Falcons stay undefeated as it routes Wilson; Lady Falcons show guts, but come up short

SPORTS DHS Boys BB

By Drake Horton, Contributing Writer

Both the Darlington boys and girls basketball were home this past Friday finishing up its annual series against rival Wilson. In front of one the best crowds each team will see this season, the Lady Falcons came up short while the Falcons were able to ride out to a 20-point victory over Wilson.

DHS Boys Basketball:
Darlington 70, Wilson 50

Some things never change. Like the three guard trio of Frankie Johnson, Tyriq Smith and Marquis Green leading the Darlington Falcons to a victory and a home crowd enjoying a win over a bitter rival.

Both happened this past Friday as the Falcons, led by its three guard trio of Johnson, Smith and Green, defeated the Wilson Tigers for the second time this year, this time by a score of 70-50.

“They’re tough, those three, they share the ball, they get others involved, they know each other so well, they been together so they share the basketball real well,” Darlington boys head coach Ken Howle said on his dynamic trio.

In front of home crowd that was probably more energized than most playoff settings, Darlington grabbed the lead early and never relinquished it.

“It was a great atmosphere, any time we play Wilson it’s a playoff atmosphere in the early season,” Howle said on the game environment. “We’re happy to get a win over Wilson.”
The changing point in the game came in the second quarter. Up 17-15 after the first, Darlington outscored the Tigers 15-2 in the second period and Wilson was never able to make up the difference.

“We really executed on defense, we’ve been working on that in practice,” Smith said on strong defense in the game especially in the second quarter.

The Falcons held its distance in the second half against the Tigers, holding off a couple of small Wilson runs in the third and fourth quarter by playing good team defense to go along with great ball movement on offense.

“We played good as team, but at the end of day it isn’t about how good I did it’s about the team and the team played good tonight,” Green, who finished second in scoring with 18 points, said.

Johnson led the Falcons in scoring with 19 points.

Darlington is now 5-0 in the early stages of the season.

DHS Lady Falcons Basketball:
Darlington 35, Wilson 68

Basketball, like football, is a game of two halves and unfortunately for the Lady Falcons they played only one half against Wilson.

While the scoreboard showed a 33 point defeat, it was really the first half where Darlington lost the game.

The Lady Tigers outscored Darlington 37-10 in the first half, including 21-3 in the first quarter. The Lady Falcons did not score its first field goal until the 3:57 mark in the second quarter. Until then all of the points that Darlington scored were on free throws.

The second half, however, was a different story. The Lady Falcons came out with a different attitude, a different drive, a different passion, an all-around different demeanor and head coach Frances Fields knows exactly why. They listened to what she and the other coaches had to say.

“Nerves happen, but once the second half started and I had to get into them a little bit they brought it,” Fields said, trying to give her best explanation of what the difference was in the first half compared to the second half. “So it’s not exactly the score I want, but the hustle and the mindset was totally different.”

After starting the season off 2-0, Darlington is now 2-3 on the season.

Author: Duane Childers

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