Milltown Basketball Classic recap: Fort Mill coach moves to 2nd in all-time wins, and more
In what could become a Thanksgiving tradition, the first-ever Milltown Basketball Classic was filled with a multitude of firsts.
The event was put together by the three head boys basketball coaches for Fort Mill, Nation Ford and Catawba Ridge, and it featured both the boys and girls teams from all three Fort Mill high schools — as well as teams from Cuthbertson, Westwood, Sun Valley and Parkwood.
Both the Westwood Redhawks boys and girls’ teams, along with their JV teams, won the first-ever event, winning all three games against the local teams. The boys’ games were played at Nation Ford, while the girls’ games were played at Fort Mill.
“Myself, Brett (Childers) and coach (Jared) Adamson decided to get together and thought it would be a good idea to partner together right here at Thanksgiving so we can get three games in and not have to travel to do it,” Fort Mill head coach Dwayne Hartsoe said. “It is an event we want to continue on, and we will regroup at the end and see what we can do to make it better in the future.”
Fort Mill boys went 2-1 in the event, which saw teams play three games in three days in a round robin format. Both the Jackets and the Redhawks came into game three with 2-0 records and faced off in what was the event finals. The Jackets fell to the Redhawks, 48-43, despite 17 points from Keyan Mims, who led Fort Mill in scoring.
“We had a bad spell in the fourth quarter,” Hartsoe said. “We turned it over a few times and once we got behind, we had a hard time making shots to catch back up. The kids competed hard and played hard.”
Fort Mill beat Cuthbertson, 61-42, and Sun Valley, 56-55, in the first two days of action.
The win over Sun Valley saw Hartsoe move into second place all-time for most wins by a basketball coach at Fort Mill with 129.
The event also saw the Catawba Ridge boys team pick up its first two wins in program history. In their first ever game, the Copperheads beat Cuthbertson, 50-42, with Luke Krawczyk leading the way with 17 points. Krawczyk scored the first points in boys basketball history with a jumper in the first quarter.
Catawba Ridge also beat Sun Valley on the last day of the Classic, 41-38, and again Krawczyk and teammate Davante Gonzalez led the Copperheads each with 10 points. Sandwiched in between their wins was a lost to Westwood, 70-53.
“We are excited about the prospect of things,” Catawba Ridge head coach Brett Childers said. “Everyday is a learning experience. It is exciting to see some lights come on during these games.”
Nation Ford struggled in the early going of their games and dropped the first two games — falling to Westwood, 60-42, and Sun Valley 50-44, before rebounding against Cuthbertson to win 50-45. In the win against Cuthbertson, the Falcons were led by Caleb Dozier, who scored 14 points, and Petey Tuipulotu, who added 10 points.
“It is still a learning process for our team,” Falcons’ head coach Jared Adamson said. “Every game we talk about getting better. Defensively, I think we were pretty solid.”
Girls results from Milltown Classic
In the girls’ aspect of the Milltown Classic, Catawba Ridge got to the finals, but fell to Westwood 47-36. Both came into the game, 2-0. Like their male counterparts, the Copperheads won their first two games beating Parkwood 41-37 and Sun Valley 41-38.
“We played tough (against Westwood), we just came up short,” said Copperheads’ head coach Kate Edwards.
In Catawba Ridge’s game against Sun Valley, the team was led by Victoria Jordan, who scored 17 points in the win. Jordan scored the first points in girls basketball history for Catawba Ridge when she hit a free throw in the first quarter.
“We are pleased with how we did,” Edwards said. “They are a good group. Emma Grace (Hilton) and Victoria were all over the floor. What I like is that they keep their composure in close games. I respect them so much for that.”
The Nation Ford girls also went 2-1 in the Classic after dropping their first game to Westwood, 63-43. The Falcons bounced back to beat Parkwood, 72-62, and Sun Valley, 79-28.
Kelci Adams led Nation Ford in scoring all three games: She dropped in 13 points against Westwood, and then exploded for 33 points against Parkwood and 22 points against Sun Valley. The wins for Nation Ford were the first two for new head coach Coretta Richmond.
Girls’ host Fort Mill struggled some in the Classic winning their first game against Sun Valley 57-46, but then falling to Westwood, 55-37, and Parkwood, 59-38. The win for Fort Mill was the first for new girls’ head basketball coach Heather Klipa.
“I was excited we finally got to play,” Klipa said. “We had a lot of jitters. I don’t handle losing well. Every night we have the expectation we are going to compete. We want to come out with an attack mentality.”
All six local teams, are back in action next week starting their non-region schedules as Fort Mill host White Knoll, Nation Ford travels to Indian Land and Catawba Ridge travels to York Prep.
Mac Banks: mbanks@comporium.net, @MacBanksFM