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After getting beat by Fort Mill at their place, the Gaffney High Indians got some revenge Friday by beating Fort Mill on its own court, 71-66.
The Indians (18-2, 6-1 Region 3-AAAA) had a big second half by Dershawn Dawkins, as he led Gaffney with 19 points, and Chase Smith, who had 14 points.
Fort Mill's Dwayne Grainger shoots the ball as Gaffney's L J Peake defends.
Also Friday, in girls hoops action, Fort Mill lost to Gaffney 46-40
In the boys’ game, Dawkins scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half and Smith dropped in eight of his 14 in the second half as Gaffney matched every run Fort Mill had.
Earlier in the season, Fort Mill (14-7, 5-3 Region 3-AAAA) beat the Indians in Gaffney 66-62. Coach Mark Huff wanted to make sure that didn’t happen again.
“There style of play is tough to defend against,” Huff said. “Our kids don’t like to lose and did a good job of being resilient.”
Gaffney started strong from the opening tip and was led early by Josh Corry, who had nine of his 18 points in the first quarter on three 3-pointers.
The Indians established a press early and, despite Fort Mill being able to handle it and break it, they struggled to convert early shots. Fort Mill missed on several shots in the paint and put-backs as they hit just three shots in the opening quarter.
Gaffney’s lead grew to 10 points after the first quarter as the Indians went up 20-10 early in the second period. Fort Mill struggled to stop Gaffney’s inside game and gain any momentum offensively.
Junior Rion Heriot, who led the Jackets with 23 points, cut the Indians’ lead on back-to-back three-point plays to make it 25-19 near the end of the half.
In the second half, Fort Mill used its usual third-quarter surge to rally and pull within one of Gaffney at 31-30 on a 9-4 start.
Sophomore Mark Blackmon, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half, led Fort Mill in the quarter.
After the rally in the third, Gaffney matched Fort Mill with a surge of its own going on a 7-0 run to put Fort Mill back in a hole at 38-30.
Gaffney consistently out-rebounded the Jackets in the second half and used those second and third chances to stretch their lead.
Near the end of the third quarter, Fort Mill was again down by 10.
The Jackets started out strong in the final period. Using backdoor cuts and their quickness, Fort Mill pulled back within two at 50-48 on the play of Blackmon.
Heriot scored 13 of his 23 in the quarter and Blackmon added six in the quarter.
However, Gaffney matched Fort Mill nearly basket-for-basket. Also, the play of Gaffney’s Dawkins and Smith set the Indians apart from Fort Mill. Gaffney went back up by 10 on an 11-3 run with just under two and a half minutes left and hit their free throws down the stretch to get the win.
“They are a great basketball team,” Fort Mill coach Bailey Jackson said. “They hit some big shots. I’m proud of our effort. Our kids played with a lot of heart.”
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