2015 Preview: Will Fairfield Lions make noise in their conference standings?
The 2015-16 Fairfield Lions will enter the season with experience gained from last season, but it will be a gradual, game-to-game process for a team expected to be in the mix for a Southern Hills Athletic Conference championship.
Fairfield has goals of winning the Division II of the SHAC, plus reaching the district tournament, a feat they did not achieve last season. If the Lions want to have a run in the postseason, first they must work on some things this regular season compared to last year.
“We have got to improve on many things, but the most crucial are our defense and our rebounding,” Fairfield head coach Everett Snyder said. “Because of our lack of size, we need to apply constant pressure on the ball and box out every time on our bigger opponents.“
The Lions’ roster this season consists of seniors Trey Current, Jake Fraley, Ethan Putnam, Randy Lamme and Wyatt Harris. Juniors this season are Jensen Daulton, Wyatt Evans, Mason Cain, Jesse Current, Kadyn Lamb and Klay Walker.
Last year, Putnam averaged 13.7 points per game in 22 regular-season games, and Evans had an average of 12.1 points per game in 21 games during the regular season. Dalton also played in 22 regular-season games, averaging 8.4 points per game, and in 18 games last season, Walker averaged 6.4 points per game.
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“Putnam, Walker and Daulton at the guard positions and Evans and Harris in the paint have all played well at times during the preseason,” Snyder said. “Some of the new varsity players moving up from last year’s junior varsity have also shown glimpses of being able to contribute to this year’s team.”
With a roster full of juniors and seniors, the Lions do have the experience, and with that came this past summer and preseason where they continued to gain the experience, but not at the pace needed at times, as the head coach spoke of some things the Lions need to improve on this season.
“Preseason and summer play has been challenging, because of the many other activities the boys are involved in,” Snyder said. “It has been tough to get everybody in here at the same time.
“We need to start out using the experience we gained last year and improve on every aspect of our game in order to be where we would like to be late in the season.
“We have got to improve on many things, but the most crucial are our defense and our rebounding. Because of our lack of size, we need to apply constant pressure on the ball and box out every time on our bigger opponents.”
Speaking of that experience gained from the 2014-15 season, the Lions finished 9-14 overall and 6-7 in the SHAC, a second-place finish in Division II of the conference.
“We were a very young team last year, at times starting three sophomores and a junior,” Snyder said. “It was a big learning curve for most of them, so hopefully they have recognized their weaknesses and understand what areas they need to improve upon to take their game up to a new level.”
The non-conference slate of games for the Lions for the 2015-16 season include: Clinton-Massie, Georgetown, East Clinton, Paint Valley, Hillsboro, McClain, Jefferson Township, Blanchester and Clermont Northeastern.
There is also the matter of the SHAC, where the Lions are in the mix for competing for a conference championship as the conference will be balanced.
“The SHAC will be more balanced this year than the last couple of years … however, a couple of teams have a lot of returning varsity players from last year,” Snyder said. “Lynchburg-Clay, Eastern Brown and North Adams have very experienced and athletic teams coming back. Night in-and-night out will be a battle among the league teams.”