Lions win SHL opener, top Warriors
Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
LEESBURG — The Fairfield Lions got their Southern Hills League slate started on the right track Friday night, defeating the Eastern Brown Warriors 45-40 at Grandle Gymnasium.
Fairfield stands at 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the SHL.
The Lions were led in scoring by Brad Clay with 15 points, with six two-point field goals and a perfect night from the free-throw line at 3-of-3.
"Our team had a gutsy performance," Fairfield head coach Matt Carson said. "We were up eight at the half, and our guys did a good job Friday on defense."
FHS opened the game with an 11-8 lead after the first eight minutes, followed by a 14-point effort in the second (holding EB to nine points) for a 25-17 lead after two quarters.
EB came back and even led in the third quarter, outscoring the Lions 14-9, but FHS led 34-31 after 24 minutes of play.
"They (EB) took the lead on us at one point, but we were resilient, and the team never quit or stopped fighting," Carson said. "They (EB) keyed in on Quentin (Williams), but we had guys step up with nine of 12 players scoring.
"This team does stuff the right way, they are unselfish and this was a big win."
In the final frame, FHS added 11 points to their overall total, while EB scored nine.
Besides the 15 points from Clay, Austin Hildebrant added seven points for the Lions, followed by five points apiece from Quentin Williams, Gage Montgomery and Cole Putnam.
Also scoring for the Lions were Austin May (3), Blake Hildebrant (4) and Elijah Carmean (1).
"This group is a joy to be around, they want to get better and hopefully we can use this win as a springboard into our next three league games," Carson said.
The Lions were 14-of-19 (73 percent) from the free-throw line.
For Eastern, Jordan Payne and Nathan Scott each scored 15 points.
In JV play, FHS won 49-47. Leading the Lions was Ryan Bates with 19 points, followed by Cody Bennett with 10 and Joey Wilson with nine. EB was led in the JV game by Jonathan Siders with 21 points. The Lions' JV team stands at 3-1 this season.
FHS won the freshman game 30-21. The FHS freshman team is 3-1 overall.
The varsity and JV Lions will play again on Tuesday as they take on the Fayetteville Rockets in SHL play. The JV game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
EB 08 09 14 09 — 40
FHS 11 14 09 11 — 45
INDIVIDUAL STATS
FHS (45)
Q.Williams 1 (0) 3-4 5
A.May 0 (1) 0-0 3
B.Hildebrant 1 (0) 2-2 4
G.Montgomery 2 (0) 1-2 5
E.Carmean 0 (0) 1-2 1
B.Clay 6 (0) 3-3 15
A.Hildebrant 3 (0) 1-1 7
C.Putnam 1 (0) 3-7 5
TOTALS: 14 (1) 14-19 45[[In-content Ad]]
Fairfield stands at 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the SHL.
The Lions were led in scoring by Brad Clay with 15 points, with six two-point field goals and a perfect night from the free-throw line at 3-of-3.
"Our team had a gutsy performance," Fairfield head coach Matt Carson said. "We were up eight at the half, and our guys did a good job Friday on defense."
FHS opened the game with an 11-8 lead after the first eight minutes, followed by a 14-point effort in the second (holding EB to nine points) for a 25-17 lead after two quarters.
EB came back and even led in the third quarter, outscoring the Lions 14-9, but FHS led 34-31 after 24 minutes of play.
"They (EB) took the lead on us at one point, but we were resilient, and the team never quit or stopped fighting," Carson said. "They (EB) keyed in on Quentin (Williams), but we had guys step up with nine of 12 players scoring.
"This team does stuff the right way, they are unselfish and this was a big win."
In the final frame, FHS added 11 points to their overall total, while EB scored nine.
Besides the 15 points from Clay, Austin Hildebrant added seven points for the Lions, followed by five points apiece from Quentin Williams, Gage Montgomery and Cole Putnam.
Also scoring for the Lions were Austin May (3), Blake Hildebrant (4) and Elijah Carmean (1).
"This group is a joy to be around, they want to get better and hopefully we can use this win as a springboard into our next three league games," Carson said.
The Lions were 14-of-19 (73 percent) from the free-throw line.
For Eastern, Jordan Payne and Nathan Scott each scored 15 points.
In JV play, FHS won 49-47. Leading the Lions was Ryan Bates with 19 points, followed by Cody Bennett with 10 and Joey Wilson with nine. EB was led in the JV game by Jonathan Siders with 21 points. The Lions' JV team stands at 3-1 this season.
FHS won the freshman game 30-21. The FHS freshman team is 3-1 overall.
The varsity and JV Lions will play again on Tuesday as they take on the Fayetteville Rockets in SHL play. The JV game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
EB 08 09 14 09 — 40
FHS 11 14 09 11 — 45
INDIVIDUAL STATS
FHS (45)
Q.Williams 1 (0) 3-4 5
A.May 0 (1) 0-0 3
B.Hildebrant 1 (0) 2-2 4
G.Montgomery 2 (0) 1-2 5
E.Carmean 0 (0) 1-2 1
B.Clay 6 (0) 3-3 15
A.Hildebrant 3 (0) 1-1 7
C.Putnam 1 (0) 3-7 5
TOTALS: 14 (1) 14-19 45[[In-content Ad]]