2019-20 Fairfield Lions Basketball Preview
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
It is a new season for the Fairfield Lions boys basketball program, and entering their third season under head coach Josh Howland, the Lions want to repeat the success of last season, as they qualified to play at the Ohio University Convocation Center in the district round of the postseason.
The Lions lost two seniors — Sam Buddelmeyer (an All-Ohio selection) and Austin Setty — to graduation. With Buddelmeyer graduating, the Lions lost 16.9 points per game that will have to be replaced, along with his eight rebounds per game.
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The Lions still have a team that consists of three seniors, four juniors, four sophomores and one freshman. Seniors this season are Wyatt Willey, Bryson Simmons and James Bentley. The juniors are Connor Priest, Tucker Watson, Zane Taylor and Caleb Payne.
Sophomores for the Lions are Reese Teeters, Koben Zink, Jon Bentley and Brayden Zimmerman, and the lone freshman is Tytis Cannon.
In 2018-19, the Lions finished 12-11 overall, ending their season against Coal Grove Dawson-Bryant at the Ohio University Convocation Center in the Division IV SE District semifinals. Also last season, Fairfield shared the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Division II championship with the Peebles Indians, as they each had a 7-6 record in the conference.
“Our goal is to win the SHAC,” Fairfield head coach Josh Howland said. “We are working to improve our on-the-ball defense, team rebounding and limiting turnovers as those are improvements we’d like to have from last season.
“It's still early, but we are seeing strong leadership from our seniors and solid work ethic from our underclassmen.”
Willey returns for his final season with the Lions, a season removed from earning All-SHAC and Div. IV third-team OPSWA All-District honors. He averaged 14 points per game last season, along with 1.5 rebounds per game, and he shot 77-percent from the free-throw line as a junior.
Simmons, a Div. IV special mention OPSWA All-District honoree, also returns after averaging 14 points per game and 1.5 rebounds per game a season ago.
James Bentley averaged a double-double as a junior one season ago with 10 points per game and 10 rebounds per game, but he didn’t play in the district tournament after suffering a shoulder injury.
“Wyatt, Bryson and James will be third-year starters this season, and they have a complete understanding of our program and are all three solid leaders,” Howland said. “Connor Priest is another returning starter that we have a tremendous amount of confidence in. He is only a junior but is very mature and understands what we need from him.”
As the Lions mesh the veterans and youth of their varsity programs into a single unit, Howland knows there will be challenges ahead, but also knows his team is talented as well.
“We have several new players that will be contributing to our varsity team this season,” Howland said. “Those players are Reese Teeters, Tytis Cannon and Tucker Watson. One of our challenges will be to get our youth to gel with our upperclassmen. We have five scrimmages set up to help with that, but we know that needs to be a focal point early in the season.”
To get back to the top of the SHAC the Lions will always have a tough slate of games against teams from the SHAC, but what about their non-conference schedule? This season, the Lions will be facing the following teams in games away from the SHAC: vs. East Clinton, at Paint Valley, at Cedarville, vs. Wellston, vs. McClain, vs. Washington, at Hillsboro, at Blanchester and at Adena.
The Lions open the 2019-20 season on Friday, Nov. 29 at Grandle Gymnasium against the East Clinton Astros in non-conference play.
The Lions lost two seniors — Sam Buddelmeyer (an All-Ohio selection) and Austin Setty — to graduation. With Buddelmeyer graduating, the Lions lost 16.9 points per game that will have to be replaced, along with his eight rebounds per game.
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The Lions still have a team that consists of three seniors, four juniors, four sophomores and one freshman. Seniors this season are Wyatt Willey, Bryson Simmons and James Bentley. The juniors are Connor Priest, Tucker Watson, Zane Taylor and Caleb Payne.
Sophomores for the Lions are Reese Teeters, Koben Zink, Jon Bentley and Brayden Zimmerman, and the lone freshman is Tytis Cannon.
In 2018-19, the Lions finished 12-11 overall, ending their season against Coal Grove Dawson-Bryant at the Ohio University Convocation Center in the Division IV SE District semifinals. Also last season, Fairfield shared the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Division II championship with the Peebles Indians, as they each had a 7-6 record in the conference.
“Our goal is to win the SHAC,” Fairfield head coach Josh Howland said. “We are working to improve our on-the-ball defense, team rebounding and limiting turnovers as those are improvements we’d like to have from last season.
“It's still early, but we are seeing strong leadership from our seniors and solid work ethic from our underclassmen.”
Willey returns for his final season with the Lions, a season removed from earning All-SHAC and Div. IV third-team OPSWA All-District honors. He averaged 14 points per game last season, along with 1.5 rebounds per game, and he shot 77-percent from the free-throw line as a junior.
Simmons, a Div. IV special mention OPSWA All-District honoree, also returns after averaging 14 points per game and 1.5 rebounds per game a season ago.
James Bentley averaged a double-double as a junior one season ago with 10 points per game and 10 rebounds per game, but he didn’t play in the district tournament after suffering a shoulder injury.
“Wyatt, Bryson and James will be third-year starters this season, and they have a complete understanding of our program and are all three solid leaders,” Howland said. “Connor Priest is another returning starter that we have a tremendous amount of confidence in. He is only a junior but is very mature and understands what we need from him.”
As the Lions mesh the veterans and youth of their varsity programs into a single unit, Howland knows there will be challenges ahead, but also knows his team is talented as well.
“We have several new players that will be contributing to our varsity team this season,” Howland said. “Those players are Reese Teeters, Tytis Cannon and Tucker Watson. One of our challenges will be to get our youth to gel with our upperclassmen. We have five scrimmages set up to help with that, but we know that needs to be a focal point early in the season.”
To get back to the top of the SHAC the Lions will always have a tough slate of games against teams from the SHAC, but what about their non-conference schedule? This season, the Lions will be facing the following teams in games away from the SHAC: vs. East Clinton, at Paint Valley, at Cedarville, vs. Wellston, vs. McClain, vs. Washington, at Hillsboro, at Blanchester and at Adena.
The Lions open the 2019-20 season on Friday, Nov. 29 at Grandle Gymnasium against the East Clinton Astros in non-conference play.