Bearcats nip Gaffney, 61-60

Gaffney’s Rodney Love scored 10 points in a loss to Rock Hill. Who would have imagined this before the season?

The three-time defending state champion Gaffney Indians must beat Lancaster at home on Friday to claim the fourth and final region playoff spot.

That’s because the Indians lost a four-point lead with just 25 seconds to play in a 61-60 setback at Rock Hill on Tuesday.

The Indians fall to 3-6 in the region. They are a game ahead of the Bruins, who beat York on Tuesday to improve to 2-7. The Bruins would hold the tie-breaker if they beat the Indians on Friday since they won the teams’ first matchup.

“We just have to keep our heads up,” said an upbeat Gaffney coach Mark Huff after Tuesday’s game. “The kids gave a great effort. I was very proud of them. We were down by 10 in the second half and they did a great job of battling back.”

The Indians could have sealed the win at the free throw, but they missed four of five foul shots in the last 30 seconds of the game.

Down by four, the Bearcats had a three-point play to pull within 60-59.

The Indians missed two more free throws with :17 left on the clock but got the rebound on the second miss before dribbling the ball out of bounds.

Rock Hill’s Phillip Adams, who had a game-high 16 points, drove the lane but missed the contested close-in shot. Rock Hill rebounded the miss but misfired on a stickback. The Bearcats hauled in another offensive rebound before Adams hit the game-winning shot with just 1.35 seconds remaining.

The Indians trailed by eight after three quarters but went on a run to take the lead.

Daniel Mitchell had a team-high 12 points for the Indians. Rodney Love was the only other Indian in double figures with 10.