Connor Priest sinks game-winning 3-pointer in OT; sends Fairfield to co-SHAC championship
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Friday night at Grandle Gymnasium was a heavyweight championship battle between the Fairfield Lions and the Peebles Indians. The two biggest shots landed were by the Fairfield Lions duo of sophomore Connor Priest and junior Bryson Simmons, as they forced overtime with two free throws and later hit a game-winning 3-pointer that sent them to a Division II Southern Hills Athletic Conference championship, by a 59-58 score.
The Lions reached overtime with two clutch free throws as Simmons, a junior, had ice water flowing through his veins, sinking both attempts from the free-throw line with 4.4 seconds on the clock. Simmons made the free throws after Peebles gave him an extra few seconds to think about the shots, as they called a timeout before the attempts.
Simmons — who was 9-of-9 from the free-throw line on Friday night — spoke about the entire sequence and helping Fairfield win a co-championship in the SHAC.
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“I just wanted to go out there and give my team everything I could to get the ‘W’ tonight. We knew what stakes were being held, and we had to come out with the win to get a share of the league title,” Simmons said. “That’s what we wanted, that’s what we were shooting for, and I’m glad I was the one to be able to pave the way.
“Honestly, I’ve been struggling with my free throws lately, but when I got up there I was about the calmest I’ve ever been. I was hitting all night, and I was hitting my free throws – I don’t think I missed one all night. When I got up there, I just treated it like it was in practice. It was exciting. It was a great feeling. It gives me goosebumps.”
After those two baskets went through the hoop, the game was tied at 49 and stayed that way when regulation ended. Then came overtime, where the Indians built a lead of 58-53 with the Lions trailing with 1:06 on the clock.
The Lions — though trailing by five points — stood strong and battled back with senior Sam Buddelmeyer going strong to the basket, making the shot while being fouled. Buddelmeyer followed by sinking the free throw to get the Lions back to within three points
Peebles was fouled with 40.7 left on the clock, and both free throws attempted would have put the Lions down five, but the Lions breathed a sigh of relief with the Indians missing both free throws, keeping the Lions in the game.
Then came the shot of the night – and season – for the Lions. Beginning at the top of the key, Reese Teeters passed the ball to his left to Priest, who while being defended one-on-one drove to his right, dribbled the ball through his legs while going to his left, stopped, pump faked and took an off-balanced 3-pointer shot, bringing the Fairfield faithful to their feet as it swished through the hoop.
“I thought about it,” Priest said of taking the shot. “We had freshmen come up and I was thinking there’s only a couple seconds left, so it’s either pass it — and take a crazy pass — or just shoot it. I pump faked and I was off-balance, so I just shot it, and when it went in I was just so happy.
“I’m really happy. We deserve it because of all the practices and everything we’ve been through – it all came down to this. I thought (Peebles) had it before we went into overtime because they kept making their foul shots. Those shots that we made that led us up to overtime – it means everything. Being a sophomore and coming up to play varsity, it’s just crazy.”
A timeout was called by Peebles with around 2.1 on the clock, and they had the final shot of the game, but it failed to go through the hoop, giving Division II of the SHAC co-champions in Fairfield and Peebles.
Fairfield coach Josh Howland spoke highly of both clutch baskets and highly of his team for the way they battled on Friday.
“We do partner shooting every day, and (Priest)has a beautiful jump shot. He’s young. He lacks some confidence in his shot sometimes during the game, but we know he’s an awesome shooter. We know what he’s capable of,” Howland said. “When he shoots it, you can almost tell whether it’s in or not, and you can tell it was in.
“The free throws – Bryson Simmons was 9-for-9 from the line tonight. He’s had some times, not so much here lately but last year, where he struggled, and he made an effort to get a lot better over the summer and during the season this year. I think it paid off tonight. When nobody else is in the gym, it’s me and him, for real. The other kids are playing other sports, and that’s great, and he’s in here shooting every day. It’s pretty cool to see it pay off.”
This is the 10th SHAC championship for the Lions and their first since 2017.
Going into the game, the Lions and Peebles knew what was on the line as Fairfield was one game back of the Indians in the SHAC standings, and the closeness of the game was evident from the very first quarter and first half as the Lions were tied with the visiting Indians at 7-7.
That first frame saw Buddelmeyer — who finished with 15 points — score the first points of the game, and Simmons — who led the Lions with 19 points — sank three straight free throws after being fouled with 6:58 left in the quarter for the 5-0 lead. Peebles came back with two points from Dawson Mills, but the Lions answered with Wyatt Willey stealing the ball and taking it on a fast-break journey for the bucket, increasing the Lions’ lead at 7-2.
Peebles came on strong to end the first quarter with five straight points for a 7-7 score.
