Lions earn 13th win of season; defeat county rival Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — On back-to-back nights, the Fairfield Lions defended their home court at Grandle Gymnasium. On Wednesday, the Lions did so by keeping their opponents off the boards and never trailing against Highland County counterpart Hillsboro in their annual rivalry showdown.
This year, the score was tied at 27 after two frames, but the second half the Lions came out of the gate with a 20-point third frame, mixed in with another 20 points in the fourth to feed off the visiting Indians, 67-53 for a 14-point victory.
“We challenged the kids at halftime,” FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. “Our freshman team was down 18 points at halftime, and they came back and won. We challenged our varsity players to get the job done like the freshman and JV teams did.
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“The kids came out in the third quarter and took it to them. They did a better job on things than they did in the first half. Coming out like we did in the third, the kids came out and got the ball where it needed to be. We missed too many inside shots. We have to protect the ball more when going up because we had the height advantage this game. We have to do a better job with that.”
The Lions (13-5, 8-2 in the SHAC) came out strong with a 6-0 run in less than two minutes as Cody Gragg, Jesse Current and Wyatt Evans all scored for FHS. After the Indians scored four straight points off baskets by Josh Keets, Current contributed two more points with a layup, then the Lions added a 3-pointer by Jensen Daulton at the 4:18 mark for a 11-4 Fairfield lead.
Daulton led the Lions with 20 points, while Current was also in double figures with 12 points. The Lions had two more players finish with 11 points in Evans and Klay Walker, giving the four players in double figures.
The first frame continued with the Indians (3-7, 3-15) getting back to within three points of the hosts, but a second trey from Daulton at the 3:15 mark gave Fairfield a 14-8 advantage. HHS answered quickly with a 3-pointer by Cameron Reed with 2:55 remaining in the opening quarter.
Both teams continued to battle, but once the first quarter came to a close, the Lions led by a 22-17 score.
The second-quarter scoring was considerably lower for both teams, as the Indians won the frame at 10-5 and forced a 27-27 tied score after two frames.
Ethan Watson scored six of the 10 points for HHS in the second frame, including making two baskets to start the quarter, bringing the Indians to within a point of the Lions at 22-21 with 6:08 on the clock.
James Bentley brought the Lions back ahead three points with a put-back basket, but that was answered with two points by Keets. Evans had an answer for those points with points in the paint of his own, but Hillsboro’s Mason Swayne equaled the feat of Evans with a layup with 2:17 on the clock.
Following a Fairfield free throw conversion, Watson tied the score at 27 for the final points of the first half at the 1:58 mark of the second frame. Watson led all scorers with 23 points.
The second half saw FHS score 20 points in the third, a quarter that included points from Gragg, Walker, Evans, Daulton and Current. FHS saw Walker take charge in the third with a 3-pointer, two two-point baskets and one free throw conversion.
Hillsboro tallied a 14-point third frame with Watson scoring eight of those points, all off two-point field goals. Also for HHS in the third, Matthew Ryan, Kelton Anderson and Keets were all a part of the scoring process for the Indians. Keets finished with 14 points for the Indians.
In the fourth, the Lions sealed the Highland County win with a 20-12 quarter. HHS had five points from Reed in the fourth, including a 3-pointer, three points by Watson and two points from both Ty Haithcock and Keets.
In the fourth, Gragg, Evans and Current each scored two points for Fairfield, while Walker sank a 3-pointer. Leading FHS in the fourth in the scoring column was Daulton, who scored 11 points in the final eight minutes, including a 3-pointer with 5:22 left in regulation.
The Fairfield freshmen and JV teams also won their games over Hillsboro.
Next for the Lions is a Southern Hills Athletic Conference game against the North Adams Green Devils, Friday for the FHS homecoming game. With a win, the Lions can clinch the outright SHAC Div. II championship.
“North Adams is the only team who can mathematically tie us, but that would mean they would have to win the rest of the league games and we would have to lose them all,” Snyder said. “We just have to come do the job Friday night, win the game and not leave it up to chance.”
This year, the score was tied at 27 after two frames, but the second half the Lions came out of the gate with a 20-point third frame, mixed in with another 20 points in the fourth to feed off the visiting Indians, 67-53 for a 14-point victory.
“We challenged the kids at halftime,” FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. “Our freshman team was down 18 points at halftime, and they came back and won. We challenged our varsity players to get the job done like the freshman and JV teams did.
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“The kids came out in the third quarter and took it to them. They did a better job on things than they did in the first half. Coming out like we did in the third, the kids came out and got the ball where it needed to be. We missed too many inside shots. We have to protect the ball more when going up because we had the height advantage this game. We have to do a better job with that.”
The Lions (13-5, 8-2 in the SHAC) came out strong with a 6-0 run in less than two minutes as Cody Gragg, Jesse Current and Wyatt Evans all scored for FHS. After the Indians scored four straight points off baskets by Josh Keets, Current contributed two more points with a layup, then the Lions added a 3-pointer by Jensen Daulton at the 4:18 mark for a 11-4 Fairfield lead.
Daulton led the Lions with 20 points, while Current was also in double figures with 12 points. The Lions had two more players finish with 11 points in Evans and Klay Walker, giving the four players in double figures.
The first frame continued with the Indians (3-7, 3-15) getting back to within three points of the hosts, but a second trey from Daulton at the 3:15 mark gave Fairfield a 14-8 advantage. HHS answered quickly with a 3-pointer by Cameron Reed with 2:55 remaining in the opening quarter.
Both teams continued to battle, but once the first quarter came to a close, the Lions led by a 22-17 score.
The second-quarter scoring was considerably lower for both teams, as the Indians won the frame at 10-5 and forced a 27-27 tied score after two frames.
Ethan Watson scored six of the 10 points for HHS in the second frame, including making two baskets to start the quarter, bringing the Indians to within a point of the Lions at 22-21 with 6:08 on the clock.
James Bentley brought the Lions back ahead three points with a put-back basket, but that was answered with two points by Keets. Evans had an answer for those points with points in the paint of his own, but Hillsboro’s Mason Swayne equaled the feat of Evans with a layup with 2:17 on the clock.
Following a Fairfield free throw conversion, Watson tied the score at 27 for the final points of the first half at the 1:58 mark of the second frame. Watson led all scorers with 23 points.
The second half saw FHS score 20 points in the third, a quarter that included points from Gragg, Walker, Evans, Daulton and Current. FHS saw Walker take charge in the third with a 3-pointer, two two-point baskets and one free throw conversion.
Hillsboro tallied a 14-point third frame with Watson scoring eight of those points, all off two-point field goals. Also for HHS in the third, Matthew Ryan, Kelton Anderson and Keets were all a part of the scoring process for the Indians. Keets finished with 14 points for the Indians.
In the fourth, the Lions sealed the Highland County win with a 20-12 quarter. HHS had five points from Reed in the fourth, including a 3-pointer, three points by Watson and two points from both Ty Haithcock and Keets.
In the fourth, Gragg, Evans and Current each scored two points for Fairfield, while Walker sank a 3-pointer. Leading FHS in the fourth in the scoring column was Daulton, who scored 11 points in the final eight minutes, including a 3-pointer with 5:22 left in regulation.
The Fairfield freshmen and JV teams also won their games over Hillsboro.
Next for the Lions is a Southern Hills Athletic Conference game against the North Adams Green Devils, Friday for the FHS homecoming game. With a win, the Lions can clinch the outright SHAC Div. II championship.
“North Adams is the only team who can mathematically tie us, but that would mean they would have to win the rest of the league games and we would have to lose them all,” Snyder said. “We just have to come do the job Friday night, win the game and not leave it up to chance.”