Whiteoak Wildcats upend rival Fairfield in SHAC showdown
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Friday night saw the Whiteoak Wildcats take the quick trip to Leesburg and defeat their Highland County counterpart in convincing fashion by a 49-31 score at Grandle Gymnasium.
From the very beginning of the game until the final buzzer sounded, the Wildcats controlled how the game was played. They did so by using their zone defense to keep the Lions from breaking through to the paint, while also forcing turnovers and turning those extra chances into points.
Going into the game, the Lions were averaging 69.4 points per game.
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“We were trying to slow them down because they love to run the ball, so we forced them to do things they didn’t want to do, and hats off to our guys, they communicated well and moved and rotated to where they needed to be,” WHS head coach Ryan Barnett said. “The whole point of our zone was to keep Fairfield off the boards.
“If you give teams second-chance shots, that will kill a team, but the boys gave them one, maybe two at most, and we tried to be disciplined on our end as well.”
Fairfield (1-3, 4-4) was led by Bryson Simmons with 10 points in the loss, as Fairfield as a team totaled just 11 field goals for the game.
Whiteoak (2-2, 2-5) had two players finish in double-figure scoring in their win, and those players were Bradley Ashbaugh with 20 points and Nick Bailey with 10 points.
“It was a total team effort, but Bradley finally had his breakout game,” Barnett said. “We talked about it in practice that he’s always been a scorer, and I said I need you to start scoring. He took that to heart and stepped up tonight, and we needed it.”
For the game, the Lions committed 21 turnovers, with 11 in the first half.
“We played a 2-2-1 and we staggered it a little but, and (Fairfield) tried to throw the long pass, but Josh Hughes anticipates well and they (FHS) struggles with that,” Barnett said.
In the opening frame, the first points weren’t scored until the 5:59 mark with Josh Hughes sinking a jumper, and at the 4:10 mark, it was Landon Barnett with a basket for the early lead.
The WHS lead went to six points with another basket by Barnett while being fouled. Fairfield scored their first points of the first frame with a put-back basket by Connor Priest at the 1:37 mark of the quarter, and after a second block by James Bentley in the first quarter, Reese Teeters sank a 3-pointer for the Lions, bringing them to within one point of Whiteoak as the frame came to a close.
Trailing by a 6-5 score to start the second frame, Fairfield took their only lead of the game with a fast break layup from Bryson Simmons at the 6:23 mark of the second. Less than a minute later, the lead belonged to the Wildcats, with Bailey scoring two points for a lead of 8-7.
After gaining the one-point lead, the Wildcats led for the rest of the way, as their second-quarter scoring saw WHS outscore the Lions, 20-5 for a halftime score of 26-10.
Following the aforementioned basket by Bailey, the Wildcats had a layup from Ashbaugh, which was answered with a free throw by Fairfield’s Wyatt Willey.
The Wildcats added a bucket by Bailey with 4:09 left in the quarter, but the score went to 12-10 following a layup by Simmons.
Whiteoak came back with two free throws by Hughes and four straight points by Ashbaugh for a lead of 18-10 with 2:41 left in the first half.
The scoring run of the Wildcats ended up being a 14-0 run to end the first half as the run was capped off with two free throws by Bailey, two free throws from Ashbaugh, a put-back basket by Carson Emery and a fast break bucket by Bailey for the final points of the quarter.
WHS outscored the Lions, 11-8 in the third with Fairfield having points by Willey, including a 3-pointer, a two-point basket and a free throw, and Simmons.
The Wildcats in the third had a 3-pointer by Ashbaugh, two points from Bailey, four points by Emery and two points off a basket by Brayden Yeager.
WHS kept the lead throughout the final quarter with 10 points by Ashbaugh and two points from Yeager.
Fairfield scored 13 points in the fourth with two points by Tucker Watson, five points by Tytis Cannon (one 3-pointer), four points by Simmons (one 3-pointer) and two points off free throws by James Bentley.
For the game, the Lions totaled seven two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and they were 5-of-10 from the free-throw line.
The Wildcats made not only 18 two-point baskets, but added one 3-pointer, and they were 10-of-21 from the free-throw line.
“This is a huge win,” Barnett said. “Any time you can come to Fairfield and win at their place, it’s big. Hats off to both teams. Fairfield played extremely hard, and Josh Howland does a great job with his guys, and our kids rose to the occasion and played.”
Next for Fairfield is a home game on Saturday, Jan. 4 at home against Highland County counterpart McClain (3-7).
