Mustangs break away for SHAC win over rival Fairfield
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE — Two Highland County counterparts packed the Lynchburg-Clay gym Friday night with the Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs and the Fairfield Lions giving everyone in attendance their money’s worth and then some, with both teams playing fast-paced basketball and having scoring runs that changed the pace of the game.
The two Southern Hills Athletic Conference teams played to a tied score on three occasions in the first quarter, but it was the visiting Lions who gained the upper hand in the first eight minutes played as they led 25-17 at the completion of the frame over the host Mustangs. From there, though, Lynchburg-Clay led for the next three frames, and when the final buzzer sounded, they won by a 74-62 score.
“I told the kids, everybody contributed tonight,” LC head coach Matt Carson said. “The guys that got in the game, people filled roles. Some guys didn’t get as many minutes tonight as what they have in some other games, but this group, all they care about is playing together and playing hard and trying to do what they can to get the victory.
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“I’m proud of our guys. They stayed the course in our zone. They did some things to Fairfield defensively in the second quarter and even in the third quarter that caused them some fits, but Fairfield has guys that can make some plays. I hope everybody realizes we beat a very good basketball team tonight.”
LC’s win on Friday night moves them to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the SHAC, leaving them in second place in the Division I SHAC standings. The loss moves the Lions to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Division II SHAC standings, as they are also in second place in the conference standings.
“(Fairfield is) a very good basketball team that’s very well-coached. I hope that people over there realize just how great of a job Josh (Howland) is doing,” Carson said. “They’re still poised in position to win the conference, and it’s hard to believe we’re going to do this again in a month. I just told my assistants that. I said ‘Wow, we’re going to play them again in a non-conference game in a month. I bet that’s going to be another knock-down, drag-them-out over there.’”
In that first frame, it was the Lions who led the first frame by eight points after having a 10-10 tied score — the final tied score of the game. The tied score was broken when Wyatt Willey sank a 3-pointer for the Lions, then followed that with a jumper at the 3:43 mark for a 15-10 lead. The lead increased with a layup from Cody Gragg and another 3-pointer for FHS, this one by Tucker Ayres at the 1:59 mark for a 19-10 lead. Gragg totaled 17 points for the game. Ayres finished with a team-high 18 points.
Eric McLaughlin — who led the Mustangs with 29 points — halted the Lions’ run of points with a layup 13 seconds later, only to have the Lions answer with a 3-pointer from Willey for a 10-point lead. Damin Pierson answered for the Mustangs with two free throws. For the game, Pierson was 10-of-11 from the free-throw line.
The Lions were right there with four straight points in the final minute of the first with a basket by Quinton Beatty and a free throw from Gragg for a 11-point advantage with 28.5 on the clock. Pierson made it an eight-point deficit for LCHS with a three-point play near the end of the first. Pierson finished with 16 points in the win.
As good as the first quarter was for the Lions, the same could be said about the second frame for the Mustangs. They came out with more aggression and controlled the boards in the second frame, leading to them outscoring Fairfield, 18-6 in the quarter to take a halftime lead of 35-31.
The second began with McLaughlin scoring two two-point buckets in less than a minute of play for a 25-21 lead. After the Lions came back with two points from Beatty, LC went on a 13-0 run from the 6:50 mark to the 3:21 mark of the second for a lead of 35-27.
That scoring run began with two points from Pierson, followed by a 3-pointer by Austin Hilt at the 6:35 mark that put LC within a point of the Lions. McLaughlin pushed the Mustangs ahead of their rival with a layup in the paint for a 29-27 lead with 6:00 on the second quarter clock.
“We came out and played more timid in the second quarter,” FHS head coach Josh Howland said. “Maybe some of that was due to having our big guy out. We’re not used to that. We’re used to having some continuity inside that we didn’t necessarily have tonight. All things aside, Lynchburg came out tonight and they wanted it more. They played aggressive, they wanted it more.
“It comes back to that second quarter. They (LC) built enough confidence, and they rode that confidence right to the end. We never got back into it mentally after that.”
From there, the Mustangs had two free throw conversions from Pierson, then baskets from McLaughlin and Quintin Smith completed the run of scoring for LCHS.
Fairfield ended the second frame with a layup from Austin Setty and a jumper by Griffin Irvin for the 35-31 halftime score in favor of LCHS.
