Lions lose late lead; fall in district finals to Jeeps
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
ATHENS - After a first half where the Fairfield Lions struggled to score points, the second half was a different story, but it just wasn't enough. The Lions held the lead with 3:00 remaining in the Division IV SE District Final, but a series of events led to the South Webster Jeeps rolling away with the district championship, defeating the Lions 60-52 at the Convocation Center, in Athens on the campus of Ohio University.
This is the second year in a row the Lions have been knocked out by the Jeeps in the postseason. Last year, the Lions lost to South Webster in the sectional finals.
No. 5 seed Fairfield (11-12) trailed by nine points at the start of the third frame but rallied back in a big way, outscoring the No. 2 seed Jeeps, 22-11 in the quarter, for a 41-39 lead headed into the final eight minutes.
"The way this group has battled all year, we knew we could make a comeback, it was just going to be when," FHS head coach Matt Carson said. "We came out in the third quarter and made that comeback. That says a lot about their character, and their willingness to persevere.
"I'm proud of all of them for that, but unfortunately, we came up a little bit short on the scoreboard today."
For the Lions, senior Cameron Rolark led with a game-high 23 points. Rolark sank three 3-pointers, along with five two-point field goals and a 4-of-5 day from the free-throw line.
FHS senior Ian Adams followed with 10 points and fellow senior Chris Cox scored nine points. Also scoring for the Lions were junior Dakota Hargrave with four points and senior Cody Ferrell with two points.
The Jeeps (19-4) were led by the duo of senior Connor Scott and junior Austin Loop with 19 points each. The 6-2 Scott was 10-of-13 from the free-throw line and sank one 3-pointer. The senior also had three field goals. As for Loop, he made three 3-pointers, along with five two-point field goals.
This is the first time the Lions have been district runners-up since 1997. They last won a district title in 1996. This is the Jeeps' first district title since 2007, now their fifth time as a district champion.
The Jeeps scored 21 points in a quarter twice Saturday, including the fourth quarter. The fourth frame was where the Lions let the game slip away, and the Jeeps rolled away in the final minutes with the win.
The score was tied twice in the first two minutes of the fourth with Scott tying the game at 41 and later after baskets by Ferrell and Cox, the Jeeps tied the score at 45 when senior Ashton Miller sank two free throws. At the 5:12 mark, Loop put the Jeeps back into the lead, but it was Adams and Rolark's 3-of-4 effort from the free-throw line, along with a put-back basket by Adams, which gave the Lions a 50-47 lead with 3:11 left in the game.
The points by Adams would be the last points scored by the Lions until the final seconds of the quarter, as the Jeeps took away all the momentum, along with the lead and the district title.
Scott brought the Jeeps within one point with a layup, then a regular foul and technical foul on the Lions (while FHS still had a one-point lead) gave the Jeeps four opportunities at the free-throw line, as they sank two of them for a 51-50 lead over the Lions.
The Lions didn't regain the lead.
South Webster turned those free throws and layups into a 12-0 run with under 30 seconds in the game. All but four of the 12 points by South Webster during the run were scored from the free-throw line, putting the Jeeps ahead by 10 points (60-50).
Rolark sank the final two points of the Lions' season, also from the free-throw line.
Another battle lost by the Lions was in the paint, as the Jeeps were more physical in the lane.
"When we started out in the zone, that kind of hurt us rebounding. We were in position to box out, but we did not," Carson said. "I don't know if it was their height as much as it was their aggressiveness on their path to the basket. That hurt us a little bit, a couple times they shoved us out of the way. That made the difference."
The most memorable quarter for the Lions was the third quarter, as they doubled the output of the Jeeps en route to clawing their way back into the game and led for the first time in the district final.
Rolark began the third with two tough inside points, bringing the Lions within seven of tying the game. Cox gave the Lions the spark they needed with a slam dunk on a fast break opportunity, with 4:33 left in the quarter.
After the dunk, Rolark came back with a 3-pointer, but it was answered with a trey by Loop with 3:50 left in the third. Like he has most of the season, Rolark got on a roll, sinking another 3-pointer, this one from the corner, making the score 35-29.
Then the Lions rallied to take the lead.
FHS finished off the third with a 12-2 run, for a 41-39 lead.
In the run, Adams threw up an underhanded shot, going straight through the hoop on a fast break. After Hargrave made a layup, Adams drained a 3-pointer, and Rolark, with the assist from Adams, scored on another FHS fast break opportunity for a 39-37 lead with .42 seconds left in the third for 10 straight points.
