Fairfield Lions roar loud in 2nd half to spoil Lynchburg-Clay homecoming
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
DODSONVILLE — Lynchburg-Clay High School celebrated their annual homecoming game Friday night. For one half, the Mustangs played nearly even with their Highland County counterpart Fairfield, but the second half went to the Lions as they defeated the host Mustangs, 67-52.
Though the Lions (4-5, 9-6) won by 15 points on Friday night, the game was very closely played in the first half with Lynchburg-Clay leading at the end of the first frame by six points at 15-9, but from there Lions rallied to take a 29-28 lead at halftime following a 20-13 second quarter in Fairfield’s favor.
It was Fairfield who scored first with a layup from Connor Priest, but the Mustangs responded with consecutive baskets by Noah Miller, Ray Conner and Blake Marcelino in front of a full gym at LCHS for a 6-2 lead with 5:58 on the first-quarter clock.
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The Lions got back on track with two points by James Bentley, only to see Conner also score two points in the paint for. 8-4 LC lead. Following a timeout and a charge taken by Bryson Simmons, it was Simmons again and Tytis Cannon scoring points for the Lions, making it a one-point lead for the visitors at 9-8. LCHS responded with a jumper by Miller, a layup from Conner and a 3-pointer at the buzzer from Brady Chisman for a 15-9 Lynchburg-Clay advantage.
Simmons and James Bentley combined for 49 of the 67 Fairfield points for the game, with Simmons scoring 28 points, with six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Bentley had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, plus he collected two assists and four steals.
“We gave up too many offensive rebounds in the first half (12 in two quarters), but the second half we gave up five and only one in the fourth quarter, and that was the difference in the game,” Fairfield head coach Josh Howland said. “I will say this, Coach (Matt) Carson has them kids playing hard. They are young and they played their guts out, and I was impressed with their effort.
“I thought our senior leaders stepped up tonight. Wyatt Willey had nine assists and 12 rebounds, and when your point guard has 12 rebounds, that is saying something. He took it personal they were out-rebounding us in the first half, and he came out in the second half and put his work in.”
Howland also spoke about Bentley in his postgame interview.
“James, for the last six or seven games, he has really turned it on. He’s controlling his mood a lot better, and he’s playing power-driven and going after the ball,” Howland said. “We challenged him personally about keeping (Ray) Conner off the boards, and James did a nice job of doing that in the second half.”
The Mustangs (2-7, 2-14) were led by Miller with 18 points and Conner with 12 points.
“One of the things we wanted to do going into this game was to hit the board hard, and we did that in the first half,” LCHS head coach Matt Carson said. “I don’t know about the second half, because they (FHS) scored a lot more points in the half, and I’ll have to go back and look at the film.
“We let two really good basketball players beat us tonight — Bryson Simmons and James Bentley — hats off to them. I thought a positive was we hit shots better than we have in the last few games.”
Fairfield got rolling in the early stages of the second quarter with two points by Bentley and two made free throws from Priest. After the Mustangs scored two points, the two teams continued to exchange baskets with Wyatt Willey, Jon Bentley, James Bentley and Simmons scoring points for the Lions. Miller added five points for the Mustangs (including a 3-pointer), and Conner had two points for a 23-23 score with 2:37 still left in the first half.
Willey totaled three points for the Lions, but he also had the aforementioned 12 rebounds and nine assists. Jon Bentley totaled four points, five rebounds and one assist.
Following a Fairfield timeout, Miller sank a jumper for the Mustangs, but Priest tied the score again a 25 with 1:18 left in the second frame. Miller responded with a 3-pointer, only to see Simmons score two points off a put-back basket, and less than 30 seconds later, Simmons sank a jumper to put the Lions in front at 29-28 at halftime.
The Lions increased their lead to nine points once the third frame was finished, with Fairfield outscoring the Mustangs, 21-12 in the eight minutes of game time.
In the third, LCHS had a 3-pointer from both Ian Waits and Chisman, while also having a two-point basket from Waits and four points scored by Conner. Waits totaled nine points in the loss for the Mustangs. Chisman totaled six points for the game, making two 3-pointers.
The Lions had 12 points from Simmons in the third (including one 3-pointer), plus nine points by James Bentley for 21-point frame.
