Fairfield gains SHAC win over visiting Lynchburg-Clay
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — The Fairfield Lions and Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs both tested each other on Tuesday night, but once the final buzzer sounded, it was the host Lions defending Grandle Gymnasium with a 55-51 win for the Southern Hills Athletic Conference victory.
Fairfield’s win saw the Lions lead for nearly the entire game, but the Mustangs did hold the lead for close to a minute in the second frame before the Lions regained the advantage on the scoreboard and didn’t release it for the remainder of the game.
That stated, the feat of keeping the Mustangs (0-2, 0-4) out of the lead wasn’t easy as at times LCHS used their offensive rebounding to gain second-chance opportunities, helping them stay in the game for all four quarters.
The Lions (2-1, 2-1) were led by Reese Teeters with 16 points in the win by the Lions, while teammate Tytis Cannon followed with 11 points, giving FHS two players reaching double figures. LCHS also had two players reach double-digit scoring with Brady Chisman scoring 14 points and Logan Shope scoring 10 points.
“That was a hard-fought battle,” Fairfield head coach Josh Howland said. “(Matt) Carson had his players ready, and he always does. They are young, and they are getting better, that’s for sure. I thought Reese and Connor did a good job defending (Ian) Waits, who I think is a great skill player. I also thoughts Shope played well for them (LCHS).
“For us, Jon Bentley rebounded well, and Tytis had some key plays. Saturday was his first day back, and he’d been out for 20 days. He’s had a hard time getting into the gym, but Tytis is something else when he’s there.”
It was Fairfield who got the scoring rolling on Tuesday night as they built a 7-0 lead within the first 1:30 of the game. Cannon got the game started with a three-point play, followed by a jumper from Teeters and two points in the paint by Brayden Zimmerman with 6:37 left on the clock for a 7-0 lead.
After the Mustangs were forced to call a timeout, they scored their first two points off free throws from Shope. Eventually the Mustangs got to within a point of the Lions after a 6-0 run with points by Kyle Bennington, Shope and Ian Waits left the score at 9-8 in favor of FHS with 3:25 left in the first quarter.
Cannon answered with a 3-pointer for the Lions, putting the Lions out front by four points. The two teams exchanged baskets for the final 1:58 of the first frame, leading to the Lions keeping a four-point advantage at 18-12.
There were a combined 16 points scored in the second quarter by the two Highland County counterparts, where the Mustangs won the frame at 9-7, leading the the Lions still holding onto the lead at halftime by a 25-21 score.
The second began with four points by Shope, followed by a jumper by Fairfield’s Connor Priest at the 6:15 mark for a 20-16 Fairfield lead. The Mustangs rallied back with two points from Bryce Binkley and a 3-pointer by Chase Smaltz with 4:11 on the clock, taking their only lead of the game at 21-20.
Fairfield regained the top spot in scoring with a 3-pointer by Cannon at the 3:15 mark, and the final two points of the second came with a jumper from Cannon near the buzzer for the four-point lead.
At halftime, the Lions had out-rebounded Lynchburg-Clay, 16-9. Unofficially for the game, the Lions out-rebounded the Mustangs, 27-19. Jon Bentley led the Lions with nine rebounds, and Connor Priest followed with six rebounds.
Fairfield won the third frame at 15-14, as both teams played nearly even in the frame. A couple big moments in the quarter included a 3-pointer by Smaltz for LCHS, then later a 3-pointer by Fairfield’s Zimmerman left the Lions ahead 32-28 with 4:21 left in the frame.
The Lions held an eight-point lead late in the quarter, but the Mustangs had Chisman sink a 3-pointer for the 40-35 deficit to enter the fourth frame.
In the fourth, the Mustangs outscored the Lions 16-15, including tying the score at 40 after opening the fourth with two free throws by Waits, and then a 3-pointer from the corner from Smaltz with 6:53 remaining in regulation.
Fairfield eventually built a seven-point lead with a 3-pointer by Teeters with 4:34 on the clock. With 1:51 left in the final quarter it was a free throw from Koben Zink which extended the FHS lead to six points at 51-45.
With 1.4 on the clock the Mustangs made the score closer with a 3-pointer from the corner by Chisman, but Teeters sealed the win with two FHS free throws with less than a second left as the Lions won the game.
Other final scoring for the Lions included five points each by Zink and Zimmerman, eight points by Jon Bentley, four points by Caleb Payne and six points from Priest.
“With nine players, all of them are contributors for us,” Howland said of his team. “We expect team basketball, and this is a great group to coach because they are selfless. They aren’t in it for themselves, but for the team.”
LCHS final scoring also included four points from Waits, nine points by Smaltz, four points by Noah Miller, two points by Binkley and eight points from Bennington.
“A game like this that could have been nip or tuck either way … there were a couple times after timeouts I felt we could have executed a little better, and we need to work on that,” LCHS head coach Matt Carson said. “We played well enough defensively in the second half to give ourselves a chance to be in the basketball game.
“We just have to get the ball movement more offensively. They (LCHS) scrap, and I applaud the effort, but we just have to execute better.”
The LCHS Mustangs are scheduled to play again on Friday, Dec. 18 at home in a SHAC contest against the West Union Dragons. Fairfield is scheduled to play again on Saturday, Dec. 19 on the road at East Clinton in a non-conference game.
