Fairfield wins rivalry game against Hillsboro

LEESBURG — The Fairfield Lions were ready to defend their home court Saturday night and did so by keeping the lead after each quarter played, defeating the visiting Hillsboro Indians 50-39 in non-conference action.

The Lions and Indians played in front of a packed Grandle Gymnasium, and the two teams started the game with three ties and with the Lions leading after the first frame at 11-7.

Hillsboro and Fairfield exchanged baskets with HHS having points from Brady Juillerat, Tre Captain, and another basket and free throw by Juillerat, while the Lions had points from Brody Smith, Logan McIntosh, and a 3-pointer by Smith, eventually with the score tied at 7-7 with 2:17 left in the first frame.

Fairfield ended the first with four points scored by McIntosh, leaving them in the lead at 11-7 after eight minutes.

Each team scored eight points in the second frame for a 19-15 halftime score in favor of Fairfield, as their score was tied once in the second at 14-14 following a 3-pointer by Hillsboro’s Jack Howland. Also with points on the second for the Indians were Dylan Dixon, Mason Dumpert and Captain with a 3-pointer.

Fairfield’s second-quarter scoring consisted of points by Griffin Friend and Smith each with a 3-pointer, and McIntosh with two points.

“I felt like the first half was kind of battling back and forth defensively,” Fairfield head coach Quentin Williams said. “We missed a lot of open shots tonight, especially in the first half. We got a lot of good looks and they just didn't fall.

“We did a good job rebounding off of it in the second half, so they started falling a little bit. We’ve just got to put our foot on the gas a little bit more.”

The Lions outscored the Indians 15-7 in the third frame, increasing their lead to 12 points at 34-22. The third began with a free throw by Juillerat of HHS, and teammate Brayden Hunter also made a free throw to bring Hillsboro back to within two points of Fairfield’s lead.

The Lions answered with six consecutive points, with Smith having a three-point play and Friend sinking a 3-pointer with 4:53 left in the quarter.

Juillerat knocked down a 3-pointer of his own, but later in the frame the next basket was a 3-pointer by Smith, pushing the Fairfield lead back to eight points at 28-20.

Howland made two free throws to get the Indians back to within six points of the Lions, but FHS ended the frame with two free throws by McIntosh, two free throws from Caleb Barrera, and two free throws by Quentin McIntosh for the 34-22 lead.

“[Jack Howland] got beat all the way down the floor on every possession, but that's smart on their behalf, because I don't care who you are, I don't care how good you are, nobody likes to be played physical for 84 feet, and that's what they did,” Hillsboro head coach Josh Howland said. “Hats off to Fairfield. I thought the Barrera boy did a nice job playing defense for 84 feet.”

Fairfield eventually won by 11 points with a fourth frame for the Lions that included seven points from Friend, a 3-pointer by Smith, a two-point basket by Logan McIntosh and four points scored by Quentin McIntosh.

Hillsboro’s fourth quarter saw them have four points from Dumpert, two points scored by Dixon, seven points from Captain, two points by Howland and two points by Juillerat.

Fairfield was led in the game in the scoring column by Smith with 17 points, making two two-point baskets, four 3-pointers (one each quarter), and he was 1-of-1 from the free-throw line.

Friend finished with 13 points, making three two-point baskets, two 3-pointers (second and third quarters), and he also was 1-of-1 from the free-throw line.

Finishing with 12 points was Logan McIntosh, as he made five two-pointers and was 2-of-2 in his free throw attempts.

Fairfield also had six points from Quentin McIntosh and two points by Barrera.

Team totals for the Lions were 12 two-point baskets, six 3-pointers, and they went 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. HHS finished with nine two-point baskets, three 3-pointers, and they were 12-of-17 from the free-throw line.

For the Indians, Captain was the leading scorer with 12 points, making two two-point baskets, two 3-pointers (second and fourth quarters), and he was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.

Juillerat followed with 11 points, making three two-pointers, one 3-pointer, and he was 2-of-5 with his free throw attempts.

HHS also had the following scoring: Hunter (1), Dixon (4), Dumpert (5) and Howland (6).

BOX SCORE
HHS    07 08 07 17 — 39
FHS    11 08 15 16 — 50

FAIRFIELD (50) — G.Friend 3 (2) 1-1 13, C.Barrera 0 (0) 2-2 2, B.Smith 2 (4) 1-1 17, L.McIntosh 5 (0) 2-2 12, Q.McIntosh 2 (0) 2-2 6. TOTALS: 12 (6) 8-8 50.  

HILLSBORO (39) — M.Dumpert 1 (0) 3-4 5, B.Hunter 0 (0) 1-2 1, D.Dixon 1 (0) 2-2 4, T.Captain 2 (2) 2-2 12, J.Howland 2 (0) 2-2 6, B.Juillerat 3 (1) 2-5 11. TOTALS: 9 (3) 12-17 39.

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