Daulton sends Lions to sectional championship; advance to district semifinals
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The Fairfield Lions extended their season to the district round of the postseason, defeating the Sciotoville East Tartans, 76-73 at Northwest High School in the Division IV SE District Sectional Finals, Tuesday night.
The Lions did so with senior Jensen Daulton sinking a game-winning 3-pointer with 2.7 left in regulation to send the Lions to a sectional championship. Daulton finished with 29 points, sinking four 3-pointers.
Fairfield’s win sends them to the Ohio University Convocation Center for the Division IV SE District Semifinals on Tuesday, March 7 vs. No. 1 seeded Waterford at 6:15 p.m. The sectional championship by the Lions is their 15th in school history, with this one being their seventh sectional title since 2000. The win over East also avenges a loss to them last year in the sectional final.
No. 4 seeded Fairfield (17-6) played some of their best basketball of the season, capitalizing on second chance opportunities, with that showing in a 44-32 halftime lead.
Also in double figures for the Lions (who were the Division II Southern Hills Athletic Conference champions) were Wyatt Evans and Tucker Ayres with 11 points each, followed by Jesse Current with 10 points. Also for the Lions, Klay Walker scored seven points, Cody Gragg totaled six points and Mason Cain scored two points.
The game began with the No. 5 Tartans scoring the first four points, but the Lions didn’t sweat it. Instead, they eventually tied the game at 6-6 with two 3-pointers from Daulton, followed by points from Walker, Current and Evans for a 12-8 advantage.
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Later in the quarter, Daulton made it a six-point lead following two points scored, and later Evans pushed the Lions lead to 16-8. Daulton also sank three free throws after being fouled for a 19-10 advantage with around 1:30 left in the quarter. East scored four straight points, only to see the Lions score two points from Gragg in the final seconds of the first frame for a 21-14 lead.
Ayres and Cain combined with six points to open the second frame for a 27-14 Fairfield advantage, and later, a 3-point play from Daulton pushed the FHS lead to a 30-19 score.
Ayres and Current combined for a six-point stretch of scoring in the second frame, leaving the Lions ahead, 36-23. Current increased the FHS lead to 12 points following an East 3-pointer, and Evans scored four points for a 42-29 score. East came back with four straight points, but the Lions scored last in the second with two points from Daulton for the 44-32 halftime score.
The two teams battled early in the third with the two teams exchanging shots on three occasions, with Daulton sinking a 3-pointer to push the Lions lead to 53-40. A few moments later, Ayres scored two points to put the Lions up 57-43. The Tartans answered with a 3-pointer of their own to make it an 11-point deficit. The Tartans cut the FHS lead to 10 points with a free throw conversion.
That lead increased with the Lions scoring points late in the third, with the final points of the frame coming off a 3-pointer from Daulton, leaving the score 62-47 after three quarters for a 15-point lead in favor of the Lions.
East opened the fourth quarter with two free throws, then added another two points to cut the Lions lead to 11 points. Daulton came back with two points for FHS, then the Tartans sank a 3-pointer to make it a 64-54 score.
Evans came back with two points, but the Tartans sank one free throw to make it a 66-55 deficit for East midway through the fourth. East slashed the FHS lead to single digits at eight points at 66-58.
Following a timeout called by the Lions, the Tartans stole the ball and scored two points on a fast break to make it a six-point differential at 66-60 at the 5:18 mark of the fourth quarter. East continued to pressure the Lions by gaining a rebound, taking the ball down the court for two more points, making the score 66-62 still in favor of the Lions.
The Tartans got back to within four points of the Lions after two points, then forced a turnover and added two more points to their side of the scoreboard for a 68-66 lead with the Lions still in front with around 3:00 left in the quarter.
After the Lions missed a basket, the Tartans rebounded the ball, but Current forced a turnover on a steal, keeping the Tartans from tying the score. That play resulted in Walker going to the free-throw line, making both free throws.
Walker then stole the ball as the Tartans let the ball roll to save time, resulting in the Lions scoring two points from Current, increasing their lead to six points at 72-66 with under two minutes remaining in regulation.
The Lions missed two free throws, only to see the Tartans rebound the ball, go down court and sink a 3-pointer near the one-minute mark for a 72-69 score. The FHS lead then went to one point to 72-71 with under one minute left in regulation.
Ayres was fouled with 20 seconds on the clock, but a 3-pointer by Daulton with 2.7 left in the game put the Lions up 76-73, sending the Lions to a win.
The Tartans were led by Akia Brown with 34 points, followed by Kyle Flannery and Will Shope with 16 points each.
