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Lions battle for win over Wildcats 

The Highland County Press - Staff Photo - Create Article
Fairfield's Brody Smith and Whiteoak's Jackson Tedford are pictured in their county and conference rivalry game, Friday at Whiteoak HS. (HCP Photo/Stephen Forsha)
By
Stephen Forsha, The Highland County Press

MOWRYSTOWN — The Fairfield Lions had to battle for their Southern Hills Athletic Conference win on Friday night against the Whiteoak Wildcats to start the 2025 calendar year. 

Whiteoak (2-4, 3-8) held the lead after the first quarter, and it was the Lions holding on to the lead from the second quarter on, as they played with more consistency on both sides of the court for a 56-43 victory at Whiteoak High School. 

“They play extremely hard, and I think Greg [Patton, Whiteoak head coach] does a really good job getting the most out of his players,” Fairfield head coach Quentin Williams said. “We knew we'd come in here and be in a dog fight. We were down our starting point guard, so we had to shift some people in some different spots, so I thought it'd be a good test for us doing things a little bit differently. 

“I was pleased with our adaptability, for the most part, but I wasn't very pleased with our up and down focus throughout the game. Attention to detail and our energy kind of is up and down throughout. We'd go in spurts where we look really good, and we lose attention to detail what we're doing.”

Fairfield (5-1, 7-1) finished the game with two players reaching double-figure scoring as Logan McIntosh totaled 17 points, making seven two-point field goals and a 3-pointer in the win, with all of his points being scored within the first three quarters. 

Brody Smith also had 17 points for the Lions, ending the game with three two-point baskets, two 3-pointers, and he was 5-of-6 from the free-throw line for the game, including making all five of his free throws (5-of-5) in the fourth frame. 

Sawyer Blair and Brady Brandenburg each led Whiteoak in scoring with 12 points. Blair finished with a three-point basket, three two-point buckets and he was 3-of-3 in the game from the free-throw line, making all three attempts in the fourth quarter. 

Brandenburg finished with five two-point baskets and was 2-of-7 from the free-throw line. 

Whiteoak came out strong by building a 6-2 lead over Fairfield, and later led 8-4 with 3:13 left in the quarter. The Lions eventually took a one-point lead with 1:37 on the clock following a 3-pointer from Smith, but WHS came back with two free throws made by Zander Roades. 

Again, the Lions answered with a 3-pointer by Griffin Friend, but the Wildcats ended the first-quarter scoring with a three-point play from Brandenburg.

“If we can find a way to put the ball in the hole consistently, we can be a dangerous team,” Whiteoak head coach Greg Patton said. “I know how well that Fairfield plays. They’re a really good team, so I was happy with holding them like that. We’ve got to figure out a way to make some shots.

“We were just kind of messing around with some new defenses and stuff and different schemes, and I think it threw them off a little bit. But obviously, Quentin's a heck of a coach and figured it out. That's why we kind of kept jumping back and forth between things that first quarter. We had a lot of ball movement, and it was a really, really good first quarter for us.”

With the Wildcats leading by one point to start the second frame, the Lions took the lead less than a minute into the quarter with a 3-pointer from Friend, but WHS quickly tied the score at 15-15 with 6:36 left in the frame. 

FHS continued to score baskets, building a seven-point lead twice in the second quarter, and eventually taking a 13-point lead to end the first half as they scored the final nine points of the quarter with a basket by Chase Newman, a 3-pointer by Friend, a 3-pointer from McIntosh and a free throw from Dane Hodson, taking a 33-20 halftime lead. 

The Lions held a 12-point lead after three quarters at 43-31, as WHS won the frame at 11-10. Five players scored points for WHS in the third frame, with their points coming from Roades, Blair, Jackson Tedford, Brandenburg and Aiden Crowe. 

Fairfield in the third had a 3-pointer from Caleb Rice, a 3-pointer by Newman and two baskets by McIntosh. 

The Lions finished the game with a 13-point win as Smith scored nine points in the fourth quarter, while Rice and Quentin McIntosh each scored a two-point basket. 

“At times we had good attention to detail with what we were trying to do, and other times we don’t,” Williams said of the fourth quarter. “We’ve just got to be shore that up more, and it starts with better communication. We’ll just keep working on it.”

Zach Igo made a 3-pointer in the fourth frame for WHS, Blair scored five points in the fourth, while Tedford and Brandenburg each scored two points in the final eight-minute frame. 

"Brady does a great job on the boards for us, and Sawyer and Zander did a nice job," Patton said.

Other final overall scoring totals for WHS included Roades (6), Igo (5), Tedford (4), Jonah Michael (2) and Crowe (2). 

Friend totaled nine points for Fairfield in the win with three 3-pointers, Rice had five points for the game,  Newman totaled five points, Quentin McIntosh scored two points and Hodson totaled one point. 

BOX SCORE
FHS    12 21 10 13 — 56
WHS    13 07 11 12 — 43


FAIRFIELD (56) — G.Friend 0 (3) 0-0 9, B.Smith 3 (2) 5-6 17, C.Rice 1 (1) 0-2 5, L.McIntosh 7 (1) 0-0 17, D.Hodson 0 (0) 1-2 1, C.Newman 1 (1) 0-0 5, Q.McIntosh 1 (0) 0-0 2. TOTALS: 13 (8) 6-10 56. 


WHITEOAK (43) —  Z.Igo 1 (1) 0-0 5, Z.Roades 2 (0) 2-3 6, S.Blair 3 (1) 3-3 12, J.Tedford 2 (0) 0-0 4, B.Brandenburg 5 (0) 2-7 12, J.Michael 1 (0) 0-0 2, A.Crowe 1 (0) 0-0 2. TOTALS: 15 (2) 7-13 43.