Fairfield dominates rival Wildcats in SHAC win
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Fairfield wasted no time defending their home court Tuesday night, as they came out with a fast pace and never let up, using a 12-0 run in the first quarter to defeat Highland County rival Whiteoak, 56-33 in Southern Hills Athletic Conference action.
From the time the tip-off occurred, it was the Lions who controlled the game with a 12-0 win from the 7:35 mark to the 3:52 mark of the opening frame, as their fast and aggressive pace was on display against their county counterpart.
The Lions (2-0, 3-0) began with four straight points by TJ Mootz, followed by points on a fast break from Wyatt Collins. Following a turnover by the Wildcats, Tytis Cannon scored two points with the assist by Gunner Bennington for an 8-0 lead with 5:37 left in the first quarter, forcing WHS to call a timeout.
At the 4:47 mark of the first, Mootz added two more points with a basket, then came a turnaround jumper by Bennington with 3:52 left in the first frame for the 12-point lead.
“We want to start off quick, and we had a game plan to surprise them, to trap them a little bit off different things and do some different things,” Fairfield head coach Quintin Williams said. “I thought we executed it perfectly. We had a lot of energy, we came out ready to go, ready to push and be the aggressor. We talked about that a lot, not letting the other team be the aggressors, but we want to be the aggressor. We did a great job of that (Tuesday).”
Whiteoak got on the board with a basket from Landon Barnett, but the final points of the first frame were by the Lions as Gabe Fouch made two free throws for the 14-2 advantage.
The Lions opened the second frame with another scoring onslaught, adding another 12-point run to start a quarter to their résumé with the scoring run lasting from the 7:22 mark of the second to the 3:13 mark for a 26-2 lead.
Fairfield began the second with two points from Fouch, followed by a 3-pointer by Trey House, building the FHS lead to 19-2 with 6:55 on the clock, again forcing the Wildcats to call a timeout.
FHS came out of the timeout with a basket off a rebound from Bennington, and later a layup from House put the Lions ahead by 21 points at 23-2, as WHS called for a timeout.
The Lions build their lead to 24 points with 3-pointer from House (after grabbing a rebound with 3:13 left in the second frame.
WHS got back on the scoreboard with baskets by Logan Bieler and Carson Emery. The baskets were answered by consecutive layups from Mootz and Cannon for a 30-6 FHS advantage.
Bieler helped WHS with a 3-pointer with 1:30 left in the first half, and Barnett concluded the scoring with a free throw for a halftime score of 30-10 in favor of the Lions.
“I was extremely impressed with our defense in the first half,” Williams said. “We talked a lot about trying to keep everything on one side of the floor and trying to limit Bieler and Barnett, because they are two excellent guards. Wyatt Collins and Larkin Friend did a great job defensively, and our help side was great.
“We pride ourselves on defense. I don’t think a lot of people thought we were going to be this good defensively. Losing four starters from last year, we’ve really focused on that, and they have really embraced it.”
WHS outscored the Lions 13-12 in the third quarter, as the Lions had a free throw from Larkin Friend, two points by Collins, seven points from Cannon (including a 3-pointer) and two points from Mootz. As for WHS, their 13-point third quarter saw Emery score four points, Bieler have five points and Barnett add four points.
The fourth frame saw Fairfield score 14 points, and Whiteoak added 10 points.
Cannon scored eight points in the fourth quarter, while Mootz had six points for the Lions.
Whiteoak in the fourth frame saw Emery score four points, Bieler score three points and Barnett score three points.
Leading FHS in scoring was Cannon with 19 points and Mootz with 16 points. Also for FHS, House had eight points in the win, while Collins, Fouch and Bennington each scored four points. Friend rounded out the scoring with one point.
“I love these kids because they don’t care if they score two points or 20 points, they just want to win,” Williams said. “Everyone has that mentality that whoever is open, we are going to find it and play as a team, and that’s what makes us hard to beat.”
WHS had three players reach the scoring column, as Bieler totaled 13 points, and with 10 points each were Emery and Barnett.
For the game, the Wildcats were 6-of-10 from the free-throw line, and the Lions were 5-of-9.
“I just take it one day at a time, and you just never know,” Williams said. “We tell the kids you can’t get complacent, and we’ve had a good start, but we have to keep putting in the work and continue to put in the work every day and keep outworking other people. If we don’t, we’ll end up in the middle of the pack.”
