Mistake-prone Conway falters down stretch, loses to Sumter

Everything Conway could have asked for was sitting right in front of it.

With less than two minutes remaining, the Tigers found themselves in a one-possession game Monday night against Sumter — with the ball and momentum firmly on their bench. In the second rotation of Region VI-5A play, a win would do wonders for the squad’s pursuit of a top-two finish in the league and potential for a home playoff game.

But as Conway boys basketball coach Michael Hopkins would say after the game, “we just didn’t finish.”

Turnovers and an inability to knock down shots down the stretch proved to be the Tigers’ undoing, and Sumter was more than happy to pick up the scraps late to preserve a hard-fought 63-58 win.

“I call it crunch time, crunch time,” Hopkins said. “We had some crucial turnovers at crucial times, and they took some of those and converted them into points. Bottom line, I told (Conway players) that we are at the point of the season where you have to play hard … I think we did that. Had a good game plan, and we talked about finishing possessions, defensive possessions and getting rebounds, but there were some crucial times where they converted and we didn’t.”

In some ways, the fact Conway found itself in contention was a minor miracle.

Sumter (14-6, 5-1 Region VI-5A) controlled the pace of the game from the late second quarter on, making the Tigers play catch up as a result of its hot shooting from beyond the arc. In total, the Gamecocks knocked down 10 3-pointers — half of which came courtesy of junior forward Isaih Moore, who would wind up leading all scorers with 25 points.

“Isaih has been doing that, (Andrew) Tiller made some shots. … It’s hard to beat us when we’re shooting like that,” said Sumter boys basketball coach Shawn Jones. “Especially when we can defend.”

In a 24-point third period, Sumter also wreaked havoc on the boards, with Moore and fellow forward Raymond Johnson making the most of a void created by Conway foul trouble.

“I came to the table to ask how many fouls (Conway forward Jaylen Moody) had,” Jones said. “He goes to the offensive boards really well, so (when Moody picked up his third foul) it really worked in our favor.”

Despite all of those things, the Tigers had a chance to steal the game.

Down 57-49 with under four minutes to go, a 3-pointer by Conway’s Darren Stanley pulled the Tigers to within five points. Moments later, standout forward Jimmy Nichols would get a runner to fall, cutting the Sumter lead to 57-54.

After forcing a turnover by the Gamecocks, an errant pass trying to get the ball over the timeline was intercepted by Johnson, thus forcing Conway to extend the game through fouls.

Sumter proved up to the task at the foul line down the stretch as well — particularly Johnson — knocking down 5-of-7 to put a bow on a tough road region win for the Gamecocks.

“Conway is scrappy,” Jones said. “Great atmosphere, they have a good student section. It’s always fun coming here to play, but especially tonight. It felt like a playoff atmosphere for sure.”

With the win, Sumter earns a season sweep of the Tigers. Johnson and Tiller also finished in double figures for Sumter, scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively in a winning effort.

As for Conway, Nichols led the way with 21 points. Moody also had 18 points in a losing effort for the Tigers.

There isn’t much time for Conway (13-4, 3-3 Region VI-5A) to sulk, however, another crucial region contest coming on Thursday with a visit to Socastee.

“All of them are big now,” Hopkins said. “Any time you lose one at home … we went on the road and got one at Carolina Forest, and then we come back here and lose one at home, we have to go on the road and steal one . But it isn’t going to be easy, as Socastee has been playing well lately.”

This story was originally published January 23, 2017 at 11:04 PM with the headline "Mistake-prone Conway falters down stretch, loses to Sumter."