Final seconds send Fairfield to road loss at Fayetteville
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
FAYETTEVILLE — The first half wasn’t kind to the Fairfield Lions as they were unable to keep pace with the host Fayetteville Rockets in their Division II Southern Hills Athletic Conference showdown, as the Rockets won by a 61-59 score to shake up the standings in the conference.
The victory by the Rockets gives them the regular-season series sweep over the Lions as they won the first meet at Fairfield on Friday, Dec. 15 by a 51-41 score.
On Tuesday night in Fayetteville, the win wasn’t as dominant, and the host team took advantage of some miscues by the Lions as Fairfield trailed by nine points at halftime and by as many as 11 points in the third frame.
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“We put ourselves in the hole in the first half. We played harder in the second half, but I wouldn’t say we played better because we made some mistakes,” FHS head coach Josh Howland said. “James turned his ankle in warmups, and he wasn’t himself the whole night and we had to basically sit him out in the second half. That played some role, but not too much … we just have to play better.
“Hats off to Fayetteville, they played hard the whole game. Fayetteville wanted it more … every loose ball, they wanted it more in the first half. In the second half, we started playing like we wanted to be here, and that was the difference. You have to want it all the time and not just half the time.”
The Lions (4-4, 9-5) trailed by a 32-23 score at halftime, but by the end of the third frame they cut the Rockets’ lead down to just two points at 46-44, even tying the score with 5.1 seconds left in the quarter.
In outscoring the Rockets 21-14 in the third frame, Fairfield opened the third with points from Cody Gragg to make it a seven-point scoring differential. Gragg finished the game with 26 points.
Though the Rockets (5-4, 8-7) regained the nine-point lead, Fairfield came back with four straight points, including two points by Sam Buddelmeyer at the 6:28 mark of the quarter as he finished with eight points.
The five-point deficit was increased to 11 points three minutes later with the Rockets scoring six straight points from Luke Wiederhold and Zak Smyth, with Wiederhold sinking a jumper and later a free throw and Smyth converting a three-point play.
As the quarter continued, the Lions eventually got things rolling, trailing by eight points, in the final 48 seconds of the third with a 3-pointer from Wyatt Willey, followed by a layup by Bryson Simmons — who totaled nine points — and a three-point play from Gragg with 5.1 on the clock to tie the game at 44-44. A put-back bucket at the buzzer by Fayetteville’s Wiederhold gave them a two-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
In the early stages of the fourth quarter, Gragg tied the game at 46 with a put-back basket, and less than a minute later, with 5:34 left in the quarter, he stole the basketball and went the the hoop for two points, giving the Lions a 48-46 advantage.
The Rockets tied the game 10 seconds later, but Gragg was there once again to push the Lions ahead of the host Fayetteville squad by sinking a 3-pointer with 5:06 on the scoreboard.
The score continued to stay close for each ball club, but the Rockets jumped back in front with 3:55 on the clock with a layup by Wiederhold, and at the 3:34 mark he pushed the home team’s lead to three points with two free-throw conversions.
Gragg was there to give the Lions a shot at winning the game with a layup with 2:32 left in regulation, and following a timeout and a Fayetteville miss at the hoop, Gragg was fouled and converted two free throw chances for a 57-56 Fairfield lead. The Lions then increased their lead to three points off points in the paint by Buddelmeyer.
Fayetteville slugged back with a two-point basket of their own with just under a minute left in the game, and with 34.3 seconds left, the Lions were called for a travel, giving the Rockets possession of the basketball. The Rockets responded by scoring two more points from a basket by Wiederhold, leaving just 11.7 in game time.
The Lions had one chance as they later tried to inbound the basketball, but they didn’t get a clean shot off with the ball being deflected and rebounded by the home team. Bowen Doane gave Fayetteville a two-point lead with a free throw make, as they won by two points.
In the first half, the Lions trailed 16-12 with their points being scored by Gragg, Buddelmeyer, Simmons and Tucker Ayres. Their 11 points in the second quarter came from Gragg and Ayres, with Ayres sinking a 3-pointer. Ayres finished with 11 points. Also in the game for the Lions, Quintin Beatty scored two points.
Fayetteville was led by Wiederhold with 26 points, followed by Smyth with 15 points and Doane with 11 points.
The free throw shooting for the Lions saw them have few attempts, but they were perfect at 5-for-5, while the Rockets were 6-of-21 (29 percent).
