Lions move on to Convo; defeat St. Joseph for sectional championship
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MCDERMOTT — Fairfield is going back to the Ohio University Convocation Center after a one-year hiatus.
The Lions played a dominating game from the second quarter on against the Ironton St. Joseph Flyers — in the Division IV SE District Sectional Finals — winning by a 57-39 score on Tuesday night at Northwest High School.
Fairfield won their 16th sectional title by having their usual balanced scoring attack, but their defense also stepped up their level of play in the second and third frames, where they held the St. Joseph squad to just five combined points in those frames, all from free throws. Fairfield in those same two quarters combined for 28 points, resulting in their first trip to the Convo since 2017.
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The Flyers went from the 2:13 mark of the first quarter to around the 7:00 mark of the fourth without a basket from the field, a span of game where they were held to five free throws.
Fairfield head coach Josh Howland — who won his first sectional title as the Lions head coach — spoke about the big win for Fairfield and what it means to him and his players to get back to playing at the campus of Ohio University.
“It is a feeling that there is nothing better in tournament time than to play at the Convo,” Howland told The Highland County Press. “It is the second season, and it has begun right. The way we came out tonight is the way you have to play in the tournament. In the first quarter, we didn’t and let them get a couple shots, and it made it seem worse than what it was because (St. Joseph) didn’t score much in the second and third quarter.
“They made a run at us early on, we called a timeout and then I thought the boys played well. The boys just locked down, and they just started talking to each other. It is loud here, but the goal is when I can hear them talking, that is good and we are successful. You can play any defense, it doesn’t matter, and you can be very effective as a team.”
For the game, the Lions were led by Sam Buddelmeyer with 21 points, making eight two-point baskets and going a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. Wyatt Willey was also in double figures with 14 points (five field goals, four free throws) and Bryson Simmons totaled 11 points (four two-point baskets, one 3-pointer).
Other final scoring for the Lions included six points by Austin Setty, there points by Ethan Saunders and two points by Jon Bentley.
“We thought we could take advantage of some size advantages for us, even having our guards post a little bit and attacking the weak side, and I think it worked out pretty well for us,” Howland said.
The Lions took control in the second frame as they outscored the Flyers, 17-3 in the eight-minute frame, including a 3-pointer made on the final shot of the quarter and the first with a 3-pointer off the glass and through the basket from Bryson Simmons for what became a 29-14 halftime lead.
Getting to that halftime advantage and strong second frame began with a jumper by Willey to open the second, forcing a very early timeout by the Flyers with 7:28 still left in the quarter. Following the timeout, the Lions scored the next four points with a basket by Buddelmeyer and then two points by Setty for an 18-11 advantage with 4:41 left on the clock.
SJHS came back with two made free throws, as the Flyers didn’t make a shot from the field in the entire quarter, with their three points in the frame all coming from the free-throw line. From there, the Lions saw Willey spin around a St. Joseph defense and go straight to the basket for two points at the halfway point of the second and a 20-13 advantage for the Lions.
The Lions then took a charge, as Ethan Saunders drew the foul, which helped lead the Lions to another basket 20 seconds later with Setty sinking another bucket for a 22-13 advantage, forcing the Flyers to call a timeout.
Later in the second, Buddelmeyer and Simmons each sank a basket for the Lions, and after a free-throw make by the Flyers, the Lions ended the quarter with the aforementioned 3-pointer by Simmons for the 15-point lead of 29-14.
Fairfield in the first frame had a much closer game with the Flyers leading, as St. Joseph led 12-11 at the end of the frame. FHS had points in the first from Willey, Buddelmeyer and Simmons, including a jumper at the buzzer from Willey.
The second half … well, that was more of the same from the Lionsm as their offense was too much for the Flyers to overcome, especially in the third frame where they outscored St. Joseph, 11-2 in the quarter, taking a 40-16 lead along the way.
“We thought they were running high-low, but they were running a two-man triangle against our zone, so we just talked about keeping it out of the middle,” Howland said. “Even though they aren’t squaring up when it came to the middle, they were kicking it out, and everybody knows shooters pass inside out, but we were able to prevent it from getting in the middle so they weren’t able to throw it out as much.”
The Lions continued their dominating play in the third with 11 straight points from the 5:09 mark until the 2:36 mark of the frame for what was the 24-point lead. After Simmons took a charge with 5:41 left in the third, he later sank a jumper at the 5:09 mark, and from there the Lions went on a tear with the play of Buddelmeyer as he scored the next nine points of the frame, including a big-time 3-point play with 3:13 on the clock.
Fairfield saw St. Joseph score 23 points in the fourth frame while they scored 17, but the game was already sealed by the Lions. For Fairfield, the Lions had fourth-quarter scoring from Setty, Buddelmeyer, Willey, Saunders and Bentley.
St. Joseph was led in scoring by Jimmy Mahlmester with 10 points.
“With the layoff, it got us healthy as we could be, but we got rest,” Howland said. “The boys came in every day and worked their tails off, and I was hoping we would have put on a better display at the free-throw line than we did, but on a night like tonight, we’ll take it.”
Next for the Fairfield Lions is a Division IV District Semifinal game at the Ohio University Convocation Center on Sunday, March 3 at 5:30 p.m. against No. 1 seeded Coal Grove Dawson-Bryant.
