Depth pushes Falcons by Myrtle Beach as Lady Falcons run out of gas in the fourth
By Drake Horton
Contributing Writer
A strong second half by the Darlington Falcons and a poor showing in the fourth quarter by the Lady Falcons were the main reasons for a boys’ win and girls’ loss against Myrtle Beach this past week at home.
Darlington (boys) 74, Myrtle Beach (boys) 52
Depth is a coach’s best friend and for Darlington’s Anthony Heilbronn, he used every bit of the depth he had to help push his Falcons to a 74-52 win over the Myrtle Beach Seahawks at home Jan. 22.
“Honestly, I think as the game went on we kind of wore them down,” Heilbronn said. “Their best player, Knox, No. 4, didn’t come out. So that third quarter, it was close so then we got up eight, 10, 12 points he was just gassed and in the fourth quarter I have starters resting, I’m bringing them in fresh; he has just not recovered and that allowed us to pull away, I think.”
Two of those starters, seniors Ty Johnson and Kenynon Scott, combined for practically half of the Falcons’ 74 points, with Johnson finishing with 20 and Scott with 18.
While Scott’s offensive performance was expected this year, Johnson’s has been a pleasant surprise. Known for his superior ball-handling skills and defense, anything that Johnson gave you on the offensive end was just an added bonus. This year that bonus is bigger and better than ever.
“Getting Ty offensively, anything you get out him is a bonus,” Heilbronn said. “We didn’t come into the year expecting him to be doing what he is doing. This is the second game in a row that he has hit three threes; last week he was 3-5, tonight he was 3-5, 3-6. His stroke is confident. He’s going into Earle’s JV practices on Sunday getting shots and getting reps. He wants to do well, he’s putting the work in and you can see that it is paying off.”
As a team, it was a tale of two halves and it was the depth of Darlington that was mostly responsible for it.
After trailing by two at the end of the first and holding just a small six point lead at the half, Darlington exploded in the third quarter and walked away in the fourth quarter as the fresher legs were just too much for the Seahawks to keep up with.
The Falcons closed the third quarter on an 8-0 run to run their lead to 12 to start to the fourth and a 16-1 run in the fourth iced the game away.
With the win, Darlington improves to 18-3 overall and 5-1 in the region.
Darlington (girls) 27, Myrtle Beach (girls) 31
The effort was way better, the performance in general was way better, but the result was still the same.
After losing their first matchup with Myrtle Beach Jan. 8 by a score of 42-17, the Darlington Lady Falcons made quite the improvement, but it still was not enough as the Lady Seahawks were able to squeak by with a 31-27 win Jan. 22 in Darlington.
“First off, hats off to Myrtle Beach; they are a good team,” Darlington girls’ head coach Brad Knox said. “They played in the lower-state last year and the way my team fought tonight I am very proud, because they could have folded and they showed me they can play with anybody. We just have to fix up and touch up on some late game situations toward the end and take better shots, but we will learn from it and get better.”
Darlington, which trailed for a majority of the game, got on a roll in second and third quarters, going on a 17-4 run that started midway in the second and went all the way through the third.
Going into the fourth quarter, the Lady Falcons were up by three, leading 27-24, but Darlington was unable to score a single point while Myrtle Beach scored seven in the final period.
“All season long, we have been trying to find different young ladies to put the ball in the basket for us,” Knox said. “If we had that one player that could do it, like consistently every night, then that is a plus for your team, but we try to do it by committee and we are going to keep getting better.”
