Lions dominate rival Whiteoak
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — From the first quarter to the final buzzer, the Fairfield Lions showed why they are in first place in Division II of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference by defeating Highland County rival Whiteoak, 77-37 Friday night at Grandle Gymnasium.
From the very start, the Lions were in control, following having a week in between games as they built an 11-0 lead with 4:46 left in the opening frame.
"We came out and ran two or three different presses at them and forced them to make adjustments," FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. "We got the athletes to press.
"Once we got a bit of a lead, we backed off of the press and tried to play them in a half-court set."
The scoring run began with a layup from Gage Montgomery, followed by a put-back bucket from Joey Wilson and a jumper off a turnover from Blake Hildebrant.
Hildebrant followed that with a 3-pointer at the 4:46 mark for the aforementioned 11-point lead.
"Blake shoots excellent in practice," Snyder said.
Justin Emery broke the scoring run with a three-point play at the 4:38 mark, followed by two points from teammate Jason Jones.
Following those five WHS points, the Lions answered with 16 straight points to end the opening frame for a 24-point advantage.
That run of points by the Lions began with a layup by Montgomery, then with six straight points by Ryan Bates, including one of the baskets being assisted by Cody Bennett.
Bates led the Lions and all scorers with 16 points, as five players for the Lions finished with at least 10 points.
Montgomery, who totaled 11 points, then added four points, followed by a three-point play by Bates with 1:04 left in the first frame. The quarter ended with a free throw by Montgomery and a put-back basket from Wilson.
"We had a week off, and I didn't know if we would have a bit of a let down after beating Peebles, but we came back and the kids picked up from where they left off," Snyder said.
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The second quarter saw the Lions build a 46-14 lead into the halftime break.
This quarter saw Montgomery, Brant Huff, Dustin Willey and Wilson combine for 17 points, including two 3-pointers by Willey and one from Huff.
Wilson finished with 12 points, while Willey totaled 10 for the game.
WHS improved their play in the second frame with Emery, Brandon Ashbaugh, Kyle Adams and Tyler Williams scoring nine points. Emery led the Wildcats with 13 points.
"They came out and took us out of pretty much everything we wanted to do," WHS head coach Tom Wessner said. "We calmed for about four or five minutes in the second half and started playing a little bit. By that time, it was too late."
As for the second half, the Lions outscored the Wildcats, 21-14 in the third, and in the fourth, they led WHS, 10-9 with all nine WHS points by Emery, including two 3-pointers.
In the third for the Lions, Bennett sank a 3-pointer, as did Hildebrant, who ended the game with 10 points.
Also in the third, Bates, Matthew Leach, Willey and Wilson all contributed. The fourth saw Leach add six more points to the FHS side and Wyatt Crothers score four points.
In JV play, FHS defeated the Wildcats, 59-33. Leading the Lions was Wyatt Evans with 21 points. Four players for WHS each scored six points.
FHS will play again on Saturday as they travel to face the Adena Warriors in non-league play.
From the very start, the Lions were in control, following having a week in between games as they built an 11-0 lead with 4:46 left in the opening frame.
"We came out and ran two or three different presses at them and forced them to make adjustments," FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. "We got the athletes to press.
"Once we got a bit of a lead, we backed off of the press and tried to play them in a half-court set."
The scoring run began with a layup from Gage Montgomery, followed by a put-back bucket from Joey Wilson and a jumper off a turnover from Blake Hildebrant.
Hildebrant followed that with a 3-pointer at the 4:46 mark for the aforementioned 11-point lead.
"Blake shoots excellent in practice," Snyder said.
Justin Emery broke the scoring run with a three-point play at the 4:38 mark, followed by two points from teammate Jason Jones.
Following those five WHS points, the Lions answered with 16 straight points to end the opening frame for a 24-point advantage.
That run of points by the Lions began with a layup by Montgomery, then with six straight points by Ryan Bates, including one of the baskets being assisted by Cody Bennett.
Bates led the Lions and all scorers with 16 points, as five players for the Lions finished with at least 10 points.
Montgomery, who totaled 11 points, then added four points, followed by a three-point play by Bates with 1:04 left in the first frame. The quarter ended with a free throw by Montgomery and a put-back basket from Wilson.
"We had a week off, and I didn't know if we would have a bit of a let down after beating Peebles, but we came back and the kids picked up from where they left off," Snyder said.
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The second quarter saw the Lions build a 46-14 lead into the halftime break.
This quarter saw Montgomery, Brant Huff, Dustin Willey and Wilson combine for 17 points, including two 3-pointers by Willey and one from Huff.
Wilson finished with 12 points, while Willey totaled 10 for the game.
WHS improved their play in the second frame with Emery, Brandon Ashbaugh, Kyle Adams and Tyler Williams scoring nine points. Emery led the Wildcats with 13 points.
"They came out and took us out of pretty much everything we wanted to do," WHS head coach Tom Wessner said. "We calmed for about four or five minutes in the second half and started playing a little bit. By that time, it was too late."
As for the second half, the Lions outscored the Wildcats, 21-14 in the third, and in the fourth, they led WHS, 10-9 with all nine WHS points by Emery, including two 3-pointers.
In the third for the Lions, Bennett sank a 3-pointer, as did Hildebrant, who ended the game with 10 points.
Also in the third, Bates, Matthew Leach, Willey and Wilson all contributed. The fourth saw Leach add six more points to the FHS side and Wyatt Crothers score four points.
In JV play, FHS defeated the Wildcats, 59-33. Leading the Lions was Wyatt Evans with 21 points. Four players for WHS each scored six points.
FHS will play again on Saturday as they travel to face the Adena Warriors in non-league play.