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Hartsville loses to South Florence in thriller

Posted on Wednesday, February 1, 2023

By: Don Gearhart
Hartsville was out for revenge against a South Florence quintet that had defeated them earlier in the season in a double overtime game. For three quarters, it appeared that they would accomplish just that. Poor foul shooting and a cold fourth quarter, however, was their undoing. Nonetheless, the game provided the fans with a basketball thriller.
The Red Foxes jumped out to an 11-8 lead after the first period of play thanks to a basket and 3-point shot from Zion Pettus. Deandre Huggins, Kameron Foman, and Xavion Robinson accounted for the other six Hartsville points. Joseph McMillan and Jamarie Brown each scored twice for the Bruins.
South Florence briefly took the lead at 14-13 at the 5:35 mark of the second period on McMillan’s drive to the hoop. Huggins gained the lead back in favor of the Red Foxes moments later. With the score still in Hartsville’s favor at 20-19, Sahquan Pendergrass scored his only points of the night and Robinson hit nothing but net on a 3-point shot at the buzzer to give the Red Foxes a 25-19 point lead at the intermission.
South Florence cut that lead in half during the third quarter. McMillan accounted for six points for the Bruins and Brown chipped in with five points. Two 3-point shots from Braden Crawley and a pair of buckets from Foman kept the Red Foxes in the lead at 39-36.
South Florence took the lead for good with just a minute elapsed in the final period. Consecutive baskets from McMillam flipped the score to 40-39 in favor of the Bruins. They increased their lead to 47-41 until Foman tipped in a missed shot to make the score 47-43. A minute later, McMillan drained two free throws to regain the six-point advantage for the Bruins. Fourteen seconds later, Robinson connected on a 3-point shot to bring the Red Foxes within a one-possession score. Then, with just 0:25 left in the game, Robinson connected again from downtown to tie the score at 49-49. South regained the lead at 50-49 with sixteen seconds left when Brown made the back end of two free throws. Hartsville had an opportunity to take the lead when Crawley was fouled driving through the lane with five seconds left to play. His first free throw bounced off the back of the rim and the second shot had the same result. South Florence got the rebound and the pass to the front court resulted in a travelling call giving Hartsville one last chance with nine-tenths of a second left. The inbounds pass went to Foman whose desperation shot went wide of the rim.
Hartsville is now 8-12 and 1-5 in Region play. South Florence improved o 11-10 and 4-2 in the Region.
Robinson led the Red Foxes with 15 points and Foman connected for 12 points. McMillan led all scorers with 22 points and Brown contributed 12 points in the Bruins victory.