Darlington defense turns up pessure against West Florence

DARLINGTON — Tuesday night’s boys basketball game between Darlington and West Florence pitted the Falcons’ high-powered fast break attack against the Knights’ Princeton-styled offense.

In this contest of contrasting styles, West opened the game with the upper hand. In the end, Darlington turned a close game into a 68-42 victory.

After the game, West coach Bion Shoemaker was everything but enthused about his team’s performance.

“The way a team handles adversity determines whether or not you’ll be a champion,” he said. “I knew we would find out about our team’s demeanor during good times and bad times (tonight).

“We should have the same demeanor whether we win or lose, and we didn’t have it tonight.”

At times throughout the game, West’s fans were louder than the host Falcons. Early in the second period, the Knights’ offense rewarded those fans by going on a 10-2 run that gave them a 25-15 advantage with four minutes left before halftime.

Darlington silenced the road fans by employing a full-court press, forcing West turnovers and igniting a 9-0 run to close the gap to 25-24 with 55 seconds left in the second. But Kelso Wright hit a short jumper to close out the scoring in the first 16 minutes as the Knights carried a 27-24 lead into the break.

“We tried to play (West Florence) straight up man-to-man, but they took over a minute off the clock each possession,” Darlington coach Ken Howle said. “Then we started pressing them to make them run faster.”

Darlington’s pressure started to affect the Knights at the beginning of the second half. The result was a 21-7 run to seize control of the game — and quiet the West fans once and for all.

Brad Knox and Devin Joint hit key baskets during the outburst that gave the Falcons a 45-34 third-quarter lead.

“This game was a tale of two different styles of play,” said Shoemaker, whose Knights fall to 1-1 on the season.

“We didn’t handle the press.

“Had Darlington not pressed us, we would have been fine.“

The Falcons refused to let off the throttle in the final period. Donnie James’ thunderous dunk to open the quarter deflated any hopes for a West comeback.

James added another slam late in the contest that brought the Darlington fans to their feet — and sent the Knights’ fans heading for the exits.

James, who was playing in his first game since he tore his ACL during last football season, finished with 26 points to lead all scorers. Joint added 19 points for the Falcons.

“Donnie is really unselfish and he wants to get everybody involved,” Howle said of James. “We have to tell him at times to take more shots.“

Jonathon Gardner scored 10 points to lead West Florence.

“We had a 10-point lead, and then we lost it. Once Darlington tied the game, we just quit,” Shoemaker said. “We need to get that fixed, and we will.”

Girls
Darlington 75, West Florence 15

The Falcons (1-0) opened the contest on a 21-2 run and cruised to a rout of the Knights.

Darlington smothered West Florence (0-1) on both ends of the floor, provoking turnovers that led to easy fast-break opportunities.

“This team is like a shark,” Falcons coach Brian Rozelle said. “When they smell blood, they attack, and that’s what I want from this team every game.“

Jazz Green scored a game-high 21 points for Darlington. Kierra Patterson nailed three 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, while Antionette McPhail added 13.

“They were my leading scorers last year,” Rozelle said of his threesome. “I expect that from them night in and night out.”

Darlington hosts Hartsville on Friday night, while West faces Wilson.