“The first quarter and then the last four or three and a half minutes of the second quarter, the ball was like a hot potato. We just kept throwing it every which way,” Carson said. “It wasn’t because we were being careless with the ball, it was because guys were trying to make plays, and I can deal with those kind of mistakes.
“They kind of lull you into a false sense of satisfaction because they want to play so fast, so then you start to play fast. That’s really not who we are. We want to run when we have chances to, but dial it back a little bit and be patient in our half court.”
The second half saw the Lions jump out quickly just as their counterparts did in the previous quarter, and a layup from Sam Buddelmeyer, later followed with a jumper by Buddelmeyer and a 3-pointer from Gragg, put FHS back in front at 38-37 with 6:30 left in the third. Buddelmeyer totaled 10 points in the win, scoring all of his points in the second half.
Then came the Mustangs as they scored the next nine points in a span of three minutes from the 6:11 mark to the 3:10 mark for a 46-38 lead. The points in that span of scoring came from McLaughlin and Raymond Conner, with the final points of the run coming off a 3-pointer by McLaughlin. Conner tallied a double-double with 16 points and 10-plus rebounds.
FHS came back with five straight points from Ayres and a 3-pointer by Gragg for a three-point deficit for the Lions at 46-43 with 2:29 left in the third. LC ended the scoring in the third with points by McLaughlin, Pierson and Conner for an eight-point lead after three frames.
The Mustangs led for the entire fourth quarter as the Lions got within six points of the Mustangs, but LC held on, then extended their lead to the final 12-point win as they outscored the Lions, 23-19.
Scoring points in the fourth for LC were Noble Walker, Pierson, McLaughlin, Hilt, Chris Young and Conner. LC was 11-of-12 from the free-throw line in the final quarter. For the game, they were 17-of-19. FHS finished 4-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Before the game, Highland County Special Olympians were honored, and Carson spoke about the pregame festivities.
“I want to congratulate all of the Special Olympians that were honored before the game for their success and recognition,” Carson said.
In JV play, the Lions won over the Mustangs by a 43-32 score. The Lions were led by Phoenix Taylor with 12 points, Ethan Saunders with nine points and Ryland Donley with nine points.
The freshman game saw the Mustangs win over Fairfield by a 39-24 score. FHS was led in scoring by Caleb Payne with eight points, and LCHS was led by Chase Smaltz with 13 points.
Next for the Lions is a non-conference game at Cedarville Saturday. The Mustangs play again on Saturday as well, as they travel to Western Brown.
The two Southern Hills Athletic Conference teams played to a tied score on three occasions in the first quarter, but it was the visiting Lions who gained the upper hand in the first eight minutes played as they led 25-17 at the completion of the frame over the host Mustangs. From there, though, Lynchburg-Clay led for the next three frames, and when the final buzzer sounded, they won by a 74-62 score.
“I told the kids, everybody contributed tonight,” LC head coach Matt Carson said. “The guys that got in the game, people filled roles. Some guys didn’t get as many minutes tonight as what they have in some other games, but this group, all they care about is playing together and playing hard and trying to do what they can to get the victory.
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“I’m proud of our guys. They stayed the course in our zone. They did some things to Fairfield defensively in the second quarter and even in the third quarter that caused them some fits, but Fairfield has guys that can make some plays. I hope everybody realizes we beat a very good basketball team tonight.”
LC’s win on Friday night moves them to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the SHAC, leaving them in second place in the Division I SHAC standings. The loss moves the Lions to 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Division II SHAC standings, as they are also in second place in the conference standings.
“(Fairfield is) a very good basketball team that’s very well-coached. I hope that people over there realize just how great of a job Josh (Howland) is doing,” Carson said. “They’re still poised in position to win the conference, and it’s hard to believe we’re going to do this again in a month. I just told my assistants that. I said ‘Wow, we’re going to play them again in a non-conference game in a month. I bet that’s going to be another knock-down, drag-them-out over there.’”
In that first frame, it was the Lions who led the first frame by eight points after having a 10-10 tied score — the final tied score of the game. The tied score was broken when Wyatt Willey sank a 3-pointer for the Lions, then followed that with a jumper at the 3:43 mark for a 15-10 lead. The lead increased with a layup from Cody Gragg and another 3-pointer for FHS, this one by Tucker Ayres at the 1:59 mark for a 19-10 lead. Gragg totaled 17 points for the game. Ayres finished with a team-high 18 points.
