Lions drop SHL game to Ripley
Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
RIPLEY — The Fairfield Lions dropped their first Southern Hills League contest of the season Friday night to the Ripley Blue Jays, falling by a score of 73-59.
The first quarter saw the Lions strike first with a quick basket to take an early 2-0 lead, but that would be the only time they led in the contest, as they would be forced to play catch-up the rest of the game.
Ripley and their high-powered offense scorched to a 21-14 first-quarter advantage.
In the second, the home team (RHS) would push their halftime lead to 37-27.
At the start of the third, the Lions answered with six quick points to cut the deficit to four points (37-33), but the Blue Jays' offense, again, soared by ending the third on a 19-5 run to push their lead to 56-42.
The final quarter saw the Lions and Blue Jays tie at 17 points each.
“We were unable to take care of the basketball at crucial times and they dominated us on the offensive glass," Fairfield head coach Matt Carson said. “We wanted to slow down their transition game, and we were unable to do that as we played catch-up most of the night.
"Their quick start made us go outside of what we’re comfortable doing, and that hurt.”
Elijah Carmean had a career-high in points for the Lions, scoring 16.
“Elijah has been working hard in practice to get better, and he played with a purpose (Friday)," Carson said. "I was very proud of the game he had on the offensive end tonight.”
Junior counterpart Quentin Williams led the Lions with 18 points, followed by the aforementioned Carmean, who had 16. Blake Hildebrant, Austin Hildebrant, Brad Clay, and Cole Putnam tallied four each, while Austin May added three.
Gage Montgomery, Wes Willey and Ryan Bates each tallied two.
Jordan Mitchell led the Blue Jays with 20 points, with 18 of those coming from the three-point arc. Logan Perkins added 17 points, followed by Riley Saelens with 16.
The loss drops the Lions to 3-3 overall, 2-1 in the SHL. Ripley improves to 5-0 with an SHL mark of 3-0.
The Lions will be in action again Tuesday night, as they travel to play the Whiteoak Wildcats 2-2 (1-1, SHL) at WHS. Freshman play starts at 4:30.
FHS 14 13 15 17 — 59
RHS 21 16 19 17 — 73
INDIVIDUAL STATS
FHS (59)
Q.Williams 4 (2) 4-6 18
E.Carmean 3 (3) 1-1 16
A. Hildebrant 2 4
B. Hildebrant 2 4
B.Clay 1 2-2 4
C.Putnam 2 0-2 4
A.May (1) 3
G.Montgomery 1 2
W.Willey 1 2
R.Bates 2-3 2
TOTALS: 16 (6) 9-14 59
RHS
Mitchell 1 (6) 20
Perkins 6 5-6 17
Saelens 4 (2) 2-2 16
Haley 1 4-6 6
Brooks 2 4
Bennett 2 4
Bradford 2 0-1 4
Arnett 2-2 2
TOTALS: 18 (8) 13-17 73[[In-content Ad]]
The first quarter saw the Lions strike first with a quick basket to take an early 2-0 lead, but that would be the only time they led in the contest, as they would be forced to play catch-up the rest of the game.
Ripley and their high-powered offense scorched to a 21-14 first-quarter advantage.
In the second, the home team (RHS) would push their halftime lead to 37-27.
At the start of the third, the Lions answered with six quick points to cut the deficit to four points (37-33), but the Blue Jays' offense, again, soared by ending the third on a 19-5 run to push their lead to 56-42.
The final quarter saw the Lions and Blue Jays tie at 17 points each.
“We were unable to take care of the basketball at crucial times and they dominated us on the offensive glass," Fairfield head coach Matt Carson said. “We wanted to slow down their transition game, and we were unable to do that as we played catch-up most of the night.
"Their quick start made us go outside of what we’re comfortable doing, and that hurt.”
Elijah Carmean had a career-high in points for the Lions, scoring 16.
“Elijah has been working hard in practice to get better, and he played with a purpose (Friday)," Carson said. "I was very proud of the game he had on the offensive end tonight.”
Junior counterpart Quentin Williams led the Lions with 18 points, followed by the aforementioned Carmean, who had 16. Blake Hildebrant, Austin Hildebrant, Brad Clay, and Cole Putnam tallied four each, while Austin May added three.
Gage Montgomery, Wes Willey and Ryan Bates each tallied two.
Jordan Mitchell led the Blue Jays with 20 points, with 18 of those coming from the three-point arc. Logan Perkins added 17 points, followed by Riley Saelens with 16.
The loss drops the Lions to 3-3 overall, 2-1 in the SHL. Ripley improves to 5-0 with an SHL mark of 3-0.
The Lions will be in action again Tuesday night, as they travel to play the Whiteoak Wildcats 2-2 (1-1, SHL) at WHS. Freshman play starts at 4:30.
FHS 14 13 15 17 — 59
RHS 21 16 19 17 — 73
INDIVIDUAL STATS
FHS (59)
Q.Williams 4 (2) 4-6 18
E.Carmean 3 (3) 1-1 16
A. Hildebrant 2 4
B. Hildebrant 2 4
B.Clay 1 2-2 4
C.Putnam 2 0-2 4
A.May (1) 3
G.Montgomery 1 2
W.Willey 1 2
R.Bates 2-3 2
TOTALS: 16 (6) 9-14 59
RHS
Mitchell 1 (6) 20
Perkins 6 5-6 17
Saelens 4 (2) 2-2 16
Haley 1 4-6 6
Brooks 2 4
Bennett 2 4
Bradford 2 0-1 4
Arnett 2-2 2
TOTALS: 18 (8) 13-17 73[[In-content Ad]]