By the end of the second quarter, the Lions held a slight two-point lead at 19-17 when halftime arrived, and in that same half there were a total of seven charges called in 16 minutes.
Peebles began the second half by taking the lead with a 3-pointer by Weston Browning, but the Lions eventually answered with a free throw from Buddelmeyer and later a layup with 6:02 left in the quarter from Ethan Saunders, tying the score at 10-10. Fairfield fought back to take the lead with a 3-pointer from Austin Setty, and after two points from Peebles, Willey sank a basket. Later, Simmons scored two points with the assist by Willey off a long pass for a 17-12 lead with 3:15 left in the first half.
Peebles hit two free throws and later tied the score at 17 with a 3-pointer by Browning. The Lions took back the lead and held onto it with two points by Buddelmeyer for the 19-17 lead when halftime arrived.
The Lions outscored the Indians 15-13 in the third and still held the lead at 34-30 after three frames. Fairfield and Peebles saw the score tied at 19 and 21 in the quarter, and from the time Buddelmeyer broke the tied score at 6:25 left in the quarter, they held onto the lead.
Following a travel called on Peebles, Simmons hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 29-21 advantage with 4:34 still left in the third frame. The Lions built their lead up to 10 points at the 4:10 mark with a basket by Saunders. As the quarter continued, the Lions and Indians exchanged baskets, but it still left the Lions ahead by four points.
Once the fourth quarter arrived, the two teams counted to put forth a strong effort, but it was Peebles who began to take away the momentum from the Lions with the game eventually tied at 36 following a basket by Browning with 4:02 left in regulation. Browning led all scorers with 35 points, making a total of four 3-pointers, five two-point baskets and he was 13-of-15 from the free-throw line.
The Lions took back the lead with two points by Saunders, but then an unfortunate turn of events for the Lions occurred, beginning with a technical foul called on the Fairfield bench, resulting in what was a four-point swing with Peebles making the two free throws by Browning. Then the second half of the swing came when Peebles received possession of the basketball and Oakley Burba scored two points in the paint with 2:44 on the clock for a 40-38 lead by the Indians.
The Indians increased their lead to 44-38 with points by Kyle Lightner and Dawson Mills with the scoreboard reading 1:06. At the 56.1 mark, Simmons scored two points with a layup, and later with 45.1 left in regulation came a 3-pointer by Priest, bringing the Lions to within a point of the Indians at 44-43.
Peebles came back with two free throws by Alex Camp, making it a three-point game, but the Lions stayed in the contest with the conference championship on the line as Simmons continued to make free throws.
Peebles was fouled and made their two free throws to give themselves a 48-45 lead. Once the Lions regained possession, this time it was Priest sinking a long-range jumper with 15 seconds on the clock as he finished the game with 10 points. With a two-point differential at 49-47, then came the aforementioned late free throws by Simmons to send the game into overtime with the score tied at 49-49.
Overtime saw the Lions outscore Peebles, 10-9. Peebles opened the OT period with two points from Camp, only to see the Lions continue to play strong in clutch situations as Buddelmeyer made two free throws to tie the game at 51 and later the Lions had two made free throws from Simmons for a 53-51 lead with 2:25 on the clock.
Peebles didn’t fold, but instead regained the lead with a three-point play from Browning, and later they increased their lead to 56-53 with two free throws made by Burba. Browning then pushed the Indians’ lead to five points with two made free throws at the 1:06 mark of overtime.
Then the Lions took over for good, starting with the three-point play from Buddelmeyer and later the aforementioned game-winning 3-pointer by Priest to seal the win.
“If I didn’t have high enough blood pressure before, I got it tonight. It’s a fun ride. It’s awesome to see the kids’ work pay off because we’ve been on the other side of that. I feel for Coach Arey and his team because they played an awesome game,” Howland said. “They played hard, and he’s got the most class – as much as anyone I’ve met. He knows the game, he knew what it took to win. Things didn’t quite go his way there and he didn’t win, and he’s still classy about it. You couldn’t ask for more.
“It is special (winning the co-SHAC championship). It’s special for this group of young men. That’s what we talked about. It’s putting our stamp on this year. All the work you put in from starting all the way back a month and a half before, when you start conditioning before the first game, all the way through in your every day together. We put this much time in, we want to take something away, and they did. I think all of them together – it took every one of us, I think, in that game just to do it. I didn’t know we were going to together in that capacity, but we’ll take it.”
SHAC championship seasons for the Lions are: 1975, ’76, ’78, ’86, ’97, ’98, ’00, ’14, '17 and ’19.
Howland ended by speaking more about his team and the fan base of the Lions.