The Lions played a dominating game from the second quarter on against the Ironton St. Joseph Flyers — in the Division IV SE District Sectional Finals — winning by a 57-39 score on Tuesday night at Northwest High School.
Fairfield won their 16th sectional title by having their usual balanced scoring attack, but their defense also stepped up their level of play in the second and third frames, where they held the St. Joseph squad to just five combined points in those frames, all from free throws. Fairfield in those same two quarters combined for 28 points, resulting in their first trip to the Convo since 2017.
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The Flyers went from the 2:13 mark of the first quarter to around the 7:00 mark of the fourth without a basket from the field, a span of game where they were held to five free throws.
Fairfield head coach Josh Howland — who won his first sectional title as the Lions head coach — spoke about the big win for Fairfield and what it means to him and his players to get back to playing at the campus of Ohio University.
“It is a feeling that there is nothing better in tournament time than to play at the Convo,” Howland told The Highland County Press. “It is the second season, and it has begun right. The way we came out tonight is the way you have to play in the tournament. In the first quarter, we didn’t and let them get a couple shots, and it made it seem worse than what it was because (St. Joseph) didn’t score much in the second and third quarter.
“They made a run at us early on, we called a timeout and then I thought the boys played well. The boys just locked down, and they just started talking to each other. It is loud here, but the goal is when I can hear them talking, that is good and we are successful. You can play any defense, it doesn’t matter, and you can be very effective as a team.”
For the game, the Lions were led by Sam Buddelmeyer with 21 points, making eight two-point baskets and going a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line. Wyatt Willey was also in double figures with 14 points (five field goals, four free throws) and Bryson Simmons totaled 11 points (four two-point baskets, one 3-pointer).
Other final scoring for the Lions included six points by Austin Setty, there points by Ethan Saunders and two points by Jon Bentley.
“We thought we could take advantage of some size advantages for us, even having our guards post a little bit and attacking the weak side, and I think it worked out pretty well for us,” Howland said.
The Lions took control in the second frame as they outscored the Flyers, 17-3 in the eight-minute frame, including a 3-pointer made on the final shot of the quarter and the first with a 3-pointer off the glass and through the basket from Bryson Simmons for what became a 29-14 halftime lead.
Getting to that halftime advantage and strong second frame began with a jumper by Willey to open the second, forcing a very early timeout by the Flyers with 7:28 still left in the quarter. Following the timeout, the Lions scored the next four points with a basket by Buddelmeyer and then two points by Setty for an 18-11 advantage with 4:41 left on the clock.
SJHS came back with two made free throws, as the Flyers didn’t make a shot from the field in the entire quarter, with their three points in the frame all coming from the free-throw line. From there, the Lions saw Willey spin around a St. Joseph defense and go straight to the basket for two points at the halfway point of the second and a 20-13 advantage for the Lions.
The Lions then took a charge, as Ethan Saunders drew the foul, which helped lead the Lions to another basket 20 seconds later with Setty sinking another bucket for a 22-13 advantage, forcing the Flyers to call a timeout.
Later in the second, Buddelmeyer and Simmons each sank a basket for the Lions, and after a free-throw make by the Flyers, the Lions ended the quarter with the aforementioned 3-pointer by Simmons for the 15-point lead of 29-14.
Fairfield in the first frame had a much closer game with the Flyers leading, as St. Joseph led 12-11 at the end of the frame. FHS had points in the first from Willey, Buddelmeyer and Simmons, including a jumper at the buzzer from Willey.
The second half … well, that was more of the same from the Lionsm as their offense was too much for the Flyers to overcome, especially in the third frame where they outscored St. Joseph, 11-2 in the quarter, taking a 40-16 lead along the way.
“We thought they were running high-low, but they were running a two-man triangle against our zone, so we just talked about keeping it out of the middle,” Howland said. “Even though they aren’t squaring up when it came to the middle, they were kicking it out, and everybody knows shooters pass inside out, but we were able to prevent it from getting in the middle so they weren’t able to throw it out as much.”
The Lions continued their dominating play in the third with 11 straight points from the 5:09 mark until the 2:36 mark of the frame for what was the 24-point lead. After Simmons took a charge with 5:41 left in the third, he later sank a jumper at the 5:09 mark, and from there the Lions went on a tear with the play of Buddelmeyer as he scored the next nine points of the frame, including a big-time 3-point play with 3:13 on the clock.
Fairfield saw St. Joseph score 23 points in the fourth frame while they scored 17, but the game was already sealed by the Lions. For Fairfield, the Lions had fourth-quarter scoring from Setty, Buddelmeyer, Willey, Saunders and Bentley.
St. Joseph was led in scoring by Jimmy Mahlmester with 10 points.
“With the layoff, it got us healthy as we could be, but we got rest,” Howland said. “The boys came in every day and worked their tails off, and I was hoping we would have put on a better display at the free-throw line than we did, but on a night like tonight, we’ll take it.”
Next for the Fairfield Lions is a Division IV District Semifinal game at the Ohio University Convocation Center on Sunday, March 3 at 5:30 p.m. against No. 1 seeded Coal Grove Dawson-Bryant.