BOILING SPRINGS, SC - The Boiling Springs basketball team went into this week knowing what they needed to accomplish to reach the 5A playoffs and after a win over Nation Ford on Wednesday they completed their task on Friday night with a 52-49 victory over Gaffney to secure the fourth seed out of Region III-5A.
"We told our guys to approach these last two games as playoff games because we knew we had to win them to get in," said Boiling Springs head coach Curtis Nash. "After hearing some good news after we got off the court it sounds like we're in the playoffs and like I just told our kids, we're now in the dance so we have a chance." Gaffney jumped ahead early in the first quarter falling behind 6-0 but the Bulldogs stormed back to narrow the lead to 17-13 when the buzzer sounded to end the quarter. The run to close the gap was led by some clutch three-point shooting from sophomore Landon Sprouse who had six points in the quarter. "Landon is a key as he can definitely shoot the ball," said Nash. "The last home game he was off a little bit, but we always tell him to keep shooting because shooters have to keep shooting and eventually it started falling." After a hot start in the first quarter by the Indians, the Bulldogs defense was able to use a strong defensive effort in the second quarter to outscore Gaffney 9-7 to put the halftime deficit for Boiling Springs at 24-22. Boiling Springs started the second half on a 6-0 run on back-to-back three-pointers from Sprouse and Tre Locklear to take their first lead of the game at 28-24. After the early run by the Bulldogs, they were limited to four points the rest of the quarter as the Indians outscored Boiling Springs 14-4 to end the quarter with a 38-33 lead. The fourth quarter saw the Bulldogs use some strong defense and clutch free throw shooting down the stretch to come away with the victory over the Indians, as they first tied the game with just over three minutes to go in the game when the Bulldogs Tre Locklear stole the ball and finished with a layup to put the score at 44-44. With just under two minutes to go in the game, the Bulldogs took a 46-44 lead when Dominique Johnson hit back-to-back free throws before Gaffney tied the game back up at 46-46. The Bulldogs retook the lead at 49-46 when senior Austin Faile hit a three-pointer with a hand in his face from the top right side of the court to take the lead with just over a minute to go in the game. Locklear hit three free throws over the last thirty seconds of the game to put the Bulldogs ahead 52-49 and as time was running out Gaffney got a look from three on the left side that skipped over the rim to seal the victory for Boiling Springs. The Bulldogs went 13 of 16 from the free throw line in the final quarter and it was something that Coach Nash said he told his players was going to be important for them to win the game. "When we took the lead there late and we knew they were going to have to foul us we took a timeout to tell the kids that when they went to the line to just settle down and hit the shots," said Nash. "I told them we were going to have to win the game from the free throw line." Dominique Johnson not only contributed six points, all from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, but also helped the Bulldogs control the boards as he led the team with nine rebounds. "We had to light a fire under him tonight as he started off a little lazy," said Nash. "At the end he really picked it up though as he realized what was on the line and that his teammates were counting on him to control the glass. We preach every game to control the ball and to control the glass and Dominique done a good job of contolling the glass down the stretch." Boiling Springs had three different players score in double figures as Tre Locklear led the way with 15 points followed by Charkei Singleton with 13 points and Landon Sprouse with 12 points. The Bulldogs will now prepare for the 5A playoffs with latest projections showing them traveling to Ridge View in the first round on Wednesday night. "I'm excited for the playoffs as it's my second year and my first trip to the playoffs," said Nash. "We're in and I told our kids our records are all 0-0 and our opponents put their jerseys on just like we do. We're going to go on the road and just play Boiling Springs basketball and let the chips fall where they may." In the girls' game the Boiling Springs basketball team fell to Gaffney 59-33 to finish off their regular season. The Lady Bulldogs were led in scoring by Amiah Ellis and Sarah Ezell who both scored 12 points while Ezell also added seven rebounds and a steal. Boiling Springs girls basketball tied for fourth place in the region on Friday night after Nation Ford defeated Fort Mill and will find out if their future, because of tiebreakers, will hold a playoff road on Saturday. Comments are closed.
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