“It was everybody. I can’t just name one. It was everybody,” Howland said of winning the SHAC. “(Wyatt) Willey is the floor general throughout the game, and he fouled out. Then the other guys stepped up. (Austin) Setty stepped up on Browning, and Setty made him earn what he made. It takes everybody, and tonight was proof of that.
“The fans were awesome, and Peebles fans were awesome. It’s a class act all the way around.”
The Lions reached overtime with two clutch free throws as Simmons, a junior, had ice water flowing through his veins, sinking both attempts from the free-throw line with 4.4 seconds on the clock. Simmons made the free throws after Peebles gave him an extra few seconds to think about the shots, as they called a timeout before the attempts.
Simmons — who was 9-of-9 from the free-throw line on Friday night — spoke about the entire sequence and helping Fairfield win a co-championship in the SHAC.
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“I just wanted to go out there and give my team everything I could to get the ‘W’ tonight. We knew what stakes were being held, and we had to come out with the win to get a share of the league title,” Simmons said. “That’s what we wanted, that’s what we were shooting for, and I’m glad I was the one to be able to pave the way.
“Honestly, I’ve been struggling with my free throws lately, but when I got up there I was about the calmest I’ve ever been. I was hitting all night, and I was hitting my free throws – I don’t think I missed one all night. When I got up there, I just treated it like it was in practice. It was exciting. It was a great feeling. It gives me goosebumps.”
After those two baskets went through the hoop, the game was tied at 49 and stayed that way when regulation ended. Then came overtime, where the Indians built a lead of 58-53 with the Lions trailing with 1:06 on the clock.
The Lions — though trailing by five points — stood strong and battled back with senior Sam Buddelmeyer going strong to the basket, making the shot while being fouled. Buddelmeyer followed by sinking the free throw to get the Lions back to within three points
Peebles was fouled with 40.7 left on the clock, and both free throws attempted would have put the Lions down five, but the Lions breathed a sigh of relief with the Indians missing both free throws, keeping the Lions in the game.
Then came the shot of the night – and season – for the Lions. Beginning at the top of the key, Reese Teeters passed the ball to his left to Priest, who while being defended one-on-one drove to his right, dribbled the ball through his legs while going to his left, stopped, pump faked and took an off-balanced 3-pointer shot, bringing the Fairfield faithful to their feet as it swished through the hoop.
“I thought about it,” Priest said of taking the shot. “We had freshmen come up and I was thinking there’s only a couple seconds left, so it’s either pass it — and take a crazy pass — or just shoot it. I pump faked and I was off-balance, so I just shot it, and when it went in I was just so happy.
“I’m really happy. We deserve it because of all the practices and everything we’ve been through – it all came down to this. I thought (Peebles) had it before we went into overtime because they kept making their foul shots. Those shots that we made that led us up to overtime – it means everything. Being a sophomore and coming up to play varsity, it’s just crazy.”
A timeout was called by Peebles with around 2.1 on the clock, and they had the final shot of the game, but it failed to go through the hoop, giving Division II of the SHAC co-champions in Fairfield and Peebles.
Fairfield coach Josh Howland spoke highly of both clutch baskets and highly of his team for the way they battled on Friday.
“We do partner shooting every day, and (Priest)has a beautiful jump shot. He’s young. He lacks some confidence in his shot sometimes during the game, but we know he’s an awesome shooter. We know what he’s capable of,” Howland said. “When he shoots it, you can almost tell whether it’s in or not, and you can tell it was in.
“The free throws – Bryson Simmons was 9-for-9 from the line tonight. He’s had some times, not so much here lately but last year, where he struggled, and he made an effort to get a lot better over the summer and during the season this year. I think it paid off tonight. When nobody else is in the gym, it’s me and him, for real. The other kids are playing other sports, and that’s great, and he’s in here shooting every day. It’s pretty cool to see it pay off.”
This is the 10th SHAC championship for the Lions and their first since 2017.
Going into the game, the Lions and Peebles knew what was on the line as Fairfield was one game back of the Indians in the SHAC standings, and the closeness of the game was evident from the very first quarter and first half as the Lions were tied with the visiting Indians at 7-7.
That first frame saw Buddelmeyer — who finished with 15 points — score the first points of the game, and Simmons — who led the Lions with 19 points — sank three straight free throws after being fouled with 6:58 left in the quarter for the 5-0 lead. Peebles came back with two points from Dawson Mills, but the Lions answered with Wyatt Willey stealing the ball and taking it on a fast-break journey for the bucket, increasing the Lions’ lead at 7-2.
Peebles came on strong to end the first quarter with five straight points for a 7-7 score.
By the end of the second quarter, the Lions held a slight two-point lead at 19-17 when halftime arrived, and in that same half there were a total of seven charges called in 16 minutes.