With the Lions in the lead by a 50-40 score after three quarters, the Lions didn’t lose the lead for the entire fourth frame as well. For FHS in the final frame, Simmons sank a 3-pointer and made two two-point baskets, while James Bentley scored six points off three buckets. Also for FHS, Priest and Brayden Zimmerman each scored two points. Priest finished with seven points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Also for Fairfield in the game, Cannon totaled two points, along with one rebound, assist and steal each. Reese Teeters totaled one rebound and one steal. Zimmerman finished with two points and one rebound.
“I liked the boys’ effort, and we talk about the county rivalry, and it is a county rivalry for us,” Howland said. “Coach Carson always has his teams ready to go, and we knew it would be that way tonight. Even though they haven’t been real successful in the victory column, I think they are definitely getting better every day. I hope he (Carson) is pleased with their effort because I thought they played hard.”
As a team, the Lions totaled 27 two-point baskets (10 each from James Bentley and Simmons), plus three 3-pointers, and the Lions were 4-of-8 from the free-throw line. Lynchburg-Clay collected 15 two-point baskets, seven 3-pointers and they were 1-of-4 with their free-throw shooting.
“I thought we got tired later, and maybe we should have switched the defense more. I will never fault these kids’ effort, and I want to give all the glory to God, whether it be in successes or disappointments,” Carson said. “These kids are a resilient bunch,s but that third quarter got away from us a little bit. We have to do a better job of running an offense, and we have looked to improve on that all year, but I’m the head coach, so I have to figure out how to get the ball moving around again.”
Carson also spoke about recent Fairfield High School Hall of Fame inductee, the late Kevin Fouch, who made an impact on Carson when he attended FHS as a student and later when Carson was the head basketball coach.
“I want to say congratulations to all of the recent Hall of Fame inductees over at Fairfield, especially the family of Kevin Fouch,” Carson said. “Kevin was such a great man. When I was a student there, walking down the hallway he would always ask how my day was going, and you know, you don’t have to do that as an adult. You know, you have a busy job, and you can be doing things, but Kevin was always gracious.
“I was fortunate enough I got to play high school baseball with his son Jake, and Kevin would be very proud, and I’m sure he is looking down on his family right now and they’re continuing his legacy. I just want to say congratulations to his memory and to that family, and I appreciate everything he’s done for Fairfield athletics.”
Next for Fairfield is a non-conference rivalry game on Tuesday, Jan. 28, as they will travel to face the Hillsboro Indians. The JV game will start at 6 p.m.
The Mustangs play again on Tuesday, Jan. 28, as they are scheduled to host the Ripley Blue Jays.
Though the Lions (4-5, 9-6) won by 15 points on Friday night, the game was very closely played in the first half with Lynchburg-Clay leading at the end of the first frame by six points at 15-9, but from there Lions rallied to take a 29-28 lead at halftime following a 20-13 second quarter in Fairfield’s favor.
It was Fairfield who scored first with a layup from Connor Priest, but the Mustangs responded with consecutive baskets by Noah Miller, Ray Conner and Blake Marcelino in front of a full gym at LCHS for a 6-2 lead with 5:58 on the first-quarter clock.
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The Lions got back on track with two points by James Bentley, only to see Conner also score two points in the paint for. 8-4 LC lead. Following a timeout and a charge taken by Bryson Simmons, it was Simmons again and Tytis Cannon scoring points for the Lions, making it a one-point lead for the visitors at 9-8. LCHS responded with a jumper by Miller, a layup from Conner and a 3-pointer at the buzzer from Brady Chisman for a 15-9 Lynchburg-Clay advantage.
Simmons and James Bentley combined for 49 of the 67 Fairfield points for the game, with Simmons scoring 28 points, with six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Bentley had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, plus he collected two assists and four steals.
“We gave up too many offensive rebounds in the first half (12 in two quarters), but the second half we gave up five and only one in the fourth quarter, and that was the difference in the game,” Fairfield head coach Josh Howland said. “I will say this, Coach (Matt) Carson has them kids playing hard. They are young and they played their guts out, and I was impressed with their effort.
“I thought our senior leaders stepped up tonight. Wyatt Willey had nine assists and 12 rebounds, and when your point guard has 12 rebounds, that is saying something. He took it personal they were out-rebounding us in the first half, and he came out in the second half and put his work in.”
Howland also spoke about Bentley in his postgame interview.
“James, for the last six or seven games, he has really turned it on. He’s controlling his mood a lot better, and he’s playing power-driven and going after the ball,” Howland said. “We challenged him personally about keeping (Ray) Conner off the boards, and James did a nice job of doing that in the second half.”