[[In-content Ad]]
Fairfield’s win saw the Lions lead for nearly the entire game, but the Mustangs did hold the lead for close to a minute in the second frame before the Lions regained the advantage on the scoreboard and didn’t release it for the remainder of the game.
That stated, the feat of keeping the Mustangs (0-2, 0-4) out of the lead wasn’t easy as at times LCHS used their offensive rebounding to gain second-chance opportunities, helping them stay in the game for all four quarters.
The Lions (2-1, 2-1) were led by Reese Teeters with 16 points in the win by the Lions, while teammate Tytis Cannon followed with 11 points, giving FHS two players reaching double figures. LCHS also had two players reach double-digit scoring with Brady Chisman scoring 14 points and Logan Shope scoring 10 points.
“That was a hard-fought battle,” Fairfield head coach Josh Howland said. “(Matt) Carson had his players ready, and he always does. They are young, and they are getting better, that’s for sure. I thought Reese and Connor did a good job defending (Ian) Waits, who I think is a great skill player. I also thoughts Shope played well for them (LCHS).
“For us, Jon Bentley rebounded well, and Tytis had some key plays. Saturday was his first day back, and he’d been out for 20 days. He’s had a hard time getting into the gym, but Tytis is something else when he’s there.”
It was Fairfield who got the scoring rolling on Tuesday night as they built a 7-0 lead within the first 1:30 of the game. Cannon got the game started with a three-point play, followed by a jumper from Teeters and two points in the paint by Brayden Zimmerman with 6:37 left on the clock for a 7-0 lead.
After the Mustangs were forced to call a timeout, they scored their first two points off free throws from Shope. Eventually the Mustangs got to within a point of the Lions after a 6-0 run with points by Kyle Bennington, Shope and Ian Waits left the score at 9-8 in favor of FHS with 3:25 left in the first quarter.
Cannon answered with a 3-pointer for the Lions, putting the Lions out front by four points. The two teams exchanged baskets for the final 1:58 of the first frame, leading to the Lions keeping a four-point advantage at 18-12.
There were a combined 16 points scored in the second quarter by the two Highland County counterparts, where the Mustangs won the frame at 9-7, leading the the Lions still holding onto the lead at halftime by a 25-21 score.
The second began with four points by Shope, followed by a jumper by Fairfield’s Connor Priest at the 6:15 mark for a 20-16 Fairfield lead. The Mustangs rallied back with two points from Bryce Binkley and a 3-pointer by Chase Smaltz with 4:11 on the clock, taking their only lead of the game at 21-20.
Fairfield regained the top spot in scoring with a 3-pointer by Cannon at the 3:15 mark, and the final two points of the second came with a jumper from Cannon near the buzzer for the four-point lead.
At halftime, the Lions had out-rebounded Lynchburg-Clay, 16-9. Unofficially for the game, the Lions out-rebounded the Mustangs, 27-19. Jon Bentley led the Lions with nine rebounds, and Connor Priest followed with six rebounds.
Fairfield won the third frame at 15-14, as both teams played nearly even in the frame. A couple big moments in the quarter included a 3-pointer by Smaltz for LCHS, then later a 3-pointer by Fairfield’s Zimmerman left the Lions ahead 32-28 with 4:21 left in the frame.
The Lions held an eight-point lead late in the quarter, but the Mustangs had Chisman sink a 3-pointer for the 40-35 deficit to enter the fourth frame.
In the fourth, the Mustangs outscored the Lions 16-15, including tying the score at 40 after opening the fourth with two free throws by Waits, and then a 3-pointer from the corner from Smaltz with 6:53 remaining in regulation.
Fairfield eventually built a seven-point lead with a 3-pointer by Teeters with 4:34 on the clock. With 1:51 left in the final quarter it was a free throw from Koben Zink which extended the FHS lead to six points at 51-45.
With 1.4 on the clock the Mustangs made the score closer with a 3-pointer from the corner by Chisman, but Teeters sealed the win with two FHS free throws with less than a second left as the Lions won the game.
Other final scoring for the Lions included five points each by Zink and Zimmerman, eight points by Jon Bentley, four points by Caleb Payne and six points from Priest.
“With nine players, all of them are contributors for us,” Howland said of his team. “We expect team basketball, and this is a great group to coach because they are selfless. They aren’t in it for themselves, but for the team.”
LCHS final scoring also included four points from Waits, nine points by Smaltz, four points by Noah Miller, two points by Binkley and eight points from Bennington.
“A game like this that could have been nip or tuck either way … there were a couple times after timeouts I felt we could have executed a little better, and we need to work on that,” LCHS head coach Matt Carson said. “We played well enough defensively in the second half to give ourselves a chance to be in the basketball game.
“We just have to get the ball movement more offensively. They (LCHS) scrap, and I applaud the effort, but we just have to execute better.”
The LCHS Mustangs are scheduled to play again on Friday, Dec. 18 at home in a SHAC contest against the West Union Dragons. Fairfield is scheduled to play again on Saturday, Dec. 19 on the road at East Clinton in a non-conference game.
[[In-content Ad]]