Lions upend state-ranked Peebles on homecoming
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — The Fairfield Lions walked off the court Friday night, in front of their home crowd, to a well-deserved standing ovation.
It wasn't just that the Lions defended their home court, but they won their homecoming game without question, and along the way they defeated the Division IV Associated Press No. 9 ranked Indians, 82-67.
The Grandle Gymnasium crowd first celebrated Briana Evans being named homecoming queen and Gage Montgomery being named the homecoming king.
After the crowning of the Fairfield royalty, the Lions dethroned the Indians, never trailing against the formerly Southern Hills Athletic Conference-undefeated Indians, by building a 15-12 lead after the first quarter followed with a 21-point second quarter by the Lions, while holding the No. 9 ranked Peebles Indians to 13 points in the second for a 36-25 halftime lead.
Not to mention this was the Lions' first game in two weeks due to various cancellations.
FHS now stands at 5-0 in the SHAC and 7-5 overall. The loss drops PHS to 11-2 overall and 5-1 in the SHAC.
"My biggest fear was we would come out rusty. I knew we had the energy because we had been going at it in practice every night," FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. "We've had a lot of practice in the last month, but Blake was on with his shots, and we had others come up and hit big shots."
Snyder spoke about the extended layoff as FHS has had just three games in since the end of December.
"I love playing and I hate having so many practices, but it is essential," he said. "We were getting bored. We've seen Peebles three times and run through every scenario time and time again. Practices are good, but I would rather be having games.
"We'll get enough of that soon enough because we have 10 games in the next three weeks, weather permitting."
FHS started the second frame with Blake Hildebrant going around a PHS defender for two points, and following two points by PHS, the Lions scored six straight points with Hildebrant, Cody Bennett and Montgomery for a 23-14 lead with around 5:00 left in the quarter.
Later in the quarter, Ryan Bates scored on a layup, and Hildebrant put the ball in the hoop for a 27-15 advantage with 4:15 left on the clock. Hildebrant led the Lions with 24 points, including six 3-pointers.
Bates followed with 16 points, and teammates Joey Wilson and Montgomery also scored in double figures. Wilson ended the game with 15 points, and "King" Montgomery totaled 13 points, as Snyder was also pleased with the defense of FHS.
"Our bigs (Wilson, Bates, Montgomery) did an excellent job on the boards," he said. "All but two games this season (the two Montgomery missed with injury) we have out-rebounded everybody we've played, but it was key tonight we held (Beau) Justice to one shot per possession tonight, and our big guys did that with their rebounding."
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Justice brought the Indians a little closer to the FHS lead with three straight free throws, but as the first half ended, Bennett scored a layup at the buzzer for an 11-point lead.
Justice led all scorers with a game-high 34 points, including two 3-pointers.
In the second half, the Lions built a three-quarter lead of 59-42, allowing the Indians no closer than eight points of tying the score for the remainder of the game at the 3:44 mark of the third following points by Justice.
Near the end of the third frame, the Lions scored the final five points with a jumper by Bates and a 3-pointer from Hildebrant with 1.5 seconds left in the frame, holding his arm in the air as time expired to the joy of the home crowd for a 15-point lead.
FHS outscored the Indians, 23-16 in the third.
The Lions continued to answer baskets by the Indians but were outscored 25-23 in the final eight minutes.
For PHS, Zach Arrasmith had 15 points. For the Lions, Bennett totaled four points, while Matthew Leach finished with three points (a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter) and Brant Huff totaled seven points, including a 3-point basket in the second frame.
FHS still has a long way to go in conference play but control their own destiny with their undefeated mark in the SHAC.
"We still have some big games coming up, but to get this one in the win column was exciting for us," Snyder said.
The Lions will play again on Tuesday as they will travel to Manchester.
It wasn't just that the Lions defended their home court, but they won their homecoming game without question, and along the way they defeated the Division IV Associated Press No. 9 ranked Indians, 82-67.
The Grandle Gymnasium crowd first celebrated Briana Evans being named homecoming queen and Gage Montgomery being named the homecoming king.
After the crowning of the Fairfield royalty, the Lions dethroned the Indians, never trailing against the formerly Southern Hills Athletic Conference-undefeated Indians, by building a 15-12 lead after the first quarter followed with a 21-point second quarter by the Lions, while holding the No. 9 ranked Peebles Indians to 13 points in the second for a 36-25 halftime lead.
Not to mention this was the Lions' first game in two weeks due to various cancellations.
FHS now stands at 5-0 in the SHAC and 7-5 overall. The loss drops PHS to 11-2 overall and 5-1 in the SHAC.
"My biggest fear was we would come out rusty. I knew we had the energy because we had been going at it in practice every night," FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. "We've had a lot of practice in the last month, but Blake was on with his shots, and we had others come up and hit big shots."
Snyder spoke about the extended layoff as FHS has had just three games in since the end of December.
"I love playing and I hate having so many practices, but it is essential," he said. "We were getting bored. We've seen Peebles three times and run through every scenario time and time again. Practices are good, but I would rather be having games.
"We'll get enough of that soon enough because we have 10 games in the next three weeks, weather permitting."
FHS started the second frame with Blake Hildebrant going around a PHS defender for two points, and following two points by PHS, the Lions scored six straight points with Hildebrant, Cody Bennett and Montgomery for a 23-14 lead with around 5:00 left in the quarter.
Later in the quarter, Ryan Bates scored on a layup, and Hildebrant put the ball in the hoop for a 27-15 advantage with 4:15 left on the clock. Hildebrant led the Lions with 24 points, including six 3-pointers.
Bates followed with 16 points, and teammates Joey Wilson and Montgomery also scored in double figures. Wilson ended the game with 15 points, and "King" Montgomery totaled 13 points, as Snyder was also pleased with the defense of FHS.
"Our bigs (Wilson, Bates, Montgomery) did an excellent job on the boards," he said. "All but two games this season (the two Montgomery missed with injury) we have out-rebounded everybody we've played, but it was key tonight we held (Beau) Justice to one shot per possession tonight, and our big guys did that with their rebounding."
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Justice brought the Indians a little closer to the FHS lead with three straight free throws, but as the first half ended, Bennett scored a layup at the buzzer for an 11-point lead.
Justice led all scorers with a game-high 34 points, including two 3-pointers.
In the second half, the Lions built a three-quarter lead of 59-42, allowing the Indians no closer than eight points of tying the score for the remainder of the game at the 3:44 mark of the third following points by Justice.
Near the end of the third frame, the Lions scored the final five points with a jumper by Bates and a 3-pointer from Hildebrant with 1.5 seconds left in the frame, holding his arm in the air as time expired to the joy of the home crowd for a 15-point lead.
FHS outscored the Indians, 23-16 in the third.
The Lions continued to answer baskets by the Indians but were outscored 25-23 in the final eight minutes.
For PHS, Zach Arrasmith had 15 points. For the Lions, Bennett totaled four points, while Matthew Leach finished with three points (a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter) and Brant Huff totaled seven points, including a 3-point basket in the second frame.
FHS still has a long way to go in conference play but control their own destiny with their undefeated mark in the SHAC.
"We still have some big games coming up, but to get this one in the win column was exciting for us," Snyder said.
The Lions will play again on Tuesday as they will travel to Manchester.