Lions win at the Convo; headed to district finals WATCH THE VIDEO
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
ATHENS — The Fairfield Lions have come full circle after Monday night in the Division IV SE District Semifinals at Ohio University's Convocation Center. The Lions, who started the season 0-6, put on a clinic of how a team plays as one, using their offensive firepower, along with a very physical defense, to take down No. 1 seed Eastern-Meigs (Reedsville), 43-41 to advance to the district final game.
The district finals will take place on Saturday morning, March 12 as the Lions will take on the South Webster Jeeps (17-4), who defeated Eastern Pike. Tip-off for the district final will be at 10:30 a.m. at the Convocation Center.
The district semifinal win was 14 years in the making as the Lions hadn't won a district game since 1997, breaking a six-game skid in district play.
"This has been a long time coming, but this reminds me of two years ago when I had a senior-laden group down here, and we came close against Oak Hill … that night we came up a little bit short," FHS head coach Matt Carson said. "Tonight, we weren't going to have any of that. We held on, and I thought everyone who was out there played disciplined. It's a great team win tonight."
Getting to the district final consisted of four Lions scoring all 43 points, as they made the big shots when they needed to, along with a dominating game from senior Chris Cox.
Cox finished with a game-high 26 points, making 12 two-point buckets, along with a 2-of-4 performance from the free-throw line. Cox scored 13 points in each half.
Following Cox in the scoring column was senior Cameron Rolark with 13 points, as he sank four 3-pointers, three in the first quarter. He added a free throw in the fourth quarter. Senior Ian Adams added two points, and senior Ryan Evans scored two points.
In the game that was tied eight times, the Lions took over in the final quarter, breaking two ties, including a 32-32 score after three quarters, to head back to Leesburg with a win. The Lions never trailed in the final 4:15 of the game.
"I told them in district tournament play this was going to be physical. Eastern is a smaller ball club, but very physical, and we knew we were going to be in a dog fight for 32 minutes," Carson said.
Cox broke the tied game 33 seconds into the fourth with one of his many put-back baskets, lifting FHS to a 34-32 lead. The Eagles followed with 6:38 remaining with a three-point play from senior Jonathan Barrett.
Then with 4:15 left, once they overcame some turnovers, the Lions tied the game with a free throw by Rolark, and at the 2:34 mark of the quarter, the senior sank a 3-pointer which put the Lions ahead for good.
In the final 1:11 of the fourth, there were a combined 11 points scored with the Lions being outscored 6-5, but their points were huge, including a play where senior Cody Ferrell assisted Cox in the paint for two points that put the Lions up 40-36 with .49 left in the quarter. Adams followed with two free throws. With 12.7 left, Cox sank one-of-two from the free-throw line. With seconds remaining, Eastern senior Devon Baum sank a 3-pointer, but time ran out on the Eagles.
"It was kind of like the Manchester (a few) weeks ago. We led by four or five in that game, ended up winning by two, and scored there at the end," Carson said. "I'll tell you … the Southern Hills League and our non-league schedule has prepared us for games like this. Where earlier in the year we might have come up short in some of these games, I think enough experience in those kind of situations brought us through tonight."
Baum led the Eagles with 17 points, scoring 13 points in the first half. Tyler Hendrix scored 11 for Eastern, and Brayden Pratt scored eight.
The first three frames were closely contested with the Lions leading 18-13 after the first quarter, and Eastern led at halftime 24-22. After three quarters, the game was tied at 32, as at times during the game the Eagles would hold the ball outside the lane, taking time off the clock as they looked for an opportunity to score.
"Them sitting out there, holding the ball, forced us to go to man-to-man, and after we got a couple turnovers and some points, I told the team if we get a three-point lead or more we are going back to the zone," Carson said. "We just made an adjustment and told our guys to shade to the side of No. 24 (Hendrix) a little bit, and don't leave him.
"The zone has worked for us all year, and I am a big man-to-man guy, but that matchup-zone works for our personnel. We got a lot of hands on basketballs tonight, it just was a total team effort."
