge win for us,” said Rock Hill head coach Eric Rollings. “Our young team is starting to grow up. We lost a couple of very close games the first time around.”

Rollings knows what his team needs to do in the second half of the season.

“We need to keep playing like we did against Northwestern,” he said. “We are getting more scoring from our young players, and that needs to continue.”

All five coaches agreed there’s quality coaching at every school in the region. They said you have to win all of your home games, and steal a road win even though playing on the road is difficult in the region.

They said the region title and playoff berths will not be decided until the final day of the regular season.

“When we won the region last year, it came down to the last game of the season before we knew we had it wrapped up,” Fort Mill’s Hartsoe said. “That is how close it always is in this region.”

Game of the week: Big road win for Lewisville

The Lewisville Lions came up with a huge road win Tuesday night when they defeated the McBee Panthers 53-39.

The win pushed Lewisville to 5-0 in region play and left them with a two-game lead over the rest of the league at the halfway point in region play.

Lewisville head coach Michael McCray credited the win to a total team defensive effort.

“Everybody on our team played defense from the start,” McCray said. “We played both full- and half-court presses, and defense was the key when we broke it open in the third quarter.”

The Lions led 27-19 at halftime, but they turned up the defensive intensity and limited McBee to one field goal and a pair of free throws in the third period.

The win was the first for McCray and five players on his team against McBee in three years.

Midlands schools dominating Region 3-4A

South Pointe, York and Lancaster largely got the best of their three Region 3-4A Midlands counterparts during football season. But Richland Northeast, Westwood and especially Ridge View are returning the favor indoors.

Those three schools are Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the girls’ basketball standings as they take advantage of Ronnie Robinson’s Lancaster team returning to somewhat normalcy after its undefeated state championship run two years ago, the extensive inexperience of Stephanie Butler’s South Pointe team and York’s recent upheaval from coach Marilyn Milton recently resigning. It’s much the same on the boys’ side, though Melvin Watson’s South Pointe team is scrapping in the middle of the standings.

Clover’s Quise Robbins hits career milestone

Clover senior guard Quise Robbins surpassed the 1,000-point career scoring mark on Jan. 13 against Nation Ford.

“Quise has had a tremendous career at Clover High School,” said his coach Bailey Jackson. “He has been named all-region twice, and last year was selected as the region player of the year. This is another great accomplishment for him.”

Local region standings

BOYS

Region 2-A

Region 4-3A

Region 3-4A

Region 4-5A

GIRLS

Region 2-A

Region 4-3A

Region 3-4A

Region 4-5A

This story was originally published January 28, 2017 at 9:12 PM with the headline "HS hoops wrap-up: Region 4-5A boys’ playoff race is bunched."