Next for the Lions is a SHAC makeup game on Wednesday, Jan. 24 vs. Manchester. From there, the Lions will host Eastern Brown on Friday, Jan. 26 in another SHAC game.
The victory by the Rockets gives them the regular-season series sweep over the Lions as they won the first meet at Fairfield on Friday, Dec. 15 by a 51-41 score.
On Tuesday night in Fayetteville, the win wasn’t as dominant, and the host team took advantage of some miscues by the Lions as Fairfield trailed by nine points at halftime and by as many as 11 points in the third frame.
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“We put ourselves in the hole in the first half. We played harder in the second half, but I wouldn’t say we played better because we made some mistakes,” FHS head coach Josh Howland said. “James turned his ankle in warmups, and he wasn’t himself the whole night and we had to basically sit him out in the second half. That played some role, but not too much … we just have to play better.
“Hats off to Fayetteville, they played hard the whole game. Fayetteville wanted it more … every loose ball, they wanted it more in the first half. In the second half, we started playing like we wanted to be here, and that was the difference. You have to want it all the time and not just half the time.”
The Lions (4-4, 9-5) trailed by a 32-23 score at halftime, but by the end of the third frame they cut the Rockets’ lead down to just two points at 46-44, even tying the score with 5.1 seconds left in the quarter.
In outscoring the Rockets 21-14 in the third frame, Fairfield opened the third with points from Cody Gragg to make it a seven-point scoring differential. Gragg finished the game with 26 points.
Though the Rockets (5-4, 8-7) regained the nine-point lead, Fairfield came back with four straight points, including two points by Sam Buddelmeyer at the 6:28 mark of the quarter as he finished with eight points.
The five-point deficit was increased to 11 points three minutes later with the Rockets scoring six straight points from Luke Wiederhold and Zak Smyth, with Wiederhold sinking a jumper and later a free throw and Smyth converting a three-point play.
As the quarter continued, the Lions eventually got things rolling, trailing by eight points, in the final 48 seconds of the third with a 3-pointer from Wyatt Willey, followed by a layup by Bryson Simmons — who totaled nine points — and a three-point play from Gragg with 5.1 on the clock to tie the game at 44-44. A put-back bucket at the buzzer by Fayetteville’s Wiederhold gave them a two-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
In the early stages of the fourth quarter, Gragg tied the game at 46 with a put-back basket, and less than a minute later, with 5:34 left in the quarter, he stole the basketball and went the the hoop for two points, giving the Lions a 48-46 advantage.
The Rockets tied the game 10 seconds later, but Gragg was there once again to push the Lions ahead of the host Fayetteville squad by sinking a 3-pointer with 5:06 on the scoreboard.
The score continued to stay close for each ball club, but the Rockets jumped back in front with 3:55 on the clock with a layup by Wiederhold, and at the 3:34 mark he pushed the home team’s lead to three points with two free-throw conversions.
Gragg was there to give the Lions a shot at winning the game with a layup with 2:32 left in regulation, and following a timeout and a Fayetteville miss at the hoop, Gragg was fouled and converted two free throw chances for a 57-56 Fairfield lead. The Lions then increased their lead to three points off points in the paint by Buddelmeyer.
Fayetteville slugged back with a two-point basket of their own with just under a minute left in the game, and with 34.3 seconds left, the Lions were called for a travel, giving the Rockets possession of the basketball. The Rockets responded by scoring two more points from a basket by Wiederhold, leaving just 11.7 in game time.
The Lions had one chance as they later tried to inbound the basketball, but they didn’t get a clean shot off with the ball being deflected and rebounded by the home team. Bowen Doane gave Fayetteville a two-point lead with a free throw make, as they won by two points.
In the first half, the Lions trailed 16-12 with their points being scored by Gragg, Buddelmeyer, Simmons and Tucker Ayres. Their 11 points in the second quarter came from Gragg and Ayres, with Ayres sinking a 3-pointer. Ayres finished with 11 points. Also in the game for the Lions, Quintin Beatty scored two points.
Fayetteville was led by Wiederhold with 26 points, followed by Smyth with 15 points and Doane with 11 points.
The free throw shooting for the Lions saw them have few attempts, but they were perfect at 5-for-5, while the Rockets were 6-of-21 (29 percent).
Next for the Lions is a SHAC makeup game on Wednesday, Jan. 24 vs. Manchester. From there, the Lions will host Eastern Brown on Friday, Jan. 26 in another SHAC game.