The first quarter was eight minutes that saw the Lions trail early, tie the game, and break away late for their five-point lead.
Eastern began with a 4-0 lead, but three straight baskets, all of the put-back variety, gave the Lions a 6-4 lead with 4:18 left in the first. After Eastern took a 10-6 lead with six consecutive points, Rolark nailed a 3-ball, and with 1:19, Cox converted a three-point play, tying the game at 12. The 12-12 tied score was the third time the score was tied in the first. Roark ended the first with two 3-pointers, with the final one coming at the buzzer.
In the second, the Lions were outscored 11-4, with Cox scoring all four points. Eastern started the second with seven straight points for a lead of 20-18 with 5:53 left in the opening half. Cox tied the game at 20, then gave the Lions the lead as he powered his way through a triple team in the paint by the Eagles. Eastern finished the quarter with a free throw from Baum and 3-pointer by Hendrix.
The Lions tied the game early in the third with a layup by Cox, tying the game at 24. Eastern answered with a 3-pointer from Hendrix, who scored all eight points from the Eagles in the third quarter. Cox put the Lions up 28-27 with a jumper at the 3:25 mark. Hendrix and Cox exchanged the lead again when Hendrix scored two points off a turnover and Cox equaled the point with more points from the lane.
WIth 1:49 left in the third, Evans drained a jumper, and the quarter ended with a 3-pointer form Hendrix.
This win by the Lions is their sixth victory in their last nine games, winning their second straight tournament game.
Carson ended the post-game interview with a simple quote.
"To sum it up, our seniors played like seniors tonight. They weren't going to lose. I've never seen this look in their eyes in four years," Carson said. "I knew during the final timeout they weren't going to lose this ballgame and were going to do whatever it took to win this basketball game, and they did tonight.
"I'm so proud of them."
GAME NOTES: The Lions are 56-57 all-time in the sectional/district tournament … FHS has been in the district semifinals 19 times with two district titles (1978, 1996) … The Lions' last district win came in 1997 when they defeated the Whiteoak Wildcats 98-97 in double OT … FHS is 7-9 all-time in district play … At the Convo, the Lions are 5-9 all-time in 11 years.[[In-content Ad]]
The district finals will take place on Saturday morning, March 12 as the Lions will take on the South Webster Jeeps (17-4), who defeated Eastern Pike. Tip-off for the district final will be at 10:30 a.m. at the Convocation Center.
The district semifinal win was 14 years in the making as the Lions hadn't won a district game since 1997, breaking a six-game skid in district play.
"This has been a long time coming, but this reminds me of two years ago when I had a senior-laden group down here, and we came close against Oak Hill … that night we came up a little bit short," FHS head coach Matt Carson said. "Tonight, we weren't going to have any of that. We held on, and I thought everyone who was out there played disciplined. It's a great team win tonight."
Getting to the district final consisted of four Lions scoring all 43 points, as they made the big shots when they needed to, along with a dominating game from senior Chris Cox.
Cox finished with a game-high 26 points, making 12 two-point buckets, along with a 2-of-4 performance from the free-throw line. Cox scored 13 points in each half.
Following Cox in the scoring column was senior Cameron Rolark with 13 points, as he sank four 3-pointers, three in the first quarter. He added a free throw in the fourth quarter. Senior Ian Adams added two points, and senior Ryan Evans scored two points.
In the game that was tied eight times, the Lions took over in the final quarter, breaking two ties, including a 32-32 score after three quarters, to head back to Leesburg with a win. The Lions never trailed in the final 4:15 of the game.
"I told them in district tournament play this was going to be physical. Eastern is a smaller ball club, but very physical, and we knew we were going to be in a dog fight for 32 minutes," Carson said.
Cox broke the tied game 33 seconds into the fourth with one of his many put-back baskets, lifting FHS to a 34-32 lead. The Eagles followed with 6:38 remaining with a three-point play from senior Jonathan Barrett.
