23-point 3rd quarter sends Fairfield past Lynchburg-Clay

LEESBURG — Playing a near-even first half against each other in the 2024-25 season opener, the Fairfield Lions broke away from their rival Lynchburg-Clay on Tuesday night, having an 18-0 run in the third frame that led to a 64-49 win.

The Lions trailed 30-29 at halftime, and by as many as four points with 5:24 left in the third quarter, but things changed when sophomore Brody Smith sank a 3-pointer with 5:03 left in the quarter. From there, the run didn’t stop until time ran out of the third frame.

“Our offense is good, which I knew it would be good,” Fairfield head coach Quentin Williams said. “I think we're more talented than we were last year, but the difference with my group last year and this year is just defensively. When we buy in defensively and we focus on the defensive end of the floor and doing the right things, we get a lot energy from the defensive end. It transfers better to the offensive end of the floor. I think that's what you saw in the second half.”

Smith led the Lions with 26 points, making not only the five 3-pointers, but he also had five two-point baskets, and he was 1-of-4 from the free-throw line.

Smith’s 3-pointer sparked the Lions at Grandle Gymnasium, as his trey brought the Lions back to within one point of the Lynchburg-Clay lead for a 38-37 score.

From there, Smith stole the basketball at half court and went to the hoop with 4:39 left in the quarter for a 39-38 Lions lead, which was the lead they never relinquished.

“They went on an 18-0 run at one point in that third quarter, and that’s even with a couple timeouts called. That's hard to overcome,” Lynchburg-CLly head coach Kyle Pertuset said. “You use a couple timeouts, try to do a couple different things to break it, and they just kind of snowballed on us during that third quarter.

“We started doing some things that we didn't do in the first half, and it kind of just got away from us. You could tell in the fourth quarter, we kind of had to play desperation basketball, and that's really not our style, and it's difficult.”

Following an LC turnover, Griffin Friend scored two of his 10 total points with a put-back bucket, and with 3:09 left in the third, it was a 3-pointer by Logan McIntosh — who scored 12 points —  that propelled the Lions’ lead to 44-38, forcing the Mustangs to call a timeout.

As the third continued, the Lions made back-to-back 3-pointers with Smith sinking a shot from downtown, and Friend also sinking a trifecta for a 50-38 FHS lead with 1:36 left in the quarter. The Lions built a 14-point advantage with a basket by Quentin McIntosh to end the scoring for the third quarter, as he finished with 11 points.

The fourth quarter saw the Lions add 12 points in the frame, while the Mustangs scored 11 for the 15-point win for Fairfield.

Jay Cordrey of LCHS stopped the scoring run of FHS with a free-throw conversion, but FHS answered with a layup by Logan McIntosh and a 3-pointer from Smith — his fifth 3-pointer of the game.

LCHS (0-1) came back with a 3-pointer from Elam Faust with 5:34 on the clock, and with 4:50 remaining in regulation, Cody Bell sank a basket for the Mustangs.

The Lions took an 18-point lead with five straight points by Quentin McIntosh with 4:04 left in the quarter, but the Mustangs made a 3-pointer off a shot by Cordrey with 2:21 left. The final baskets of the game were a layup by Smith of the Lions and a bucket scored by Denver Clinton.

“We listened to attention to detail in the second half, especially Brody Smith did a really good job on Denver Clinton and held him to two points in the second half,” Williams said. “Our coverages were just a lot better. We were in the right spots. We were communicating. We settled down, and that was kind of the difference in the game. We came out, and I feel like my kids adjusted well.

“I just feel like we didn't let them get to get to their spots as well. We were playing our coverages better, and we made their life a lot harder on the offensive end of the floor for them. When they shoot tough shots, it leads to easy points on the other end of the floor and leads to a lot of rebounds.”

In the first half, the Lions outscored Lynchburg-Clay 14-11 in the first quarter, and LCHS won the second frame at 19-15.

FHS had three 3-pointers in the first frame by Friend, Smith and Chase Newman, along with Friend and Smith each making a two-point basket, while Logan McIntosh made a free throw.

The Mustangs in the first quarter had five points scored by Trevor Niehaus (including a 3-pointer), four points from Clinton and two points from Bell.

LC’s 19-point second quarter had seven points from Niehaus off a 3-pointer and two two-point baskets. Clinton scored eight points in the second with four two-point baskets, and Bell scored four points off two buckets.

“You win the middle four — the last four minutes of the second quarter and the first four of the third — you used to win a basketball game,” Pertuset said. “We just weren't quite able to sustain it. I’m eager to go home and watch the tape and kind of really break it down. We don't have a lot of time to feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to get ready for a good Whiteoak team on Friday.

“We’ve got some guys banged up right now, and it’ll be good to get them back and give us a bit more depth. It’s year one here, so we’ve got to take some more time. We’ve got to get better at situational basketball, and we’ve just got to find ways to score when people take away our first, second, third option.”

The Lions’ 15-point second quarter consisted of Smith with seven points, Logan McIntosh with four points and Quentin McIntosh with four points off two baskets.

Other final scoring totals by the Lions included Caleb Barrera (two) and Newman (three), as his trey was made in the first quarter.

LCHS was led by Bell, Niehaus and Clinton with 14 points each. Cordrey finished with four points, and Elam Faust had three points.

The Mustangs finished with 15 two-point baskets, five 3-pointers and they were 4-of-5 from the free-throw line.

Fairfield totaled 16 two-point baskets, nine 3-pointers, and they were 5-of-9 from the free-throw line.

Next for Fairfield is another SHAC game Friday, Dec. 6 at Ripley. Lynchburg-Clay will host county and conference rival Whiteoak Friday.

BOX SCORE
LCHS    11 19 08 11 — 49
FHS    14 15 23 12 — 64

FAIRFIELD (64) — G.Friend 2 (2) 0-0 10, C.Barrera 1 (0) 0-0 2, B.Smith 5 (5) 1-4 26, L.McIntosh 3 (1) 3-4 12, C.Newman 0 (1) 0-0 3, Q.McIntosh 5 (0) 1-1 11. TOTALS: 16 (9) 5-9 64.

LYNCHBURG-CLAY (49) — J.Cordrey 0 (1) 1-2 4, C.Bell 4 (1) 3-3 14, T.Niehaus 4 (2) 0-0 14, E.Faust 0 (1) 0-0 3, D.Clinton 7 (0) 0-0 14. TOTALS: 15 (5) 4-5 49.

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