An 18-point comeback. A halfcourt shot to force OT. Relive Clover coach’s 300th win here.

Clover’s Cory Adams received the ball with just over four seconds left in the game, took a few dribbles near to the right of the court in front of the scorer’s table, and heaved up a prayer as the buzzer sounded.

The Clover boys’ basketball team had scored 26 points in the final quarter at this point. They’d nearly erased an 18-point deficit in the Fort Mill High School gym on Wednesday.

Adams’ halfcourt shot, as it hung in the air, could’ve been the end of that story.

But it wasn’t. It ever-so-slightly hit the front rim and nestled through the net. Tie game. Overtime.

Adams was mobbed by his teammates — and in overtime, the Blue Eagles got the job done. The team earned a 60-57 overtime win over Fort Mill, and Clover head coach Bailey Jackson earned his 300th career win.

“When that shot went in,” Jackson said, “I didn’t believe it.”

In overtime, Clover outscored Fort Mill, 5-2, as the Jackets struggled most of the night from the foul line and turned the ball over six times in the fourth quarter. At one point, Fort Mill was up by 18 points, but the Blue Eagles outscored them 29-16 in the final quarter.

“The kid made a good shot,” said Fort Mill’s Dwayne Hartsoe, regarding Adams half-court buzzer beater. “He hit one from 45 feet and we couldn’t hit one from 15 feet. Despite us having played 17 games this season, a lot of our kids haven’t been in these situations. We have got to learn to win games.”

Ironically for Jackson, his 300th win came at Fort Mill against the Yellow Jackets, where he coached for eight of his now-21 seasons. He amassed 128 of his wins there while leading the Jackets to the 4A state championship in the 2006-07 season. Jackson left Fort Mill for Clover, his hometown, after the 2010-11 school year.

“I have got nothing but love for this place,” Jackson said of Fort Mill. “I had a lot of good times here.”

Clover (13-6, 2-1 Region 3-5A) was led by Noah Caulder, who scored 18 points, and Markus Nastase, who scored 16 points in the win. The Jackets (9-8, 0-2 Region 3-5A) were led by Keyan Mims, who scored 17 points, and Jordan Herman, who added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Fort Mill started the fourth quarter with a 13-point lead at 39-26 and scored seven of the first 10 points of the quarter. The Jackets then went cold from the field. Conversely, Clover hit 8-of-15 shots and went 8-for-10 from the foul line.

Fort Mill only managed five shots from the field in the quarter and hit three of them, but struggled at the foul line, hitting just 9-of-14 shots in the quarter. For the game, Fort Mill hit just 13-of-21 from the charity stripe in regulation and then went 2-for-6 in overtime from the foul line as well.

Clover girls a ‘special team’

The No. 1 ranked 5A Clover girls team improved to 18-1 on the season and 3-0 in the region with a 52-33 win over Fort Mill, who fell to 9-8 overall and 0-2 in the region on Wednesday.

Fort Mill put up a fight in the second half, but struggled in the first half, hitting just one shot from the field after the break. Clover carried a 27-8 lead into the half.

Fort Mill rallied in the third quarter, hitting 4-of-13 shots and outscored Clover, 13-10, in the quarter to make the game closer. The Blue Eagles took a 16-point lead into the final quarter at 37-21 when Aylesha Wade took the game into her hands and scored 11 of her 21 points to allow Clover to pull away. Fort Mill was led by Abby Snearly with 10 points.

“Things are going in the right direction for us,” Clover head coach Sherer Hopkins said postgame. “We have some things we need to fix, but I am proud of where we are. This is a special team for sure. We can’t be complacent. We have a lot to get better at.”

Hopkins said she doesn’t think her team is thinking too far ahead down the road.

“We really are taking it day by day,” she said. “When you get to the playoffs — if you get to the playoffs — everyone is 0-0. It’s a whole new season.”

Clover will try to continue its winning ways against Rock Hill on Friday, Jan. 24, while Fort Mill will play host to Northwestern the same day.

Mac Banks: mbanks@comporium.net, @MacBanksFM

This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 10:02 AM.