Hartsville teams surge past Sumter

HARTSVILLE - It was a huge night for the Hartsville varsity basketball programs at home Friday as both the girls’ and boys’ teams defeated Sumter to stay undefeated in conference play.

Girls pull away for 70-49 victory
The girls held an 18-15 advantage after the first period, and, picking up action in the second period with 4:18 left, it was 24-20 Red Foxes. Sumter capitalized on several turnovers near the buzzer, making it 30-22 Red Foxes at the break. Jasmine Phillips led with 9 points and Kiasiah Ham had 8.

Sumter continued to hassle Hartsville shooters at the beginning of the third period, collapsing a zone inward and forcing the Foxes to look for scoring chances from the perimeter. After several turnovers helped Sumter close to 30-26, Foxes Coach Pat Hewitt had seen enough and called timeout. Things changed for the better after that.

“I would like to say it was the words of wisdom I gave them during those timeouts, but I’m not sure,” Hewitt said.

Emily Jackson grabbed a rebound, ran the court, and drained a long jumper for the first field goal of the period. That seemed to ignite the team. An active defense set the tone. Phillips would dish to a wide open Shebria Jett for an easy lay-up and a 47-29 end to an amazing run closing the third period.

The girls went on to win easily, 70-49. Phillips led with 22 points (10 of 16 from the line), while Jackson had 16, Ham 15, Brandi Jones 10 and Jett 9.

The win left the team 12-6 overall and 4-0 in conference play.

“We’ve been blessed; I feel really good about the team, but we’ve got a tough road schedule coming up,” Hewitt said. “It’s important for us to stay on top, so we have home court advantage [in the playoffs].”

Boys defeat oversized Sumter team 68-57
Sumter jumped out to an 8-3 lead, but soon Fox Eric Joe nailed a three, making it 10-6. Sumter surged ahead 14-6. Hartsville was getting out-rebounded by the much taller Sumter team. Fox Errion James would calm things somewhat with a jump shot, making it 16-12, and then Jaylin Shaw made a slick behind-the-back dish to Gavin Thomas for a layup. Shaw would hit a three for the Foxes’ first lead, 17-16, and it was 20-18 Foxes to close the period.

Quiet up to that point, Fox Chris Ketter would grab a rebound and put it in, followed by a running lob-in by Joe, and Ketter hitting again (off a steal). Ketter would finish the half with an exclamation point, making a steal and then running the court, finishing with a dunk and a 34-33 lead at the break. Joe and Shaw had 7 points, and Ketter 6.

Gavin Thomas would show aggressive defense by forcing a turnover, which led to a Ketter finger roll goal to go into the fourth period 51-51.
After another Sumter alley-oop dunk, the Hartsville defense turned it up a notch, forcing numerous turnovers. Joe would hit a three and Errion James would hit two free throws with 2:48 to go to make it 61-53. Sumter began to intentionally foul to conserve clock, and the Foxes sealed the game from the charity stripe. The final score was 68-57. Joe led with 22 points while Ketter added 18.

“I thought the full court pressure wore them down,” Coach Aric Samuel said. “We out rebounded them too, and with the size they had that was amazing. It was a total team effort. We can build off this. We seem to be gelling.”

It was the team’s first win at home against Sumter in about three years, Samuel said. The team is 11-7 overall, 4-0 in the conference.