Eric McLaughlin — who led the Mustangs with 29 points — halted the Lions’ run of points with a layup 13 seconds later, only to have the Lions answer with a 3-pointer from Willey for a 10-point lead. Damin Pierson answered for the Mustangs with two free throws. For the game, Pierson was 10-of-11 from the free-throw line.
The Lions were right there with four straight points in the final minute of the first with a basket by Quinton Beatty and a free throw from Gragg for a 11-point advantage with 28.5 on the clock. Pierson made it an eight-point deficit for LCHS with a three-point play near the end of the first. Pierson finished with 16 points in the win.
As good as the first quarter was for the Lions, the same could be said about the second frame for the Mustangs. They came out with more aggression and controlled the boards in the second frame, leading to them outscoring Fairfield, 18-6 in the quarter to take a halftime lead of 35-31.
The second began with McLaughlin scoring two two-point buckets in less than a minute of play for a 25-21 lead. After the Lions came back with two points from Beatty, LC went on a 13-0 run from the 6:50 mark to the 3:21 mark of the second for a lead of 35-27.
That scoring run began with two points from Pierson, followed by a 3-pointer by Austin Hilt at the 6:35 mark that put LC within a point of the Lions. McLaughlin pushed the Mustangs ahead of their rival with a layup in the paint for a 29-27 lead with 6:00 on the second quarter clock.
“We came out and played more timid in the second quarter,” FHS head coach Josh Howland said. “Maybe some of that was due to having our big guy out. We’re not used to that. We’re used to having some continuity inside that we didn’t necessarily have tonight. All things aside, Lynchburg came out tonight and they wanted it more. They played aggressive, they wanted it more.
“It comes back to that second quarter. They (LC) built enough confidence, and they rode that confidence right to the end. We never got back into it mentally after that.”
From there, the Mustangs had two free throw conversions from Pierson, then baskets from McLaughlin and Quintin Smith completed the run of scoring for LCHS.
Fairfield ended the second frame with a layup from Austin Setty and a jumper by Griffin Irvin for the 35-31 halftime score in favor of LCHS.
“The first quarter and then the last four or three and a half minutes of the second quarter, the ball was like a hot potato. We just kept throwing it every which way,” Carson said. “It wasn’t because we were being careless with the ball, it was because guys were trying to make plays, and I can deal with those kind of mistakes.
“They kind of lull you into a false sense of satisfaction because they want to play so fast, so then you start to play fast. That’s really not who we are. We want to run when we have chances to, but dial it back a little bit and be patient in our half court.”
The second half saw the Lions jump out quickly just as their counterparts did in the previous quarter, and a layup from Sam Buddelmeyer, later followed with a jumper by Buddelmeyer and a 3-pointer from Gragg, put FHS back in front at 38-37 with 6:30 left in the third. Buddelmeyer totaled 10 points in the win, scoring all of his points in the second half.
Then came the Mustangs as they scored the next nine points in a span of three minutes from the 6:11 mark to the 3:10 mark for a 46-38 lead. The points in that span of scoring came from McLaughlin and Raymond Conner, with the final points of the run coming off a 3-pointer by McLaughlin. Conner tallied a double-double with 16 points and 10-plus rebounds.
FHS came back with five straight points from Ayres and a 3-pointer by Gragg for a three-point deficit for the Lions at 46-43 with 2:29 left in the third. LC ended the scoring in the third with points by McLaughlin, Pierson and Conner for an eight-point lead after three frames.
The Mustangs led for the entire fourth quarter as the Lions got within six points of the Mustangs, but LC held on, then extended their lead to the final 12-point win as they outscored the Lions, 23-19.
Scoring points in the fourth for LC were Noble Walker, Pierson, McLaughlin, Hilt, Chris Young and Conner. LC was 11-of-12 from the free-throw line in the final quarter. For the game, they were 17-of-19. FHS finished 4-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Before the game, Highland County Special Olympians were honored, and Carson spoke about the pregame festivities.
“I want to congratulate all of the Special Olympians that were honored before the game for their success and recognition,” Carson said.
In JV play, the Lions won over the Mustangs by a 43-32 score. The Lions were led by Phoenix Taylor with 12 points, Ethan Saunders with nine points and Ryland Donley with nine points.
The freshman game saw the Mustangs win over Fairfield by a 39-24 score. FHS was led in scoring by Caleb Payne with eight points, and LCHS was led by Chase Smaltz with 13 points.
Next for the Lions is a non-conference game at Cedarville Saturday. The Mustangs play again on Saturday as well, as they travel to Western Brown.