Indian Land posts a win as three Rock Hill-area schools close out Battle at the Rock
Here’s a recap of how Rock Hill-area schools performed on the final day of the Battle at the Rock basketball showcase at Northwestern High School.
North Augusta 52, Andrew Jackson 47
Andrew Jackson lost, 52-47, to North Augusta in Saturday afternoon’s contest at the Battle of the Rock basketball showcase.
The Volunteers found themselves down 43-30 with 7:35 left in the game and went on a late run to cut their deficit to four in the final seconds, but Andrew Jackson was unable to take the lead.
The loss came in Andrew Jackson’s third game in four days. The Volunteers played Lakewood on Wednesday and Great Falls on Friday. But for a team that plays with a shallow bench, head coach Danny Wright said that kind of toughness is needed in the latter parts of the season.
“I’m proud of my guys because they kept fighting,” he said. “They didn’t give up. We played a very tough rivalry game yesterday, and for them to come back, wake up and play another tough team, come back and fight the whole fourth quarter, I’m pleased with the effort. Not pleased with the outcome but pleased with the effort.”
The biggest difference in the game was the rebounding.
Andrew Jackson was outrebounded 34-17, with North Augusta hauling in 17 offense rebounds. That gave the Yellow Jackets multiple shots per possession and left the Volunteers without much margin for error.
Still, it was a close game late that Andrew Jackson could have won, and that’s exactly how Wright sees it.
“Down the stretch, we just didn’t finish the layups,” he said. “We got them to turn the ball over, but we didn’t capitalize on making points after turning them over. That’s what kept us from getting over the edge. But that’s some stuff we can work on and get better. We got two games next week (against Camden and Great Falls), so it don’t get any easier.”
Senior Ghaleb Wilson and junior Bryce Peterson led Andrew Jackson with 14 points and four assists each, while junior Jy’Kevius Johnson posted 12 points and seven boards in the loss.
Andrew Jackson falls to 3-2 on the year.
South Florence 55, South Pointe 47
It was tough going for South Pointe in its 55-47 loss to South Florence on Saturday afternoon.
South Pointe’s offense struggled to put points on the board early, shooting just 29% from the floor in the first half while South Florence shot 48%.
That forced the Stallions into an uphill climb, and it was a hole out of which they could not climb.
“I thought we just got off to really slow start,” head coach Melvin Watson said. “We just didn’t execute as well as I would have liked for us to do. South Florence came with a little bit more effort than we put out there early on, but we picked it up late.”
South Pointe fell down by as many as 16 in the third quarter, but the Stallions turned it up in the fourth, cutting its deficit to six late, but turnovers and misses at the rim kept the Stallions out of rhythm for most of the game.
“I think we only played one good quarter today, and that’s the fourth quarter,” Watson said. “The first three quarters, we were just flat, and we didn’t have any energy. We just got beat. We just got to keep going back to the lab, go back to the drawing board and figure out what’s going to work for South Pointe right now.”
Tyxavier Hall posted a double-double for South Pointe with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while RJ Hill recorded six points, 14 rebounds, two assists and a block.
South Pointe falls to 1-4 with the loss.
Indian Land 60, Augusta Christian 46
After trailing 4-1, Indian Land ended the first quarter on a 15-0 run en route to its 60-46 win over Augusta Christian on Saturday night.
It was a solid game for the Warriors, who were up against a much taller opponent in Augusta Christian.
The Lions played two players in the game above 6-foot-7, and looked to capitalize on it, while Indian Land doesn’t have a player taller than 6-4.
It’s a circumstance head coach LJ Johnson expects his team to face a lot this season.
“We’re going to be at a disadvantage in the height game all year,” he said. “That’s nothing that we shy away from. We anticipate guys playing like that, but where we make up for the height is in transition. So we’ve been doing a great job of winning the transition battle and making teams adjust to how we want to play.”
Augusta Christian found some life in the third quarter, pulling within five to cut Indian Land’s lead down to 44-39 heading into the fourth quarter.
But the Warriors outscored the Lions 16-7 in the final period, pulling ahead by as many as 19 down the stretch.
This game was Indian Land’s fourth in five days, and Johnson said that fatigue played a part in his offense going cold for stretches in the game.
But the Warriors are on a three-game win streak, and as the roster continues to mesh, Johnson expects the team to keep the momentum rolling.
“I think we did a good job of limiting them to one shot,” he said. “And we’re still learning. We’re still learning how to close games out, get quality looks in the last five minutes of the game. Once we got that timeout to settle them down, we were able to get that done.”
“To finish the week 3-0 once we got everybody back, I’m excited to continue to gel and continue to see what this looks like.”
Sophomore Mike Jones led Indian Land with 22 points, while freshman Sequel Patterson had 15 points, five rebounds, a block and a steal.
Indian Land moves to 5-1 and will be at home against Parkwood on Dec. 5 in its next game.
