Both Darlington Falcons and Lady Falcons come up empty against Wilson
By Drake Horton, Contributing Writer
Both the Darlington Falcons and Lady Falcons played their first home basketball game this past Friday and unfortunately neither team earned the outcome they wanted as both fell victim to Wilson with the Falcons losing 55-46 and the Lady Falcons losing 69-39.
Wilson 55, Darlington 46
If there was ever such a thing called a good loss then this past Friday night was exactly that.
Taking on the Wilson Tigers, who are ranked number one in class 4A, the Darlington Falcons lost its first game of the year this past Friday by a score of 55-46.
“We played hard, our guys played hard; we just had unforced errors, balls going through our hands, not catching balls,” Darlington boys’ head coach Ken Howle said. “It’s a growing process. Like I said, we are still a young team, played a lot of young guys. They’re senior heavy and very experienced; he’s assembled a really good team over there. They’re number one now and will be until somebody knocks them off.”
Darlington led for a majority of the first half, but Wilson went into the locker room at the half up by one and took the lead for good after closing out the third quarter on an 11-0 run.
“Yeah, they went on an 11-0 run and gain momentum heading into the end of the third,” Howle said.
The Falcons battled hard in the fourth quarter, closing Wilson’s lead to just four with 1:05 left in the game, but the Tigers closed the game out scoring the final five points of the game while Darlington was unable to get any shots to fall.
Turnovers and a vast discrepancy in the free throws were two major factors that led to Wilson coming out on top over the Falcons. Darlington turned the ball over 21 times and only shot eight free throws, just two in the second half, compared to the Tigers 19 for the entire game.
Darlington jumped on Wilson quick and fast in the first quarter, scoring the first six points on the game before Wilson finally found the basket with 4:58 left in the opening quarter and from there it was a game.
The Falcons are now 2-1 on the year after defeating the Lamar Silver Foxes and Cheraw Braves on the road earlier in the week.
Wilson 69, Darlington 39
Some sharp shooting by Wilson and an ugly second quarter by Darlington ended up sinking the Lady Falcons as the Lady Tigers cruised to 69-39 win on Friday night.
Wilson outscored the Lady Falcons 28-5 in the second quarter and connected on eight three-pointer, six that were in the first half.
“I knew that they were a very talented offense,” Darlington girls’ head coach Brad Knox said. “I thought that maybe we would come out to a good start, but you can’t hang your head, you got to keep playing and every team is going to make a run, but you have to be able to withstand the run.”
Foul trouble for the Lady Falcons was the main culprit for the second quarter collapse as both Asani Davis and Hope Richardson picked up their third foul with over three minutes still before the half.
“We picked up some cheap fouls when we should have got back defensively,” Knox said. “We can’t pick up those types of fouls, especially when they are shooting really good from the perimeter. We just have to get back and play fundamental, sound defense.”
For Richardson the nightmare did not stop with the foul trouble. Offensively she was never able to find any rhythm on the court, scoring just nine points, all in the third quarter.
“I think foul trouble played a part mentally with Hope,” Knox said. “I think she has to get going early, get more involved early. We are trying to get her the ball; she has got to be able to attack the basket. I don’t believe nobody can stop her going to the basket one-on-one.”
It was that third quarter, however, that seemed to spark the Lady Falcons, who actually outscored Wilson 27-26 in the second half. In the end though, it was the anemic performance in the second quarter that was too much for Darlington to overcome.
The Lady Falcons are now 2-1 on the year young season after beating Lamar and Cheraw on the road earlier in the week.