Whiteoak next takes the court on Jan. 7 at (McDermott) Northwest.
From the very beginning of the game until the final buzzer sounded, the Wildcats controlled how the game was played. They did so by using their zone defense to keep the Lions from breaking through to the paint, while also forcing turnovers and turning those extra chances into points.
Going into the game, the Lions were averaging 69.4 points per game.
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“We were trying to slow them down because they love to run the ball, so we forced them to do things they didn’t want to do, and hats off to our guys, they communicated well and moved and rotated to where they needed to be,” WHS head coach Ryan Barnett said. “The whole point of our zone was to keep Fairfield off the boards.
“If you give teams second-chance shots, that will kill a team, but the boys gave them one, maybe two at most, and we tried to be disciplined on our end as well.”
Fairfield (1-3, 4-4) was led by Bryson Simmons with 10 points in the loss, as Fairfield as a team totaled just 11 field goals for the game.
Whiteoak (2-2, 2-5) had two players finish in double-figure scoring in their win, and those players were Bradley Ashbaugh with 20 points and Nick Bailey with 10 points.
“It was a total team effort, but Bradley finally had his breakout game,” Barnett said. “We talked about it in practice that he’s always been a scorer, and I said I need you to start scoring. He took that to heart and stepped up tonight, and we needed it.”
For the game, the Lions committed 21 turnovers, with 11 in the first half.
“We played a 2-2-1 and we staggered it a little but, and (Fairfield) tried to throw the long pass, but Josh Hughes anticipates well and they (FHS) struggles with that,” Barnett said.
In the opening frame, the first points weren’t scored until the 5:59 mark with Josh Hughes sinking a jumper, and at the 4:10 mark, it was Landon Barnett with a basket for the early lead.
The WHS lead went to six points with another basket by Barnett while being fouled. Fairfield scored their first points of the first frame with a put-back basket by Connor Priest at the 1:37 mark of the quarter, and after a second block by James Bentley in the first quarter, Reese Teeters sank a 3-pointer for the Lions, bringing them to within one point of Whiteoak as the frame came to a close.
Trailing by a 6-5 score to start the second frame, Fairfield took their only lead of the game with a fast break layup from Bryson Simmons at the 6:23 mark of the second. Less than a minute later, the lead belonged to the Wildcats, with Bailey scoring two points for a lead of 8-7.
After gaining the one-point lead, the Wildcats led for the rest of the way, as their second-quarter scoring saw WHS outscore the Lions, 20-5 for a halftime score of 26-10.
Following the aforementioned basket by Bailey, the Wildcats had a layup from Ashbaugh, which was answered with a free throw by Fairfield’s Wyatt Willey.
The Wildcats added a bucket by Bailey with 4:09 left in the quarter, but the score went to 12-10 following a layup by Simmons.
Whiteoak came back with two free throws by Hughes and four straight points by Ashbaugh for a lead of 18-10 with 2:41 left in the first half.
The scoring run of the Wildcats ended up being a 14-0 run to end the first half as the run was capped off with two free throws by Bailey, two free throws from Ashbaugh, a put-back basket by Carson Emery and a fast break bucket by Bailey for the final points of the quarter.
WHS outscored the Lions, 11-8 in the third with Fairfield having points by Willey, including a 3-pointer, a two-point basket and a free throw, and Simmons.
The Wildcats in the third had a 3-pointer by Ashbaugh, two points from Bailey, four points by Emery and two points off a basket by Brayden Yeager.
WHS kept the lead throughout the final quarter with 10 points by Ashbaugh and two points from Yeager.
Fairfield scored 13 points in the fourth with two points by Tucker Watson, five points by Tytis Cannon (one 3-pointer), four points by Simmons (one 3-pointer) and two points off free throws by James Bentley.
For the game, the Lions totaled seven two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and they were 5-of-10 from the free-throw line.
The Wildcats made not only 18 two-point baskets, but added one 3-pointer, and they were 10-of-21 from the free-throw line.
“This is a huge win,” Barnett said. “Any time you can come to Fairfield and win at their place, it’s big. Hats off to both teams. Fairfield played extremely hard, and Josh Howland does a great job with his guys, and our kids rose to the occasion and played.”
Next for Fairfield is a home game on Saturday, Jan. 4 at home against Highland County counterpart McClain (3-7).
Whiteoak next takes the court on Jan. 7 at (McDermott) Northwest.