Rolark sets new standards in Lions' win over Adena
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Fairfield senior Cameron Rolark set a new standard from beyond the arc, capping off a Hall of Fame day for the Fairfield Lions.
On the day where the inaugural Fairfield Athletic Hall of Fame class was inducted in a pregame ceremony, Rolark broke the school's 3-pointer record with 11 and came within two points of tying the school's single-game scoring record, finishing with 43 points. The Lions defeated the Adena Warriors 92-64 for a non-league win.
Rolark's 43 points is tied for the second-highest scoring game in FHS history.
It seemed like Rolark couldn't miss in the first half, as the senior tallied 33 points in the first two quarters, and in the process breaking the school record in 3-pointers with nine in the half. Rolark's 33 points in the first half was also a new school record.
"Wow," FHS head coach Matt Carson said following the game when asked about Rolark's first half. "That's really all I can say about that is wow. He was just in a different world (Saturday). Cameron is a very streaky shooter. When he gets hot, he can do that, and that was amazing."
The previous record was eight held by Hall of Fame inductee Nathan VanWinkle, who also holds the single-game scoring mark with 45. Others who were inducted into the Hall of Fame Saturday were: Louis A. Pausch Jr., Bill Kildow, Jim D. Cook, Kevin Greer, Kay Cummings and the 1936 Leesburg High School Class 'B' State Runner-Up team.
Rolark had 22 points in the first quarter, including six of his 11 treys in the quarter.
"A lot of the shots he got were in transition because we were out-letting the ball of the rebound," Carson said. "That's what we want, and that is what happened tonight."
Though Rolark stole the show, the rest of the Lions contributed to the win, with nine players scoring for the winning team.
Cody Tolle scored 13 points for the Lions, making three 3-point shots, one in each of the first three quarters. Ian Adams added 10 points, making two 3-pointers. For the game, the Lions tallied 16 3-pointers between Rolark, Tolle and Adams.
"Cody Tolle found his stroke again," Carson said. "I was glad to see that. Brandon Carmean had some good post ups and some good post feeds. Just everyone who got in and contributed, that was great to see."
But it was the first 4:32 of the opening quarter which set the tone for the Lions. In the aforementioned time frame, the Lions scored the game's first 20 points, for a 20-0 lead.
Rolark began the game with his first 3-point basket at the 7:39 mark of the quarter, and the rest was history.
FHS senior Chris Cox followed with a powerful but stylish dunk to put the Lions up five points. The Lions continued to keep the press on offensively with Adams knocking down a 3-pointer, followed with Cody Ferrell making a layup for a 10-point Lion lead.
Rolark went back to work with a 3-pointer, followed with a three-point play for a 16-point advantage. Rolark added another free-throw when he made one-of-two from the free-throw line after the Warriors were charged with a technical foul.
After Ferrell took a charge, Roalrk sank his third 3-pointer for the final points of the 20-point run.
The Lions finished the first frame with a 38-2 lead, as Rolark, Cox, Cole Putnam and Tolle added the additional 18 points for the 36-point lead following the first frame.
"When Chris got that dunk, it was pass, pass, dunk and that is what we want to do," Carson said. "Scoring points in bunches, the transition game was there tonight."
Tolle began the second frame with a 3-pointer, followed with a trey from Rolark to give the Lions a 44-2 lead.
The Warriors (2-13) added to their total in the second, but it wasn't nearly enough to get anywhere near the Lions' lead with Rolark scoring 11 points in the second quarter, breaking the FHS 3-point mark with 2:05 left in the first half. The 3-pointer also set the single-half scoring record. When Rolark made the ninth 3-pointer, he lifted his arm in the air to a cheering Lions fan base, and the student section bowed as he went back on defense.
Also in the second quarter, Austin Hildebrant sank two free-throws, along with Cox scoring two points to put the Lions' lead at 56-23 once the first half ended.
The game was well in-hand for the Lions at the start of the second half. Rolark added one 3-pointer to his record in the third, and one more in the fourth as he left the game with 1:09 remaining in the final frame.
In their 20-point third frame, also adding to the FHS lead were Adams, Ferrell, Tolle and Brandon Carmean. Tolle and Adams made 3-pointers.
The Lions added 16 more points in the fourth quarter, and besides Rolark, Hildebrant, Ryan Evans and Tolle scored points.
For the game, FHS was 12-of-21 from the free-throw line, as Adena went 13-of-17.
Adena was led in scoring by Austin Dennis with 21 points. AHS had two more players score in double figures with Trevor Hauserman adding 17 points and Auston Hottinger with 13.
The Warriors scored 21 points in the second quarter, adding 16 in the third and 25 in the fourth.
