Fort Mill Yellow Jackets hold on against tough Spartanburg team

In one of their most physical games of the year, the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets were able to hold off the Spartanburg Vikings 63-59 to advance to the third round of the 4A boys’ state basketball playoffs Saturday night.

Both teams came out firing, trading the first two baskets of the game. Spartanburg’s first two baskets consisted of 3-pointers and they quickly took an 8-5 lead before the first time out of the game.

Fort Mill came back with a 6-0 run to take the lead. The Jackets’ Brandon Joseph got hot early hitting two crucial 3-pointers to keep Fort Mill in the lead. Each team struggled some with turnovers, both having passes slip through their hands in a very physical first quarter.

The Jackets slowed things down at the start of the second quarter setting up their offense, while the Vikings got several early shots off, but failed to see them fall. Spartanburg missed its first five shots in the first two minutes of the second quarter.

The Jackets didn’t exactly take advantage during that time frame scoring just one point during the stretch. Fort Mill’s Tanner Mitchell did help push the Jackets lead to eight with a 3-pointer. Fouls started to play a big part of the first half as the Vikings sent Fort Mill to the line often.

Fort Mill shot just 40 percent from the foul line in the second quarter and 30 percent from the field as both teams scored 11 points in the quarter.

Spartanburg struggled even more from the foul line not hitting any of their four first-half attempts. Both teams traded 3-pointers to start the third quarter. Fort Mill pushed its lead to eight points with another 3-pointer from Joseph. Fort Mill used a 2-3 zone defense and big rebounds from Rogan Wells to keep the Vikings at bay.

Every time Fort Mill seemed to have Spartanburg where they wanted them, the Vikings would surge back and cut a 10- or 12-point lead to a seven- or eight-point gap.

Turning point

Both teams opened the fourth quarter trying to make something happen. Spartanburg scored six straight points to open the final period and cut a seven point Fort Mill lead to one with 4:35 left in the game.

The Vikings would take the lead before trading it back and forth with Fort Mill. Mitchell would hit a much needed 3-pointer for the Jackets giving them a 53-49 lead and some breathing room with three minutes left.

Spartanburg kept plugging away and pulled within three at 59-56 with 29 seconds left in the game. Fort Mill would score on a breakaway, but the Vikings would come right back and nail another 3-pointer to make it a two point game with 14 seconds left.

Down the stretch, Fort Mill would come away with two big steals in those final 14 seconds to hold on for the win.

Critical

Fort Mill went on a 7-0 run midway through the second quarter starting with a Mitchell 3-pointer. The Jackets also had several key defensive rebounds to hold Spartanburg to a minimum one shot attempt on trips down the court. Spartanburg rallied some in the second quarter to cut the Fort Mill lead to just six at the half.

Star contributions

Mitchell led Fort Mill with 21 points and Joseph added 17 points for the Jackets.

Overheard

Fort Mill head coach Dwayne Hartsoe said he was disappointed in how his team appeared rattled at points, but was happy at how they regrouped.

“That is the first time that has happened all year,” he said. “I think we lost our composure for a little bit. The physicality rattled us a little bit. We started missing some shots. We took some bad shots.”

Box score

On deck

Fort Mill will host Spring Valley in the third round of the playoffs 7 p.m. Tuesday night.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 9:29 PM with the headline "Fort Mill Yellow Jackets hold on against tough Spartanburg team."