Lions never trail in home win against Wellston
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Though the Fairfield Lions’ first-quarter lead was just six points, the rest of the game saw the Lions break away from the Wellston Rockets and never look behind them, winning by a 77-64 score on Monday at Grandle Gymnasium.
The closest quarter played for the first half was the opening frame where the Lions led by a score of 18-12, and from there, following a 22-9 second quarter, it was the Lions leading 40-21 at halftime.
One issue for the Lions was turnovers, as they committed 24 in the game.
“We had too many errors against the press, and gave up too many turnovers, but we’ll learn from it,” FHS head coach Josh Howland said.
Fairfield (4-3) opened the first quarter and game scoring with a bucket by Connor Priest, and later he scored another basket for the early 4-2 lead.
That basket was the start of a 9-0 run that consisted of a 3-pointer from Bryson Simmons, two free-throw conversions by Wyatt Willey and a layup on a fast break by Simmons for the 11-2 lead, forcing Wellston to call a timeout with 4:30 left in the first frame.
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Simmons led all scorers with 31 points, while also having four assists.
“We are fortunate enough to have three seniors I feel comfortable with the ball when they shoot it at any time,” Howland said of his team. “When you have three guys you can pick from on the floor, we know odds are they are going to score for us.
“I’m OK with our scoring, but the turnovers and defensive effort have to improve, but we’ll get there.”
Wellston responded with five points from Cyan Ervin, who finished the game with 24 points. Then came a 3-pointer by Wellston’s Evan Brown for an 11-10 score with the Lions still in front. Brown ended the game with 15 points.
Fairfield scored again with 1:15 remaining in the opening frame with a basket in the paint by Bentley, and after two points by the visitors, Tytis Cannon of Fairfield sank a 3-pointer and scored two points on a put-back basket for the 18-12 Lions lead.
Next was a 22-9 second frame where the Lions went from leading by a 30-21 score with 3:45 left to a 40-21 score when the second quarter buzzer sounded for halftime. In the final 2:58 of the second quarter, Simmons scored 10 points for Fairfield, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the 19-point lead at halftime.
The Lions also had four points from Priest and two points each by Reese Teeters, Cannon and Bentley in the second.
The third frame was won by Wellston with an 18-15 scoring differential, but the Lions still held on to a 55-39 lead at the end of three quarters. WHS won the fourth frame too at 25-22, but it wasn’t enough to get close to the Lions’ lead.
Fairfield had seven points from Priest and two points each by Willey, Simmons, Tucker Watson and Bentley in the third. The FHS fourth-frame scoring consisted of 12 points by Simmons, three points by Bentley and two points each from Cannon, Willey, Watson and Bentley.
Priest finished in double figures with 17 points (six rebounds), followed by Cannon with nine points (four assists) and Bentley with eight points (nine rebounds, four steals). The rest of the final scoring saw Willey with six points (three assists, three steals), four points from Watson and Teeters with two points.
The Lions wrapped up the game with 26 two-point field goals, three 3-pointers and they were 16-of-25 in their free throw attempts. Wellston totaled 24 two-point field goals, four 3-pointers and they were 4-of-11 from the free-throw line.
Next for Fairfield is a SHAC game on Friday, Jan. 3 at home against Whiteoak. The following night (Saturday, Jan. 4) the Lions will host another Highland County foe, McClain.
“Whiteoak is our only focus right now, and we’ll worry about Saturday on Saturday,” Howland said. “Whiteoak is a much-improved team, and they will play hard. They give 100-percent every second, and that goes a long way.”
The closest quarter played for the first half was the opening frame where the Lions led by a score of 18-12, and from there, following a 22-9 second quarter, it was the Lions leading 40-21 at halftime.
One issue for the Lions was turnovers, as they committed 24 in the game.
“We had too many errors against the press, and gave up too many turnovers, but we’ll learn from it,” FHS head coach Josh Howland said.
Fairfield (4-3) opened the first quarter and game scoring with a bucket by Connor Priest, and later he scored another basket for the early 4-2 lead.
That basket was the start of a 9-0 run that consisted of a 3-pointer from Bryson Simmons, two free-throw conversions by Wyatt Willey and a layup on a fast break by Simmons for the 11-2 lead, forcing Wellston to call a timeout with 4:30 left in the first frame.
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Simmons led all scorers with 31 points, while also having four assists.
“We are fortunate enough to have three seniors I feel comfortable with the ball when they shoot it at any time,” Howland said of his team. “When you have three guys you can pick from on the floor, we know odds are they are going to score for us.
“I’m OK with our scoring, but the turnovers and defensive effort have to improve, but we’ll get there.”
Wellston responded with five points from Cyan Ervin, who finished the game with 24 points. Then came a 3-pointer by Wellston’s Evan Brown for an 11-10 score with the Lions still in front. Brown ended the game with 15 points.
Fairfield scored again with 1:15 remaining in the opening frame with a basket in the paint by Bentley, and after two points by the visitors, Tytis Cannon of Fairfield sank a 3-pointer and scored two points on a put-back basket for the 18-12 Lions lead.
Next was a 22-9 second frame where the Lions went from leading by a 30-21 score with 3:45 left to a 40-21 score when the second quarter buzzer sounded for halftime. In the final 2:58 of the second quarter, Simmons scored 10 points for Fairfield, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the 19-point lead at halftime.
The Lions also had four points from Priest and two points each by Reese Teeters, Cannon and Bentley in the second.
The third frame was won by Wellston with an 18-15 scoring differential, but the Lions still held on to a 55-39 lead at the end of three quarters. WHS won the fourth frame too at 25-22, but it wasn’t enough to get close to the Lions’ lead.
Fairfield had seven points from Priest and two points each by Willey, Simmons, Tucker Watson and Bentley in the third. The FHS fourth-frame scoring consisted of 12 points by Simmons, three points by Bentley and two points each from Cannon, Willey, Watson and Bentley.
Priest finished in double figures with 17 points (six rebounds), followed by Cannon with nine points (four assists) and Bentley with eight points (nine rebounds, four steals). The rest of the final scoring saw Willey with six points (three assists, three steals), four points from Watson and Teeters with two points.
The Lions wrapped up the game with 26 two-point field goals, three 3-pointers and they were 16-of-25 in their free throw attempts. Wellston totaled 24 two-point field goals, four 3-pointers and they were 4-of-11 from the free-throw line.
Next for Fairfield is a SHAC game on Friday, Jan. 3 at home against Whiteoak. The following night (Saturday, Jan. 4) the Lions will host another Highland County foe, McClain.
“Whiteoak is our only focus right now, and we’ll worry about Saturday on Saturday,” Howland said. “Whiteoak is a much-improved team, and they will play hard. They give 100-percent every second, and that goes a long way.”