The Mustangs (2-7, 2-14) were led by Miller with 18 points and Conner with 12 points.
“One of the things we wanted to do going into this game was to hit the board hard, and we did that in the first half,” LCHS head coach Matt Carson said. “I don’t know about the second half, because they (FHS) scored a lot more points in the half, and I’ll have to go back and look at the film.
“We let two really good basketball players beat us tonight — Bryson Simmons and James Bentley — hats off to them. I thought a positive was we hit shots better than we have in the last few games.”
Fairfield got rolling in the early stages of the second quarter with two points by Bentley and two made free throws from Priest. After the Mustangs scored two points, the two teams continued to exchange baskets with Wyatt Willey, Jon Bentley, James Bentley and Simmons scoring points for the Lions. Miller added five points for the Mustangs (including a 3-pointer), and Conner had two points for a 23-23 score with 2:37 still left in the first half.
Willey totaled three points for the Lions, but he also had the aforementioned 12 rebounds and nine assists. Jon Bentley totaled four points, five rebounds and one assist.
Following a Fairfield timeout, Miller sank a jumper for the Mustangs, but Priest tied the score again a 25 with 1:18 left in the second frame. Miller responded with a 3-pointer, only to see Simmons score two points off a put-back basket, and less than 30 seconds later, Simmons sank a jumper to put the Lions in front at 29-28 at halftime.
The Lions increased their lead to nine points once the third frame was finished, with Fairfield outscoring the Mustangs, 21-12 in the eight minutes of game time.
In the third, LCHS had a 3-pointer from both Ian Waits and Chisman, while also having a two-point basket from Waits and four points scored by Conner. Waits totaled nine points in the loss for the Mustangs. Chisman totaled six points for the game, making two 3-pointers.
The Lions had 12 points from Simmons in the third (including one 3-pointer), plus nine points by James Bentley for 21-point frame.
With the Lions in the lead by a 50-40 score after three quarters, the Lions didn’t lose the lead for the entire fourth frame as well. For FHS in the final frame, Simmons sank a 3-pointer and made two two-point baskets, while James Bentley scored six points off three buckets. Also for FHS, Priest and Brayden Zimmerman each scored two points. Priest finished with seven points, four rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Also for Fairfield in the game, Cannon totaled two points, along with one rebound, assist and steal each. Reese Teeters totaled one rebound and one steal. Zimmerman finished with two points and one rebound.
“I liked the boys’ effort, and we talk about the county rivalry, and it is a county rivalry for us,” Howland said. “Coach Carson always has his teams ready to go, and we knew it would be that way tonight. Even though they haven’t been real successful in the victory column, I think they are definitely getting better every day. I hope he (Carson) is pleased with their effort because I thought they played hard.”
As a team, the Lions totaled 27 two-point baskets (10 each from James Bentley and Simmons), plus three 3-pointers, and the Lions were 4-of-8 from the free-throw line. Lynchburg-Clay collected 15 two-point baskets, seven 3-pointers and they were 1-of-4 with their free-throw shooting.
“I thought we got tired later, and maybe we should have switched the defense more. I will never fault these kids’ effort, and I want to give all the glory to God, whether it be in successes or disappointments,” Carson said. “These kids are a resilient bunch,s but that third quarter got away from us a little bit. We have to do a better job of running an offense, and we have looked to improve on that all year, but I’m the head coach, so I have to figure out how to get the ball moving around again.”
Carson also spoke about recent Fairfield High School Hall of Fame inductee, the late Kevin Fouch, who made an impact on Carson when he attended FHS as a student and later when Carson was the head basketball coach.
“I want to say congratulations to all of the recent Hall of Fame inductees over at Fairfield, especially the family of Kevin Fouch,” Carson said. “Kevin was such a great man. When I was a student there, walking down the hallway he would always ask how my day was going, and you know, you don’t have to do that as an adult. You know, you have a busy job, and you can be doing things, but Kevin was always gracious.
“I was fortunate enough I got to play high school baseball with his son Jake, and Kevin would be very proud, and I’m sure he is looking down on his family right now and they’re continuing his legacy. I just want to say congratulations to his memory and to that family, and I appreciate everything he’s done for Fairfield athletics.”
Next for Fairfield is a non-conference rivalry game on Tuesday, Jan. 28, as they will travel to face the Hillsboro Indians. The JV game will start at 6 p.m.
The Mustangs play again on Tuesday, Jan. 28, as they are scheduled to host the Ripley Blue Jays.