Fort Mill basketball coach earns career win No. 400 during team’s 6-game winning streak

When the Fort Mill basketball team toppled Boiling Springs last Tuesday, coach Dwayne Hartsoe picked up his 400th career win — a milestone in a career that’s taken the York native from Lancaster, to South Pointe, to now season No. 10 at Fort Mill High School.

“I have been blessed to have some excellent coaches on my staff over the years,” Hartsoe, who has been coaching for 28 years, told The Herald in a recent interview. “I have been privileged to coach some outstanding players. I think this milestone is a credit to what they have done.”

This said, Hartsoe is likely just as happy that his current team is playing well, particularly after getting off to a slow start.

Fort Mill (6-4), after an 0-4 start, is on a six-game winning streak after Monday’s win over York in the MLK Showcase at Clover High School. The current streak includes a pair of region victories.

And as it turns out, the team’s four-game skid to open the season was not quite as bad as it looked: Two of the four games were decided by one point, and a third was decided by four points.

“The players recognized that we were just a play or two away from winning those games,” Hartsoe said. “They never quit playing hard through all of that. They have learned to play together, and they are more comfortable in the system now.”

The Yellow Jackets have seven games remaining on the schedule. They play Clover twice this week, on Wednesday and Friday. After that, they have a pair of contests against both Nation Ford and Gaffney, in addition to a game against cross town rival Catawba Ridge.

The key to continued success is very simple, Hartsoe said.

“We have to take care of the basketball and make good shot selections,” added Hartsoe. “We are not as athletic as some teams. We have to make that up with pressure defense, good team work and being in the right place at the right time.”

Fort Mill’s lineup

Fort Mill has 13 players on this year’s team. Five are seniors, and six juniors and a pair of sophomores round out the roster.

Fort Mill counts on quite a few players on both ends of the floor.

The Yellow Jackets are led offensively by junior guard Kyle Neibch, who is averaging more than 22 points per game this season. However, they are not a one-man show: They’re also led by senior guard jackson Fewster and senior forwards Brandon Wingo and Reed Fanta.

“We have five or six other players who contribute on a regular basis,” he added. “The system that we run is set up to allow for anybody on the floor to score. As the season has progressed we are learning more about when to shoot and when to pass the ball.”

Junior guard Daniel Penosky — in addition to Wingo, Fewster, and Fanta — are all scoring more than six points per game, and that gives the Jackets a very balanced attack. Fewster, who plays point guard, leads the team in assists with nearly four a game. As a team the Jackets are averaging almost 14 assists per outing.

Neibch, Fanta and Wingo are the top rebounders. All are averaging about four per game. The Fort Mill defense relies on constant pressure to force turnovers. They are averaging nearly nine steals per contest, while forcing almost 15 turnovers per game.

Fort Mill is in a new region this year. They lost the rivalries with Northwestern and Rock Hill, while keeping Clover and Nation Ford. They added new region opponents in Gaffney and Boiling Springs.

“This is a very balanced region,” added Hartsoe. “On any given night every team is capable of winning. You have to be prepared every night in this region.”

Fort Mill started region play last week with a pair of wins over Boiling Springs.

“Those two wins were huge from a confidence standpoint,” he added. “Region play is always important. We have to stay focused on what we are doing if we are to do well.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2021 at 9:00 AM.