Lions roar on the road in win over rival Whiteoak
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — The latest edition of the classic Highland County rivalry saw the Fairfield Lions win on the road at Whiteoak against the Wildcats, due in large part to their play in the first three quarters of what was a physical game.
Once the final frame ended, it was the Lions who roared to the win over the host Wildcats, 60-47 in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
FHS (1-0, 2-1) led by a 31-19 score at halftime, and though FHS won the third frame by eight points at 18-10, the second half saw the Lions only outscore the Wildcats by one point at 29-28, as the Lions wanted to slow down the pace on the fourth quarter and let time tick away.
“We expanded the lead, it went from 12 at halftime to being up 20 after the third,” FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. “The fourth quarter, we just tried to run the clock out, and when you do that, we told the kids that [WHS] didn’t have anything to lose by flashing out and flying at us.
[[In-content Ad]]
“We didn’t do a real good job taking care of the basketball when they did that. That’s kind of the gamble you take in trying to take some time off versus they get it back. I thought we should’ve done a better job with (Trever) Yeager. I thought he had a really good game against us.”
The Lions earned their win with an impressive first frame that ended with them leading by 11 points at 17-6.
Fairfield’s first quarter included five points from Klay Walker, six points from Jensen Daulton, four points by Wyatt Evans and two points by Jesse Current for the 17 points. Of that scoring, Walker and Daulton each made a 3-pointer. Walker also added four steals in the game.
Current led the Lions with 18 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. This was the third straight game he collected 11 rebounds.
Evans followed with 15 points for the game, and Daulton totaled 10 points and three steals.
The second frame was closer between the two rivals with FHS winning the frame 14-13, resulting in the aforementioned 31-19 halftime lead for the Lions.
After both teams sank a basket to begin the frame, the Lions scored four straight points, including a layup by Tucker Ayres for a 23-8 advantage. Ayres ended the game with eight points, nine rebounds and three steals.
Hunter Ruckel later swished a 3-pointer for the Wildcats at the 4:08 mark, but that was answered with a put-back basket from Current to put the Lions ahead by 14 points with 3:43 left in the quarter.
The Wildcats (0-1, 0-4) then went on a quick 6-2 run with Traeten Hamilton and Trever Yeager combining for the points, cutting the FHS lead to 10 points at 27-17 with 1:51 left in the quarter.
Yeager led all scorers with 23 points, making 11 two-point baskets in the SHAC game.
FHS eventually increased their lead to 14 points following points by Current and Ayres, but the lead dropped to 12 points at the half with a basket at the buzzer from Whiteoak’s Evan Brill.
“The first half, we let their pressure get to us. We were out of control, there was no doubt. We had some dumb turnovers at critical times,” WHS head coach Jeremy McGraw said. “I thought when we made the shot to go at halftime it would give us some momentum, and we came out a little stale to start and the third quarter about killed us. You can’t wait till you’re down 18 or 20 to finally pick the intensity back up and get back into things.
“I’m proud of my kids’ effort. We’re going to play hard, we’ve just got to learn to finish around the rim and convert foul shots when there’s an opportunity. When there’s a time during the game we have the opportunity to make two free throws, we miss, and we foul them and they make them. It’s a four-point swing. At this level, it can’t happen.”
Whiteoak scored 10 points in the third with Yeager scoring six of them, while Michael Crowe and Charley Skinner contributed two points each in the frame.
The Lions had their highest scoring quarter of the night with 18 points in the third, with Current netting eight points in the frame, while Wyatt Evans added six points and both Daulton and Cody Gragg each scored two points. The third frame saw all 18 FHS points scored off two-point baskets.
In the fourth, WHS outscored the Lions, 18-11, as WHS played with a quicker pace as they were forced to play catch-up in the final eight minutes.
Of the 11 points in the fourth by the Lions, five were scored by Evans, Ayres tallied four and Daulton added two points in the quarter.
WHS had nine points in the fourth by Yeager in the fourth, seven from Hamilton and two by Derrick Ison.
For the game, WHS shot 6-of-10 (60 percent) from the free-throw line, and the Lions were 10-of-13 (77 percent).
“We’ll learn and we’ll grow, but the one thing I’m proud of and always will be is these kids’ effort,” McGraw said. “They’re going to play extremely hard, night in and night out. You can’t fault that. There’s times it’s just going to be bad shooting nights. Our scoring total’s gone up in four games, and we’re going to try to work hard every night.”
The Lions are scheduled to play again on Tuesday, Dec. 13 when they host the Manchester Greyhounds. The Wildcats will also play on Dec. 13 when they travel to take on Bethel-Tate.