After two points by sophomore Jensen Dyer, the Lions wrapped up their 12-2 run with free throws by Cox.
"We thought we could play them zone and contain them, but they had some good wrinkles to attack that, got some open looks to start the game. That forced us to go man-to-man, and truthfully, that seemed to be what sparked us," Carson said. "We are an aggressive man-to-man team, but you don't see us play it often because we like to play that matchup, but we got into passing lanes, got some deflections and that seemed to spark us."
The first half for the home-team Lions was uneventful as they were held to 19 points, seven in the second quarter. The Jeeps led 21-12 after the first quarter.
Scoring in the first for FHS was Rolark with six points, followed by Williams with four points and Cox with two. In the second quarter, Hargrave tallied two points, and Rolark sank a 3-pointer, finishing the second with five points.
In the 21-point first by the Jeeps, they had runs of 5-0, 6-0 and 7-2.
"They went on a big run to start the game, we cut it to four at one point (14-10), then all of a sudden we threw the ball away or did something with it and they scored five straight points and we got to be down by nine," Carson said.
For the game, FHS was 8-of-13 from the free-throw line, while the Jeeps were 16-of-22.
Playing their final game for the Lions were seniors: Ian Adams, Cameron Rolark, Cody Ferrell, Ryan Evans, Chris Cox, Cody Tolle and Brandon Carmean.
FHS wraps up the season at 11-12 overall, sectional champions and district runners-up. The Lions defeated the Clay Panthers and Eastern-Meigs this postseason.
The Jeeps move onto the regional semifinals on Tuesday as they will take on the Manchester Greyhounds at 7 p.m. MHS (a No. 1 seed) defeated the No. 6 seed Whiteoak Wildcats Saturday, 63-48 at the Convo in their district bracket.
GAME NOTES: SW made four 3-pointers (three in the first quarter) and committed 12 fouls ... FHS committed 17 fouls ... Starters for the Lions were Adams, Williams, Rolark, Ferrell and Cox ... SW is 55-55 all-time in the sectional/district tournament with five district titles ... FHS has been district runner-up four times ('11, '97, '95, '47) ... FHS is 56-58 all-time in the sectional/district tournament ... FHS is 5-10 all-time at the Convo ... SW is 10-4 all-time at the Convo.[[In-content Ad]]
This is the second year in a row the Lions have been knocked out by the Jeeps in the postseason. Last year, the Lions lost to South Webster in the sectional finals.
No. 5 seed Fairfield (11-12) trailed by nine points at the start of the third frame but rallied back in a big way, outscoring the No. 2 seed Jeeps, 22-11 in the quarter, for a 41-39 lead headed into the final eight minutes.
"The way this group has battled all year, we knew we could make a comeback, it was just going to be when," FHS head coach Matt Carson said. "We came out in the third quarter and made that comeback. That says a lot about their character, and their willingness to persevere.
"I'm proud of all of them for that, but unfortunately, we came up a little bit short on the scoreboard today."
For the Lions, senior Cameron Rolark led with a game-high 23 points. Rolark sank three 3-pointers, along with five two-point field goals and a 4-of-5 day from the free-throw line.
FHS senior Ian Adams followed with 10 points and fellow senior Chris Cox scored nine points. Also scoring for the Lions were junior Dakota Hargrave with four points and senior Cody Ferrell with two points.
The Jeeps (19-4) were led by the duo of senior Connor Scott and junior Austin Loop with 19 points each. The 6-2 Scott was 10-of-13 from the free-throw line and sank one 3-pointer. The senior also had three field goals. As for Loop, he made three 3-pointers, along with five two-point field goals.
This is the first time the Lions have been district runners-up since 1997. They last won a district title in 1996. This is the Jeeps' first district title since 2007, now their fifth time as a district champion.
The Jeeps scored 21 points in a quarter twice Saturday, including the fourth quarter. The fourth frame was where the Lions let the game slip away, and the Jeeps rolled away in the final minutes with the win.
The score was tied twice in the first two minutes of the fourth with Scott tying the game at 41 and later after baskets by Ferrell and Cox, the Jeeps tied the score at 45 when senior Ashton Miller sank two free throws. At the 5:12 mark, Loop put the Jeeps back into the lead, but it was Adams and Rolark's 3-of-4 effort from the free-throw line, along with a put-back basket by Adams, which gave the Lions a 50-47 lead with 3:11 left in the game.