Then with 4:15 left, once they overcame some turnovers, the Lions tied the game with a free throw by Rolark, and at the 2:34 mark of the quarter, the senior sank a 3-pointer which put the Lions ahead for good.
In the final 1:11 of the fourth, there were a combined 11 points scored with the Lions being outscored 6-5, but their points were huge, including a play where senior Cody Ferrell assisted Cox in the paint for two points that put the Lions up 40-36 with .49 left in the quarter. Adams followed with two free throws. With 12.7 left, Cox sank one-of-two from the free-throw line. With seconds remaining, Eastern senior Devon Baum sank a 3-pointer, but time ran out on the Eagles.
"It was kind of like the Manchester (a few) weeks ago. We led by four or five in that game, ended up winning by two, and scored there at the end," Carson said. "I'll tell you … the Southern Hills League and our non-league schedule has prepared us for games like this. Where earlier in the year we might have come up short in some of these games, I think enough experience in those kind of situations brought us through tonight."
Baum led the Eagles with 17 points, scoring 13 points in the first half. Tyler Hendrix scored 11 for Eastern, and Brayden Pratt scored eight.
The first three frames were closely contested with the Lions leading 18-13 after the first quarter, and Eastern led at halftime 24-22. After three quarters, the game was tied at 32, as at times during the game the Eagles would hold the ball outside the lane, taking time off the clock as they looked for an opportunity to score.
"Them sitting out there, holding the ball, forced us to go to man-to-man, and after we got a couple turnovers and some points, I told the team if we get a three-point lead or more we are going back to the zone," Carson said. "We just made an adjustment and told our guys to shade to the side of No. 24 (Hendrix) a little bit, and don't leave him.
"The zone has worked for us all year, and I am a big man-to-man guy, but that matchup-zone works for our personnel. We got a lot of hands on basketballs tonight, it just was a total team effort."
The first quarter was eight minutes that saw the Lions trail early, tie the game, and break away late for their five-point lead.
Eastern began with a 4-0 lead, but three straight baskets, all of the put-back variety, gave the Lions a 6-4 lead with 4:18 left in the first. After Eastern took a 10-6 lead with six consecutive points, Rolark nailed a 3-ball, and with 1:19, Cox converted a three-point play, tying the game at 12. The 12-12 tied score was the third time the score was tied in the first. Roark ended the first with two 3-pointers, with the final one coming at the buzzer.
In the second, the Lions were outscored 11-4, with Cox scoring all four points. Eastern started the second with seven straight points for a lead of 20-18 with 5:53 left in the opening half. Cox tied the game at 20, then gave the Lions the lead as he powered his way through a triple team in the paint by the Eagles. Eastern finished the quarter with a free throw from Baum and 3-pointer by Hendrix.
The Lions tied the game early in the third with a layup by Cox, tying the game at 24. Eastern answered with a 3-pointer from Hendrix, who scored all eight points from the Eagles in the third quarter. Cox put the Lions up 28-27 with a jumper at the 3:25 mark. Hendrix and Cox exchanged the lead again when Hendrix scored two points off a turnover and Cox equaled the point with more points from the lane.
WIth 1:49 left in the third, Evans drained a jumper, and the quarter ended with a 3-pointer form Hendrix.
This win by the Lions is their sixth victory in their last nine games, winning their second straight tournament game.
Carson ended the post-game interview with a simple quote.
"To sum it up, our seniors played like seniors tonight. They weren't going to lose. I've never seen this look in their eyes in four years," Carson said. "I knew during the final timeout they weren't going to lose this ballgame and were going to do whatever it took to win this basketball game, and they did tonight.
"I'm so proud of them."
GAME NOTES: The Lions are 56-57 all-time in the sectional/district tournament … FHS has been in the district semifinals 19 times with two district titles (1978, 1996) … The Lions' last district win came in 1997 when they defeated the Whiteoak Wildcats 98-97 in double OT … FHS is 7-9 all-time in district play … At the Convo, the Lions are 5-9 all-time in 11 years.[[In-content Ad]]