HICKORY, N.C. — Survive and advance.
That’s all the Salkehatchie men’s basketball could focus on Friday night after nearly blowing a 28-point second-half lead and hanging on for an 82-77 victory over Richard Bland in the Region 10 semifinal.
The win was the fifth in a row for Salkehatchie, which improved to 19-13, and advances to the Region 10 championship against regular-season champion Caldwell Tech on Saturday at 2 p.m. The teams split their regular season series.
The winner advances to the NJCAA tournament next week in Hutchinson, Kansas.
The quick turnaround will force Salkehatchie to forget about the final 10 minutes, which followed an exquisite exhibition of basketball with crisp ball movement, clinical finishing and a defense that built a picket fence around the rim where Richard Bland does its best work.
Salkehatchie was ahead at halftime by 44-24 and continued to have its way with Richard Bland, still carrying a 61-34 lead with close to 11 minutes remaining. Shortly after that, a flurry of turnovers, poor shot selection and a re-energized Richard Bland began slicing into the lead.
The lead was down to 78-75 when a turnover gave Richard Bland the ball, but Salkehatchie stole the ball back underneath its own basket. A pair of free throws with 12.4 seconds left stretched Salk’s lead to 5, but it was back to a single possession when Richard Bland made two free throws with 8.2 seconds left.
Salkehatchie lost the ball on the inbounds play, but earned a jump ball and the possession arrow with 3.2 seconds left. A foul and a pair of free throws provided the winning margin and a long awaited sigh of relief.
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