Thanks to C103 FM for contributing to the article.
Follow them on Twitter at: @C103Country.
The Lions did so with senior Jensen Daulton sinking a game-winning 3-pointer with 2.7 left in regulation to send the Lions to a sectional championship. Daulton finished with 29 points, sinking four 3-pointers.
Fairfield’s win sends them to the Ohio University Convocation Center for the Division IV SE District Semifinals on Tuesday, March 7 vs. No. 1 seeded Waterford at 6:15 p.m. The sectional championship by the Lions is their 15th in school history, with this one being their seventh sectional title since 2000. The win over East also avenges a loss to them last year in the sectional final.
No. 4 seeded Fairfield (17-6) played some of their best basketball of the season, capitalizing on second chance opportunities, with that showing in a 44-32 halftime lead.
Also in double figures for the Lions (who were the Division II Southern Hills Athletic Conference champions) were Wyatt Evans and Tucker Ayres with 11 points each, followed by Jesse Current with 10 points. Also for the Lions, Klay Walker scored seven points, Cody Gragg totaled six points and Mason Cain scored two points.
The game began with the No. 5 Tartans scoring the first four points, but the Lions didn’t sweat it. Instead, they eventually tied the game at 6-6 with two 3-pointers from Daulton, followed by points from Walker, Current and Evans for a 12-8 advantage.
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Later in the quarter, Daulton made it a six-point lead following two points scored, and later Evans pushed the Lions lead to 16-8. Daulton also sank three free throws after being fouled for a 19-10 advantage with around 1:30 left in the quarter. East scored four straight points, only to see the Lions score two points from Gragg in the final seconds of the first frame for a 21-14 lead.
Ayres and Cain combined with six points to open the second frame for a 27-14 Fairfield advantage, and later, a 3-point play from Daulton pushed the FHS lead to a 30-19 score.
Ayres and Current combined for a six-point stretch of scoring in the second frame, leaving the Lions ahead, 36-23. Current increased the FHS lead to 12 points following an East 3-pointer, and Evans scored four points for a 42-29 score. East came back with four straight points, but the Lions scored last in the second with two points from Daulton for the 44-32 halftime score.
The two teams battled early in the third with the two teams exchanging shots on three occasions, with Daulton sinking a 3-pointer to push the Lions lead to 53-40. A few moments later, Ayres scored two points to put the Lions up 57-43. The Tartans answered with a 3-pointer of their own to make it an 11-point deficit. The Tartans cut the FHS lead to 10 points with a free throw conversion.
That lead increased with the Lions scoring points late in the third, with the final points of the frame coming off a 3-pointer from Daulton, leaving the score 62-47 after three quarters for a 15-point lead in favor of the Lions.
East opened the fourth quarter with two free throws, then added another two points to cut the Lions lead to 11 points. Daulton came back with two points for FHS, then the Tartans sank a 3-pointer to make it a 64-54 score.
Evans came back with two points, but the Tartans sank one free throw to make it a 66-55 deficit for East midway through the fourth. East slashed the FHS lead to single digits at eight points at 66-58.
Following a timeout called by the Lions, the Tartans stole the ball and scored two points on a fast break to make it a six-point differential at 66-60 at the 5:18 mark of the fourth quarter. East continued to pressure the Lions by gaining a rebound, taking the ball down the court for two more points, making the score 66-62 still in favor of the Lions.
The Tartans got back to within four points of the Lions after two points, then forced a turnover and added two more points to their side of the scoreboard for a 68-66 lead with the Lions still in front with around 3:00 left in the quarter.
After the Lions missed a basket, the Tartans rebounded the ball, but Current forced a turnover on a steal, keeping the Tartans from tying the score. That play resulted in Walker going to the free-throw line, making both free throws.
Walker then stole the ball as the Tartans let the ball roll to save time, resulting in the Lions scoring two points from Current, increasing their lead to six points at 72-66 with under two minutes remaining in regulation.
The Lions missed two free throws, only to see the Tartans rebound the ball, go down court and sink a 3-pointer near the one-minute mark for a 72-69 score. The FHS lead then went to one point to 72-71 with under one minute left in regulation.
Ayres was fouled with 20 seconds on the clock, but a 3-pointer by Daulton with 2.7 left in the game put the Lions up 76-73, sending the Lions to a win.
The Tartans were led by Akia Brown with 34 points, followed by Kyle Flannery and Will Shope with 16 points each.
Thanks to C103 FM for contributing to the article.
Follow them on Twitter at: @C103Country.