Boys’ playoff hoop highlights: Northwestern’s Mason Grigg scores 1,000, Clover cruises

Several high school basketball teams in The Herald’s coverage area played in the first round of the state playoffs on Wednesday night.

Here’s what you need to know.

Mason Grigg fuels Northwestern past Gaffney, 83-40

ROCK HILL — The Northwestern Trojans moved to the second round of the 5A playoffs with an 83-40 rout of the Gaffney Indians at Northwestern on Wednesday night.

The Trojans played great defense, placed four players in double figures and finished the game with 14 makes from 3-point range.

Mason Grigg led the scoring parade with 22 points. Qua Allison followed with 18, Matthew White contributed a dozen and A. J. Thompson scored 10.

“We punched them in the mouth to start the game,” said Northwestern head coach John Bramlett. “Our defense was great. That is the best we have played on defense all year.”

The Trojans stormed out of the gate for a 7-0 lead in just more than two minutes. After Thompson opened the scoring with a free throw, White and Allison started the 3-point barrage to complete the run.

Northwestern continued the assault. Thompson and Grigg made layups, and it was 11-0 with 2:19 remaining in the opening period. Gaffney got its first score with 2:01 to go in the quarter, but the Trojans ran off the final seven points to take a commanding 18-2 lead at the end of the period.

The second quarter was more of the same. When the clock read 4:12 to play until halftime, Northwestern was in front 32-9. The defensive pressure, the transition game and the hot shooting continued, and the Trojans took a 50-17 lead at halftime. Northwestern had nine baskets from behind the arc in the first half.

The Trojans opened the second half with a 12-2 run for a 62-19 advantage with 4:07 left in the third quarter. When the session was over, Northwestern led 68-24.

The Trojans began substituting freely in the early part of the fourth period. The last of the starters to leave was Grigg. He stayed in the game until he made a pair of free throws with 5:48 to play. When he made the first of the two charity tosses, he reached the 1,000 point mark for his career.

When he made the second one, the Trojans were in front 75-30.

“We got another excellent team effort tonight,” added Bramlett. “Our defense created a lot of turnovers, which created a lot of transition baskets for us.”

The 3-point shooting was the best the Trojans have turned in all season, but it was not an accident.

“We work on 3-point shooting every day in practice,” added Bramlett. “Quite a few of our players work even more on their shooting after practice every day.”

The Trojans are 23-4 and will take their fourteen game winning streak against the Spartanburg in the second round on Saturday night at Northwestern.

“It does not get any easier,” said Bramlett. “Every time you advance to the next round you get another quality opponent. We just have to put this outstanding performance tonight behind us and get ready for the next opponent.”

— Sam Copeland

‘We played with a chip on our shoulder’: Clover cruises

CLOVER – Firing on all cylinders, the Clover Blue Eagles dominated the sixth-ranked Byrnes Rebels to open the 5A boys’ basketball playoffs with a 73-51 win.

Both teams opened the playoffs with identical records at 18-8, but that was where the similarities ended. Clover, now 19-8 overall, was coming off a second-place finish in Region 3-5A, while Byrnes, who finished the season 18-9, finished third in Region 2-5A.

However, Clover’s strength and home court advantage was important early, as the team’s offense was the best it had been all season, according to head coach Bailey Jackson. Things won’t get any easier for Clover now as they are scheduled to face second-ranked Irmo in the second round Feb. 22 on the road.

“Our guys were focused,” Jackson said. “We played with a chip on our shoulder.”

Clover was led by Markus Nastase and Dom Campo. Nastase had 23 points and Campo added 20 in the win. Donavon Fitzgerald added 10 points for Clover as well. Unofficially, Clover hit 24-of-41 shots from the field and went 17-of-24 from the foul line.

The Blue Eagles opened the game on a 12-3 run. The majority of those points came from down on the block as Clover used its size to its advantage. Another thing that helped Clover was six first-quarter turnovers by Byrnes.

Clover slowed the pace in the second quarter, while Byrnes tightened things up defensively. The Rebels matched Clover shot for shot early on, but Byrnes also struggled in converting its opportunities, despite getting multiple second chances to score. Byrnes hit just 4-of-14 shots in the second quarter.

The Blue Eagles broke through the Byrnes’ defense during the latter portions of the second quarter and started to hit 3-pointers to widen their lead. Clover drained four of six 3-point attempts in the quarter, with three of them coming from Nastase, who had 12 points at the half as the Blue Eagles led 38-19.

Byrnes started pressuring the ball more to open the second half. Clover was able to stay focused and get to the basket, while the Rebels started chipping away at the Blue Eagles lead.

The Rebels cut the Clover lead to 15 at 44-29, with about four minutes left in the third quarter. The Blue Eagles aided that with multiple turnovers, coughing the ball up more times — six — than it did in the first half. The frustration grew for Byrnes as the team’s complaints to the residing officials got the team a warning.

Clover took a 14-point lead into the fourth quarter as Byrnes struggled to gain any ground. When the Rebels cut that lead to 10, the Blue Eagles would come up with a much needed 3-pointer. Byrnes started sending Clover to the foul line early on in the final quarter, where the Blue Eagles converted the majority of them, as they sunk nine of 12 shots from the charity stripe in the final period.

The Blue Eagles went up by 22 at 67-45 with four minutes left in the game and cruised the rest of the way without any trouble.

— Mac Banks (mbanks@comporium.net, @MacBanksFM)

Rest of Wednesday’s high school scoreboard

• South Pointe traveled to Wren and lost in heartbreaking fashion. After being up 12 at the half, Wren came back and ultimately won, 56-55.

• Rock Hill fell to Mauldin on the road, 70-57, to close out its season.

• Andrew Jackson defeated the St. Joseph Knights on Wednesday, 51-35. The Volunteers will play Southside Christian on Saturday at home.

• Lancaster fell to Travelers Rest, 75-60, on Wednesday night, ending the Bruins’ season.

• Lewisville fell to Fox Creek on Wednesday night, 78-69.

Of the boys’ basketball teams in the Tri-County, only Great Falls, Andrew Jackson, Clover and Northwestern remain in a state title chase. Second round games are on Friday and Saturday.

This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 10:42 PM.