Lions unable to contain Dragons
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — It just wasn't the night the Fairfield Lions were looking for on Friday as they got off to a slow start and never recovered, losing in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play to the visiting West Union Dragons.
The Dragons were close to unstoppable in all facets of the game at Grandle Gymnasium, scoring 20-plus points in each of the first three quarters, leading the host Lions to drop the SHAC game by an 81-47 score.
For the Lions, they had trouble getting back on defense and just never got into any rhythm.
"That was the the worst game we've played all year," Fairfield head coach Everett Snyder said. "We played bad from the beginning. We didn't make good decisions on offense, turned the ball over and the key thing was we didn't get back on defense."
The Lions trailed 22-14 after the first quarter, a quarter where each team began the game with a turnover, but within the first four minutes of the opening frame, the Lions trailed by a 10-4 score.
FHS managed to cut the lead of the Dragons down to four points with Dustin Willey sinking a jumper at the 3:59 mark, but the Dragons responded with a 3-pointer by James Sellars, who led the Dragons with 19 points.
With 1:46 left in the fourth, the Lions saw themselves down by two points at 15-13 following a 3-pointer by Ethan Putnam, who tied Sellars with a game-high 19 points.
But the Dragons eventually responded in the late part of the first half, ending the first quarter with five straight points and an eight-point advantage.
Then came the second and third quarters that saw the Lions outscored 46-21, including allowing 25 points in the second and 21 points in the third. In those same quarters, the Lions scored 11 points in the second and 10 points in the third.
This was the first game for the Lions since Dec. 30.
"I'm sure the break affected us some, because I know they (WU) have played three times in the span that we've been off," Snyder said. "Typically, we are a good shooting team, but we couldn't shoot tonight and they were lights-out at our gym.
"I'm not going to make any excuses because of the break … we just didn't play well from the get-go. The effort wasn't there."
In the final eight minutes, the Lions were outscored, 13-12.
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Also finishing in double figures for the Lions was Willey with 10 points. Wyatt Evans and Matthew Leach each scored eight points in the loss, and Klay Walker rounded out the FHS scoring with two points.
West Union had three others finish in double figures in the scoring column with Brady Hinkle scoring 18 points, Tyler Sininger with 13 and Trenton Price at 10 points.
Coach Snyder said his team needs to refocus for their next game on Tuesday at Fayetteville, followed by a game next Friday at Eastern Brown and Jefferson Township (Dayton) next Saturday.
"We have a full week next week," Snyder said. "We just have to take a good look in the mirror and see what kind of team and what type of players we are going to be and try to make a change to how we are playing right now."
In JV play, the Lions defeated the Dragons, 58-55, with Randy Lamme leading FHS with 22 points and Jesse Current following with 13.
In the freshmen game, FHS lost, 46-30. Leading the Lions in scoring were Cody Gragg with 10 points and Quentin Beatty with eight.
The Dragons were close to unstoppable in all facets of the game at Grandle Gymnasium, scoring 20-plus points in each of the first three quarters, leading the host Lions to drop the SHAC game by an 81-47 score.
For the Lions, they had trouble getting back on defense and just never got into any rhythm.
"That was the the worst game we've played all year," Fairfield head coach Everett Snyder said. "We played bad from the beginning. We didn't make good decisions on offense, turned the ball over and the key thing was we didn't get back on defense."
The Lions trailed 22-14 after the first quarter, a quarter where each team began the game with a turnover, but within the first four minutes of the opening frame, the Lions trailed by a 10-4 score.
FHS managed to cut the lead of the Dragons down to four points with Dustin Willey sinking a jumper at the 3:59 mark, but the Dragons responded with a 3-pointer by James Sellars, who led the Dragons with 19 points.
With 1:46 left in the fourth, the Lions saw themselves down by two points at 15-13 following a 3-pointer by Ethan Putnam, who tied Sellars with a game-high 19 points.
But the Dragons eventually responded in the late part of the first half, ending the first quarter with five straight points and an eight-point advantage.
Then came the second and third quarters that saw the Lions outscored 46-21, including allowing 25 points in the second and 21 points in the third. In those same quarters, the Lions scored 11 points in the second and 10 points in the third.
This was the first game for the Lions since Dec. 30.
"I'm sure the break affected us some, because I know they (WU) have played three times in the span that we've been off," Snyder said. "Typically, we are a good shooting team, but we couldn't shoot tonight and they were lights-out at our gym.
"I'm not going to make any excuses because of the break … we just didn't play well from the get-go. The effort wasn't there."
In the final eight minutes, the Lions were outscored, 13-12.
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Also finishing in double figures for the Lions was Willey with 10 points. Wyatt Evans and Matthew Leach each scored eight points in the loss, and Klay Walker rounded out the FHS scoring with two points.
West Union had three others finish in double figures in the scoring column with Brady Hinkle scoring 18 points, Tyler Sininger with 13 and Trenton Price at 10 points.
Coach Snyder said his team needs to refocus for their next game on Tuesday at Fayetteville, followed by a game next Friday at Eastern Brown and Jefferson Township (Dayton) next Saturday.
"We have a full week next week," Snyder said. "We just have to take a good look in the mirror and see what kind of team and what type of players we are going to be and try to make a change to how we are playing right now."
In JV play, the Lions defeated the Dragons, 58-55, with Randy Lamme leading FHS with 22 points and Jesse Current following with 13.
In the freshmen game, FHS lost, 46-30. Leading the Lions in scoring were Cody Gragg with 10 points and Quentin Beatty with eight.