Mustangs continue to roll along; defeat rival Fairfield

DODSONVILLE — The Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs continued to stay undefeated early in this season, this time taking on and defeating Highland County rival Fairfield, 73-57 Friday night at the home of the Mustangs.

The Southern Hills Athletic Conference game between the two rivals also saw Lynchburg-Clay senior Devin Pierson move past former Mustang Brian Glover for third place all-time career scoring, finishing with 31 points for the game (22 in the first half) and now having 1,244 points thus far in his high school career. In second place all-time is Andy Richmond with 1,361 career points. Richmond is a member of the LC Athletic Hall of Fame, and Glover (1,239 points) will be inducted in January.

As for the rest of the action on Friday night, the opening frame was very closely contested between the Mustangs and the Lions (0-3, 1-4), with Fairfield’s Wyatt Evans beginning the scoring with a jumper, followed by Pierson scoring four straight points. Ethan Putnam followed with a 3-pointer at the 6:02 mark of the quarter for the Lions, pushing them back in front, only to see Pierson add another two points with a layup. Putnam led the Lions with 18 points.

“Credit Fairfield, I knew they would come out ready to play, and they matched us blow-for-blow to start the game and in the first half,” LC head coach Matt Carson said. “Even their intensity in the second quarter was a little better than ours, and I thought we played better defense, and the momentum started to shift.”

Eric McLaughlin, who totaled 12 points in the win, gave LC an 8-5 advantage with a jumper, but Evans followed up with a free throw, and Wyatt Harris added another two points to tie the score at 8-8 with a jumper. Putnam gave FHS a three-point lead with a 3-pointer at the 2:18 mark of the opening frame.

The Mustangs (3-0, 5-0) responded with a 3-pointer by Pierson, and following points by FHS, Pierson sank another 3-pointer to give LC a 14-13 lead. Jesse Current (who scored 10 points) made it a one-point game with two points with under a minute on the scoreboard, but River Mullins scored two points off a steal in the paint by Josh Ahrmann for the 16-15 advantage once the first quarter ended.

FHS started off the second quarter strong with points from Putnam and Evans to take a 20-16 lead, only to see LC’s Joe Giordano net two of his 14 points for the game with 6:27 left in the quarter. From there, Putnam, who totaled 18 points, made his second 3-pointer of the second frame (fourth overall) at the 6:07 mark, pushing the Lions out front 23-18.

“Ethan Putnam had a big game for them,” Carson said. “He’s was a big reason why they were doing so well early on, and I thought (Jesse) Current came off the bench and did well for them.”

Following those points, the Mustangs got on a run where they scored 10 consecutive points, with Pierson scoring six straight points off fast breaks and points from Brandon Storer and Ahrmann to give LC the lead for good at 28-23 with 3:35 remaining in the first half.

Jensen Daulton responded with two points for the visiting Lions, and with 2:18 left on the clock, it was Pierson, again, who put points on the LC side of the scoreboard for a five-point LC lead. LC eventually added two more points by Pierson for what amounted to a seven-point halftime advantage of 32-25.

“All of the kids played hard and did what we talked about in practice the past two days,” FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. “We talked about getting back on defense and limiting their penetration to the basket. We didn’t do a real good job on (Devin) Pierson because he got to the basket several times. We just have to step in a take a charge, because we can see him from the perimeter, and we know he’s going to the basket. We have to be willing to step in and take a charge.”

The Mustangs dominated the third frame at 24-14, for a lead of 56-39, where Pierson tied the aforementioned Glover for third-place all-time with a steal and layup off a fast break with 3:45 left in the quarter for a lead then of 50-35. Pierson took hold of the third-place spot with 7:34 left in the fourth frame with a 3-pointer that swished through the net with the clock reading 7:31 on the scoreboard, then giving the Mustangs a 20-point lead of 61-41.

“We want to congratulate Devin on his accomplishment,” Carson said. “His accomplishment speaks for itself and is remarkable.”

As the fourth continued, the Lions ended up outscoring the Mustangs, 18-17. For the game, FHS was 3-of-13 from the free-throw line, and the Mustangs were 4-of-6. LC totaled five 3-pointers, and the Lions tallied six.

“I thought we played a lot better defense in the second half,” Carson said. “We still failed to stop too many straight line drives to the basket, and we didn’t box out well at times, but you know it is what you expect in a country rivalry game, and we are glad to come out on the winning side of things.

“Any win in this league is a good win. Fairfield had a tough game Tuesday at Manchester, so I knew they were going to be ready to come in and play, which they were.”

Both teams will be back in action on Saturday night, as the Mustangs face the Fayetteville Rockets in their non-conference meeting with their conference foe, and the Lions will host the East Clinton Astros in a non-conference matchup.

“We know with the talent Lynchburg-Clay has, we can play with anybody, and I told the kids this was our most challenging game we have in the first half of the year,” Snyder said. “We played them strong in the first half, and if that is any indication, we can come back and put a string of wins together.

“Ethan had a hot hand in the first half, and they played him hard on defense, so he played well. Jesse came in and gave us some real good minutes. He was strong and took it to the guys who are taller than him, and he did a real good job. All in all, several of the kids had bright spots in the game, but we just have to stay under control and composed.”

In freshman play, the Lions defeated the Mustangs, 49-39. Ethan Garrison totaled 10 points for the Mustangs, and for the Lions, Cody Gragg and Tucker Ayers each scored 14 points.

The JV game saw the Lions win over LC by a 45-25 score. FHS was led by Sam Buddelmeyer with 13 points, and Bennett Hodson scored 10 points in the win. Roger Saylor led LC with 11 points.