Next for FHS is a non-conference game against Paint Valley on Dec. 13.
The Wildcats will play again Friday, Dec. 9 at Fayetteville.
[[In-content Ad]]
From the time the tip-off occurred, it was the Lions who controlled the game with a 12-0 win from the 7:35 mark to the 3:52 mark of the opening frame, as their fast and aggressive pace was on display against their county counterpart.
The Lions (2-0, 3-0) began with four straight points by TJ Mootz, followed by points on a fast break from Wyatt Collins. Following a turnover by the Wildcats, Tytis Cannon scored two points with the assist by Gunner Bennington for an 8-0 lead with 5:37 left in the first quarter, forcing WHS to call a timeout.
At the 4:47 mark of the first, Mootz added two more points with a basket, then came a turnaround jumper by Bennington with 3:52 left in the first frame for the 12-point lead.
“We want to start off quick, and we had a game plan to surprise them, to trap them a little bit off different things and do some different things,” Fairfield head coach Quintin Williams said. “I thought we executed it perfectly. We had a lot of energy, we came out ready to go, ready to push and be the aggressor. We talked about that a lot, not letting the other team be the aggressors, but we want to be the aggressor. We did a great job of that (Tuesday).”
Whiteoak got on the board with a basket from Landon Barnett, but the final points of the first frame were by the Lions as Gabe Fouch made two free throws for the 14-2 advantage.
The Lions opened the second frame with another scoring onslaught, adding another 12-point run to start a quarter to their résumé with the scoring run lasting from the 7:22 mark of the second to the 3:13 mark for a 26-2 lead.
Fairfield began the second with two points from Fouch, followed by a 3-pointer by Trey House, building the FHS lead to 19-2 with 6:55 on the clock, again forcing the Wildcats to call a timeout.
FHS came out of the timeout with a basket off a rebound from Bennington, and later a layup from House put the Lions ahead by 21 points at 23-2, as WHS called for a timeout.
The Lions build their lead to 24 points with 3-pointer from House (after grabbing a rebound with 3:13 left in the second frame.
WHS got back on the scoreboard with baskets by Logan Bieler and Carson Emery. The baskets were answered by consecutive layups from Mootz and Cannon for a 30-6 FHS advantage.
Bieler helped WHS with a 3-pointer with 1:30 left in the first half, and Barnett concluded the scoring with a free throw for a halftime score of 30-10 in favor of the Lions.
“I was extremely impressed with our defense in the first half,” Williams said. “We talked a lot about trying to keep everything on one side of the floor and trying to limit Bieler and Barnett, because they are two excellent guards. Wyatt Collins and Larkin Friend did a great job defensively, and our help side was great.
“We pride ourselves on defense. I don’t think a lot of people thought we were going to be this good defensively. Losing four starters from last year, we’ve really focused on that, and they have really embraced it.”
WHS outscored the Lions 13-12 in the third quarter, as the Lions had a free throw from Larkin Friend, two points by Collins, seven points from Cannon (including a 3-pointer) and two points from Mootz. As for WHS, their 13-point third quarter saw Emery score four points, Bieler have five points and Barnett add four points.
The fourth frame saw Fairfield score 14 points, and Whiteoak added 10 points.
Cannon scored eight points in the fourth quarter, while Mootz had six points for the Lions.
Whiteoak in the fourth frame saw Emery score four points, Bieler score three points and Barnett score three points.
Leading FHS in scoring was Cannon with 19 points and Mootz with 16 points. Also for FHS, House had eight points in the win, while Collins, Fouch and Bennington each scored four points. Friend rounded out the scoring with one point.
“I love these kids because they don’t care if they score two points or 20 points, they just want to win,” Williams said. “Everyone has that mentality that whoever is open, we are going to find it and play as a team, and that’s what makes us hard to beat.”
WHS had three players reach the scoring column, as Bieler totaled 13 points, and with 10 points each were Emery and Barnett.
For the game, the Wildcats were 6-of-10 from the free-throw line, and the Lions were 5-of-9.
“I just take it one day at a time, and you just never know,” Williams said. “We tell the kids you can’t get complacent, and we’ve had a good start, but we have to keep putting in the work and continue to put in the work every day and keep outworking other people. If we don’t, we’ll end up in the middle of the pack.”
Next for FHS is a non-conference game against Paint Valley on Dec. 13.
The Wildcats will play again Friday, Dec. 9 at Fayetteville.
[[In-content Ad]]