Lions are kings of the SHAC
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
For the first time in over a decade, the Fairfield Lions are champions of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, clinching the outright championship Wednesday evening by a 73-50 score against the Whiteoak Wildcats at WHS.
The Lions kept the SHAC Division II crown in Highland County for the second consecutive season, as it was Whiteoak who won the title during the 2012-13 season.
This year, however, was the year of the Lion in the SHAC as they moved to 10-1 in the conference and 13-6 overall with the 23-point victory over their Highland County foe.
FHS head coach Everett Snyder spoke about his team's accomplishment with two SHAC games left on the schedule with a game Friday at Lynchburg-Clay and on Feb. 28 at Ripley.
This was the Lions' fifth game in six days.
"It has been a while since the school has won a boys basketball league title," Snyder told The Highland County Press. "The boys have been working for this the past couple years.
"At the beginning of the season, the boys made this one of their goals for the year, and they achieved it. I'm happy for them. They earned it."
The lone SHAC loss for the Lions came on Tuesday in their home finale against the Eastern Brown Warriors.
But Wednesday was the Lions' time to shine by outscoring the host Wildcats (1-17) by a 19-8 first-quarter score. By halftime, the Lions led 39-27 with FHS leading the second at 20-19.
It was more of the same for the Lions with a 24-12 third quarter and in the fourth, the Wildcats led, 11-10.
For the Lions, four players scored at least 11 points, but it was Gage Montgomery who led all scorers with a game-high 17 points. Montgomery sank one 3-pointer and was 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. The senior also made six two-point baskets.
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Senior Blake Hildebrant followed with 16 points, making four 3-pointers. Joey Wilson tallied a double-double with the senior scoring 11 points and collecting 14 rebounds. The senior post player also had two steals and one assist.
The Lions had a total of 11 players score points.
"We were able to sub freely and get the younger kids in the varsity game," Snyder said. "It's always good to get that many kids in the game as it pays off for all their hard work in practice."
Brant Huff made three treys for the Lions, wrapping up the game with 11 points.
Also for the Lions, senior Ryan Bates scored seven points and grabbed seven boards.
Klay Walker, Cody Bennett, Matthew Leach (five rebounds), Dustin Willey and Wyatt Crothers each scored two points, and Ethan Putnam had one point.
For the Wildcats, Justin Emery led the team with 13 points (three 3-pointers), followed by Jason Jones with 11 points (one 3-pointer) and Tyler Williams scoring 10 points.
The Lions kept the SHAC Division II crown in Highland County for the second consecutive season, as it was Whiteoak who won the title during the 2012-13 season.
This year, however, was the year of the Lion in the SHAC as they moved to 10-1 in the conference and 13-6 overall with the 23-point victory over their Highland County foe.
FHS head coach Everett Snyder spoke about his team's accomplishment with two SHAC games left on the schedule with a game Friday at Lynchburg-Clay and on Feb. 28 at Ripley.
This was the Lions' fifth game in six days.
"It has been a while since the school has won a boys basketball league title," Snyder told The Highland County Press. "The boys have been working for this the past couple years.
"At the beginning of the season, the boys made this one of their goals for the year, and they achieved it. I'm happy for them. They earned it."
The lone SHAC loss for the Lions came on Tuesday in their home finale against the Eastern Brown Warriors.
But Wednesday was the Lions' time to shine by outscoring the host Wildcats (1-17) by a 19-8 first-quarter score. By halftime, the Lions led 39-27 with FHS leading the second at 20-19.
It was more of the same for the Lions with a 24-12 third quarter and in the fourth, the Wildcats led, 11-10.
For the Lions, four players scored at least 11 points, but it was Gage Montgomery who led all scorers with a game-high 17 points. Montgomery sank one 3-pointer and was 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. The senior also made six two-point baskets.
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Senior Blake Hildebrant followed with 16 points, making four 3-pointers. Joey Wilson tallied a double-double with the senior scoring 11 points and collecting 14 rebounds. The senior post player also had two steals and one assist.
The Lions had a total of 11 players score points.
"We were able to sub freely and get the younger kids in the varsity game," Snyder said. "It's always good to get that many kids in the game as it pays off for all their hard work in practice."
Brant Huff made three treys for the Lions, wrapping up the game with 11 points.
Also for the Lions, senior Ryan Bates scored seven points and grabbed seven boards.
Klay Walker, Cody Bennett, Matthew Leach (five rebounds), Dustin Willey and Wyatt Crothers each scored two points, and Ethan Putnam had one point.
For the Wildcats, Justin Emery led the team with 13 points (three 3-pointers), followed by Jason Jones with 11 points (one 3-pointer) and Tyler Williams scoring 10 points.