‘We go’: Great Falls boys’ basketball stays hot. Here’s your preps roundup.

It seemed to be only a matter of time.

At a point early in the second quarter, Great Falls boys’ basketball head coach Alex Fair looked up at the scoreboard in the Catawba Ridge gymnasium in Fort Mill on Monday night and probably didn’t like what he saw. His Red Devils, a group of 10 on Monday night because starting guard DJ Adams was in a boot, were caught in an unexpectedly close game, up 21-15.

But then, in what seemed like the blink of an eye, Great Falls went on a 13-0 run to end the half and didn’t look back. Its 67-37 triumph over Catawba Ridge was its sixth straight win. Kelton Talford led the Red Devils with 17 points. He was joined in double figures by Kell Brown and Nywun Cloud with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

After the game Coach Fair told the Herald that the key behind the game-changing run was “refocusing.”

“We were kind of sluggish and were not playing our style of defense,” Fair said. “So I talked to them, went back over the gameplan, and we were able to go on a run right before halftime and have a little bit of success playing defense the way we’re supposed to play.”

Talford, Great Falls’ 6-7 forward, said that his team’s up-tempo, baseline-to-baseline defense wears down his team’s opponents.

“We don’t run that many sets,” Talford said. “We just push the ball. You gotta run with us... We go.”

The Red Devils have proven that they can win every way imaginable thus far this season: Recently, on Friday, they ripped off a Friday night win in York, 64-62. And on Saturday, they downed C.A. Johnson, 80-28.

Check out the rest of the sports news around the area here.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Fort Mill tops Geelong

The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets defeated the Geelong Supercats (Australia), 61-47, in a non-region game Monday night at Fort Mill.

The Jackets led 20-11 after one period and took a 31-21 lead to the dressing room at halftime. When the third quarter was in the books, they were in front 46-32, and the two teams played on even terms in the final eight minutes.

Keyan Mims led Fort Mill with 11 points. Liam Walsh-Orenstein added 11, and Jordan Herman chipped in 10.

The Jackets are 8-4 on the year.

Clover opens with two wins

The Clover Blue Eagles began the second half of the campaign with a pair of non-region home wins.

They defeated Lugoff-Elgin 67-58 last Thursday night and beat Bluffton 63-41 on Friday night.

Clover led 30-27 at intermission against Lugoff-Elgin. They were in front 43-39 after three periods, and they pulled away down the stretch for the win.

Donovon Fitzgerald led the way with 18 points. Noah Caulder and Dom Campo joined him in double figures with 16 and 14 respectively.

The Blue Eagles used a solid second half performance to pull way and record the victory over Bluffton.

Clover is 9-4 overall on the year.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

Clover wins twice

The Clover Blue Eagles opened the second half of the season with a pair of one-sided non-region victories.

They toppled Lugoff-Elgin 67-25 at Clover last Thursday night and followed with a 57-24 win over the Catawba Ridge Copperheads at home this past Friday night.

Against Lugoff-Elgin, the Blue Eagles raced to an 18-6 lead after one period and never let up. They were in front 40-10 at halftime and cruised from there for the win.

Aylesha Wade the way with a dozen points. Marianna Ballard and Janelle Carter added eleven points each.

The Blue Eagles led 17-15 after one period against Catawba Ridge. A solid second period left them with a 31-17 advantage at halftime. They pulled away in the second half to secure the win.

Wade led the way with 19 points and nine assists. La’Destiny Worthy chipped in six points and hauled down a game-high nine rebounds.

Clover is 13-1 on the year.

South Pointe topples Nation Ford

The South Pointe Stallions defeated the Nation Ford Falcons 73-49 in a non-region contest at Nation Ford this past Friday night.

Trinity Adams led the charge for the Stallions with 23 points. Jamia Blake added 17 and Randi Neal tossed in 11.

The Stallions are 10-0 on the year.

Catawba Ridge routs Great Falls

The Catawba Ridge Copperheads routed the Great Falls Red Devils 63-16 in a non-region game at Catawba Ridge Monday night.

The Copperheads raced to a 21-2 lead after one quarter and never let up. They led 36-4 at halftime and coasted from there for the one-sided victory.

Catawba Ridge is 8-5 on the year.

WRESTLING

The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets turned in a 5-0 record and won the Pirate Duals at Porter Ridge on Saturday.

High School Blitz All-Star game

The East squad defeated the West squad, 21-7, in the inaugural High School Blitz All-Star game at Broome High School last Saturday afternoon.

Stan Mills of Chester got the East started when he scored a touchdown with 4:16 remaining until halftime.

The score stayed that way until intermission. The East tacked on two more scores for a 21-0 cushion, before the West got its only score of the contest.

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.