The points by Adams would be the last points scored by the Lions until the final seconds of the quarter, as the Jeeps took away all the momentum, along with the lead and the district title.
Scott brought the Jeeps within one point with a layup, then a regular foul and technical foul on the Lions (while FHS still had a one-point lead) gave the Jeeps four opportunities at the free-throw line, as they sank two of them for a 51-50 lead over the Lions.
The Lions didn't regain the lead.
South Webster turned those free throws and layups into a 12-0 run with under 30 seconds in the game. All but four of the 12 points by South Webster during the run were scored from the free-throw line, putting the Jeeps ahead by 10 points (60-50).
Rolark sank the final two points of the Lions' season, also from the free-throw line.
Another battle lost by the Lions was in the paint, as the Jeeps were more physical in the lane.
"When we started out in the zone, that kind of hurt us rebounding. We were in position to box out, but we did not," Carson said. "I don't know if it was their height as much as it was their aggressiveness on their path to the basket. That hurt us a little bit, a couple times they shoved us out of the way. That made the difference."
The most memorable quarter for the Lions was the third quarter, as they doubled the output of the Jeeps en route to clawing their way back into the game and led for the first time in the district final.
Rolark began the third with two tough inside points, bringing the Lions within seven of tying the game. Cox gave the Lions the spark they needed with a slam dunk on a fast break opportunity, with 4:33 left in the quarter.
After the dunk, Rolark came back with a 3-pointer, but it was answered with a trey by Loop with 3:50 left in the third. Like he has most of the season, Rolark got on a roll, sinking another 3-pointer, this one from the corner, making the score 35-29.
Then the Lions rallied to take the lead.
FHS finished off the third with a 12-2 run, for a 41-39 lead.
In the run, Adams threw up an underhanded shot, going straight through the hoop on a fast break. After Hargrave made a layup, Adams drained a 3-pointer, and Rolark, with the assist from Adams, scored on another FHS fast break opportunity for a 39-37 lead with .42 seconds left in the third for 10 straight points.
After two points by sophomore Jensen Dyer, the Lions wrapped up their 12-2 run with free throws by Cox.
"We thought we could play them zone and contain them, but they had some good wrinkles to attack that, got some open looks to start the game. That forced us to go man-to-man, and truthfully, that seemed to be what sparked us," Carson said. "We are an aggressive man-to-man team, but you don't see us play it often because we like to play that matchup, but we got into passing lanes, got some deflections and that seemed to spark us."
The first half for the home-team Lions was uneventful as they were held to 19 points, seven in the second quarter. The Jeeps led 21-12 after the first quarter.
Scoring in the first for FHS was Rolark with six points, followed by Williams with four points and Cox with two. In the second quarter, Hargrave tallied two points, and Rolark sank a 3-pointer, finishing the second with five points.
In the 21-point first by the Jeeps, they had runs of 5-0, 6-0 and 7-2.
"They went on a big run to start the game, we cut it to four at one point (14-10), then all of a sudden we threw the ball away or did something with it and they scored five straight points and we got to be down by nine," Carson said.
For the game, FHS was 8-of-13 from the free-throw line, while the Jeeps were 16-of-22.
Playing their final game for the Lions were seniors: Ian Adams, Cameron Rolark, Cody Ferrell, Ryan Evans, Chris Cox, Cody Tolle and Brandon Carmean.
FHS wraps up the season at 11-12 overall, sectional champions and district runners-up. The Lions defeated the Clay Panthers and Eastern-Meigs this postseason.
The Jeeps move onto the regional semifinals on Tuesday as they will take on the Manchester Greyhounds at 7 p.m. MHS (a No. 1 seed) defeated the No. 6 seed Whiteoak Wildcats Saturday, 63-48 at the Convo in their district bracket.
GAME NOTES: SW made four 3-pointers (three in the first quarter) and committed 12 fouls ... FHS committed 17 fouls ... Starters for the Lions were Adams, Williams, Rolark, Ferrell and Cox ... SW is 55-55 all-time in the sectional/district tournament with five district titles ... FHS has been district runner-up four times ('11, '97, '95, '47) ... FHS is 56-58 all-time in the sectional/district tournament ... FHS is 5-10 all-time at the Convo ... SW is 10-4 all-time at the Convo.[[In-content Ad]]