The 2023-24 postseason kicked off on Tuesday night with first round matchups in 3A and 2A. For the third time this season the Fountain Inn Fury met the Woodruff Wolverines, this time trying to start a playoff run. After a tightly played second half, Fountain Inn was able to pull out its third win out of three over Woodruff this year by a final score of 61-59. Here are my biggest takeaways from the game.
1-Fountain Inn may not have won its region, but both times I’ve seen this team play I’ve been incredibly impressed. They are the 3A version of Greer, very fast-paced and athletic. The Fury shoot it well enough to balance their desire to get inside the paint and play physical, but at times can play too fast for their own good. Last night, the team hit early shots forcing Woodruff to defend the three-point line, but also defended aggressively forcing the Wolverines into multiple turnovers.
2-The Fury were paced by Terry Cunningham and AJ Austin with 15 points apiece, but my MVP of the game would’ve been point guard DJ Martin. Everything ran through Martin on both ends of the floor, he barely came out, and showed off special ball-handling and driving skills on his way to 14 points.
3-Woodruff battled hard last night. After falling behind 8-0 after just two minutes, the Wolverines faced instant adversity and struggled to protect the ball on offense. As the game progressed, Woodruff eased into its offensive and hardened up defensively as well. The home crowd got behind the team in key moments and had them in good shape to close it out. In the fourth quarter, Woodruff scored just 10 points as a team and had a scoreless drought in the middle of the period that proved costly.
4-Nick McConnell had a nearly perfect shooting first half, hitting multiple three-pointers and finishing with 14 in the game to lead the team. Hunter West and Grayson Patterson provided a valuable 9 points each off the bench, and Happy Lea scored 9 and defended some of Fountain Inn’s top players the entire game. The Wolverines will lose four of its five starters from last night’s game going into next year, but those four seniors are the only ones on the entire roster graduating off the team.
5-With the win, Fountain Inn will hit the road again to take on Travelers Rest on Friday night in the second round. The Devildogs were champions out of Region 3, including Chapman and Broome, but the Fury should expect to go there and win as well. Woodruff’s season ends after a second place finish in Region 4-3A, going 16-9 in the regular season.