Peebles began the second half by taking the lead with a 3-pointer by Weston Browning, but the Lions eventually answered with a free throw from Buddelmeyer and later a layup with 6:02 left in the quarter from Ethan Saunders, tying the score at 10-10. Fairfield fought back to take the lead with a 3-pointer from Austin Setty, and after two points from Peebles, Willey sank a basket. Later, Simmons scored two points with the assist by Willey off a long pass for a 17-12 lead with 3:15 left in the first half.
Peebles hit two free throws and later tied the score at 17 with a 3-pointer by Browning. The Lions took back the lead and held onto it with two points by Buddelmeyer for the 19-17 lead when halftime arrived.
The Lions outscored the Indians 15-13 in the third and still held the lead at 34-30 after three frames. Fairfield and Peebles saw the score tied at 19 and 21 in the quarter, and from the time Buddelmeyer broke the tied score at 6:25 left in the quarter, they held onto the lead.
Following a travel called on Peebles, Simmons hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 29-21 advantage with 4:34 still left in the third frame. The Lions built their lead up to 10 points at the 4:10 mark with a basket by Saunders. As the quarter continued, the Lions and Indians exchanged baskets, but it still left the Lions ahead by four points.
Once the fourth quarter arrived, the two teams counted to put forth a strong effort, but it was Peebles who began to take away the momentum from the Lions with the game eventually tied at 36 following a basket by Browning with 4:02 left in regulation. Browning led all scorers with 35 points, making a total of four 3-pointers, five two-point baskets and he was 13-of-15 from the free-throw line.
The Lions took back the lead with two points by Saunders, but then an unfortunate turn of events for the Lions occurred, beginning with a technical foul called on the Fairfield bench, resulting in what was a four-point swing with Peebles making the two free throws by Browning. Then the second half of the swing came when Peebles received possession of the basketball and Oakley Burba scored two points in the paint with 2:44 on the clock for a 40-38 lead by the Indians.
The Indians increased their lead to 44-38 with points by Kyle Lightner and Dawson Mills with the scoreboard reading 1:06. At the 56.1 mark, Simmons scored two points with a layup, and later with 45.1 left in regulation came a 3-pointer by Priest, bringing the Lions to within a point of the Indians at 44-43.
Peebles came back with two free throws by Alex Camp, making it a three-point game, but the Lions stayed in the contest with the conference championship on the line as Simmons continued to make free throws.
Peebles was fouled and made their two free throws to give themselves a 48-45 lead. Once the Lions regained possession, this time it was Priest sinking a long-range jumper with 15 seconds on the clock as he finished the game with 10 points. With a two-point differential at 49-47, then came the aforementioned late free throws by Simmons to send the game into overtime with the score tied at 49-49.
Overtime saw the Lions outscore Peebles, 10-9. Peebles opened the OT period with two points from Camp, only to see the Lions continue to play strong in clutch situations as Buddelmeyer made two free throws to tie the game at 51 and later the Lions had two made free throws from Simmons for a 53-51 lead with 2:25 on the clock.
Peebles didn’t fold, but instead regained the lead with a three-point play from Browning, and later they increased their lead to 56-53 with two free throws made by Burba. Browning then pushed the Indians’ lead to five points with two made free throws at the 1:06 mark of overtime.
Then the Lions took over for good, starting with the three-point play from Buddelmeyer and later the aforementioned game-winning 3-pointer by Priest to seal the win.
“If I didn’t have high enough blood pressure before, I got it tonight. It’s a fun ride. It’s awesome to see the kids’ work pay off because we’ve been on the other side of that. I feel for Coach Arey and his team because they played an awesome game,” Howland said. “They played hard, and he’s got the most class – as much as anyone I’ve met. He knows the game, he knew what it took to win. Things didn’t quite go his way there and he didn’t win, and he’s still classy about it. You couldn’t ask for more.
“It is special (winning the co-SHAC championship). It’s special for this group of young men. That’s what we talked about. It’s putting our stamp on this year. All the work you put in from starting all the way back a month and a half before, when you start conditioning before the first game, all the way through in your every day together. We put this much time in, we want to take something away, and they did. I think all of them together – it took every one of us, I think, in that game just to do it. I didn’t know we were going to together in that capacity, but we’ll take it.”
SHAC championship seasons for the Lions are: 1975, ’76, ’78, ’86, ’97, ’98, ’00, ’14, '17 and ’19.
Howland ended by speaking more about his team and the fan base of the Lions.
“It was everybody. I can’t just name one. It was everybody,” Howland said of winning the SHAC. “(Wyatt) Willey is the floor general throughout the game, and he fouled out. Then the other guys stepped up. (Austin) Setty stepped up on Browning, and Setty made him earn what he made. It takes everybody, and tonight was proof of that.
“The fans were awesome, and Peebles fans were awesome. It’s a class act all the way around.”