In JV play, the Lions defeated the Wildcats, 53-15. Sam Buddelmeyer led WHS with 20 points. The Wildcats were led by Logan Cummings and Zach Deatley with four points each. There was no freshman game played.
Once the final frame ended, it was the Lions who roared to the win over the host Wildcats, 60-47 in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
FHS (1-0, 2-1) led by a 31-19 score at halftime, and though FHS won the third frame by eight points at 18-10, the second half saw the Lions only outscore the Wildcats by one point at 29-28, as the Lions wanted to slow down the pace on the fourth quarter and let time tick away.
“We expanded the lead, it went from 12 at halftime to being up 20 after the third,” FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. “The fourth quarter, we just tried to run the clock out, and when you do that, we told the kids that [WHS] didn’t have anything to lose by flashing out and flying at us.
[[In-content Ad]]
“We didn’t do a real good job taking care of the basketball when they did that. That’s kind of the gamble you take in trying to take some time off versus they get it back. I thought we should’ve done a better job with (Trever) Yeager. I thought he had a really good game against us.”
The Lions earned their win with an impressive first frame that ended with them leading by 11 points at 17-6.
Fairfield’s first quarter included five points from Klay Walker, six points from Jensen Daulton, four points by Wyatt Evans and two points by Jesse Current for the 17 points. Of that scoring, Walker and Daulton each made a 3-pointer. Walker also added four steals in the game.
Current led the Lions with 18 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. This was the third straight game he collected 11 rebounds.
Evans followed with 15 points for the game, and Daulton totaled 10 points and three steals.
The second frame was closer between the two rivals with FHS winning the frame 14-13, resulting in the aforementioned 31-19 halftime lead for the Lions.
After both teams sank a basket to begin the frame, the Lions scored four straight points, including a layup by Tucker Ayres for a 23-8 advantage. Ayres ended the game with eight points, nine rebounds and three steals.
Hunter Ruckel later swished a 3-pointer for the Wildcats at the 4:08 mark, but that was answered with a put-back basket from Current to put the Lions ahead by 14 points with 3:43 left in the quarter.
The Wildcats (0-1, 0-4) then went on a quick 6-2 run with Traeten Hamilton and Trever Yeager combining for the points, cutting the FHS lead to 10 points at 27-17 with 1:51 left in the quarter.
Yeager led all scorers with 23 points, making 11 two-point baskets in the SHAC game.
FHS eventually increased their lead to 14 points following points by Current and Ayres, but the lead dropped to 12 points at the half with a basket at the buzzer from Whiteoak’s Evan Brill.
“The first half, we let their pressure get to us. We were out of control, there was no doubt. We had some dumb turnovers at critical times,” WHS head coach Jeremy McGraw said. “I thought when we made the shot to go at halftime it would give us some momentum, and we came out a little stale to start and the third quarter about killed us. You can’t wait till you’re down 18 or 20 to finally pick the intensity back up and get back into things.
“I’m proud of my kids’ effort. We’re going to play hard, we’ve just got to learn to finish around the rim and convert foul shots when there’s an opportunity. When there’s a time during the game we have the opportunity to make two free throws, we miss, and we foul them and they make them. It’s a four-point swing. At this level, it can’t happen.”
Whiteoak scored 10 points in the third with Yeager scoring six of them, while Michael Crowe and Charley Skinner contributed two points each in the frame.
The Lions had their highest scoring quarter of the night with 18 points in the third, with Current netting eight points in the frame, while Wyatt Evans added six points and both Daulton and Cody Gragg each scored two points. The third frame saw all 18 FHS points scored off two-point baskets.
In the fourth, WHS outscored the Lions, 18-11, as WHS played with a quicker pace as they were forced to play catch-up in the final eight minutes.
Of the 11 points in the fourth by the Lions, five were scored by Evans, Ayres tallied four and Daulton added two points in the quarter.
WHS had nine points in the fourth by Yeager in the fourth, seven from Hamilton and two by Derrick Ison.
For the game, WHS shot 6-of-10 (60 percent) from the free-throw line, and the Lions were 10-of-13 (77 percent).
“We’ll learn and we’ll grow, but the one thing I’m proud of and always will be is these kids’ effort,” McGraw said. “They’re going to play extremely hard, night in and night out. You can’t fault that. There’s times it’s just going to be bad shooting nights. Our scoring total’s gone up in four games, and we’re going to try to work hard every night.”
The Lions are scheduled to play again on Tuesday, Dec. 13 when they host the Manchester Greyhounds. The Wildcats will also play on Dec. 13 when they travel to take on Bethel-Tate.
In JV play, the Lions defeated the Wildcats, 53-15. Sam Buddelmeyer led WHS with 20 points. The Wildcats were led by Logan Cummings and Zach Deatley with four points each. There was no freshman game played.