"I was upset with the defensive effort in the last couple quarters. We went more man-to-man, and we aren't as good at that," Carson said.
The win lifts the Lions to 6-9 overall. FHS is 4-5 in the Southern Hills League.
"This was a good win because a lot of people contributed," Carson said. "This gave us the ability to see what we need to work on, like our man-to-man, even though we are predominantly a zone team. This showed us some things we need to work on."
FHS will host the Manchester Greyhounds on Tuesday in a makeup game, followed by a game on Wednesday at Fayetteville and their homecoming game on Friday vs. West Union.
"Next week is big for us. We have Manchester coming here, and we just lost to them by a point. Big week for the Fairfield Lions, so it will be an exciting next two weeks of basketball. We face Hillsboro and Eastern Brown, plus we have our tournament draw next Sunday," Carson said.
Carson also spoke about the Hall of Fame.
"Very excited about the Hall of Fame. There were a lot of very classy individuals inducted into that. I'm happy about everything that represents and hope to keep that tradition going."
In JV play, the Lions defeated Adena, 44-39. Brad Clay led FHS with 14 points, and Wes Willey scored 11.[[In-content Ad]]
On the day where the inaugural Fairfield Athletic Hall of Fame class was inducted in a pregame ceremony, Rolark broke the school's 3-pointer record with 11 and came within two points of tying the school's single-game scoring record, finishing with 43 points. The Lions defeated the Adena Warriors 92-64 for a non-league win.
Rolark's 43 points is tied for the second-highest scoring game in FHS history.
It seemed like Rolark couldn't miss in the first half, as the senior tallied 33 points in the first two quarters, and in the process breaking the school record in 3-pointers with nine in the half. Rolark's 33 points in the first half was also a new school record.
"Wow," FHS head coach Matt Carson said following the game when asked about Rolark's first half. "That's really all I can say about that is wow. He was just in a different world (Saturday). Cameron is a very streaky shooter. When he gets hot, he can do that, and that was amazing."
The previous record was eight held by Hall of Fame inductee Nathan VanWinkle, who also holds the single-game scoring mark with 45. Others who were inducted into the Hall of Fame Saturday were: Louis A. Pausch Jr., Bill Kildow, Jim D. Cook, Kevin Greer, Kay Cummings and the 1936 Leesburg High School Class 'B' State Runner-Up team.
Rolark had 22 points in the first quarter, including six of his 11 treys in the quarter.
"A lot of the shots he got were in transition because we were out-letting the ball of the rebound," Carson said. "That's what we want, and that is what happened tonight."
Though Rolark stole the show, the rest of the Lions contributed to the win, with nine players scoring for the winning team.
Cody Tolle scored 13 points for the Lions, making three 3-point shots, one in each of the first three quarters. Ian Adams added 10 points, making two 3-pointers. For the game, the Lions tallied 16 3-pointers between Rolark, Tolle and Adams.
"Cody Tolle found his stroke again," Carson said. "I was glad to see that. Brandon Carmean had some good post ups and some good post feeds. Just everyone who got in and contributed, that was great to see."
But it was the first 4:32 of the opening quarter which set the tone for the Lions. In the aforementioned time frame, the Lions scored the game's first 20 points, for a 20-0 lead.
Rolark began the game with his first 3-point basket at the 7:39 mark of the quarter, and the rest was history.
FHS senior Chris Cox followed with a powerful but stylish dunk to put the Lions up five points. The Lions continued to keep the press on offensively with Adams knocking down a 3-pointer, followed with Cody Ferrell making a layup for a 10-point Lion lead.
Rolark went back to work with a 3-pointer, followed with a three-point play for a 16-point advantage. Rolark added another free-throw when he made one-of-two from the free-throw line after the Warriors were charged with a technical foul.
After Ferrell took a charge, Roalrk sank his third 3-pointer for the final points of the 20-point run.
The Lions finished the first frame with a 38-2 lead, as Rolark, Cox, Cole Putnam and Tolle added the additional 18 points for the 36-point lead following the first frame.
"When Chris got that dunk, it was pass, pass, dunk and that is what we want to do," Carson said. "Scoring points in bunches, the transition game was there tonight."
Tolle began the second frame with a 3-pointer, followed with a trey from Rolark to give the Lions a 44-2 lead.
The Warriors (2-13) added to their total in the second, but it wasn't nearly enough to get anywhere near the Lions' lead with Rolark scoring 11 points in the second quarter, breaking the FHS 3-point mark with 2:05 left in the first half. The 3-pointer also set the single-half scoring record. When Rolark made the ninth 3-pointer, he lifted his arm in the air to a cheering Lions fan base, and the student section bowed as he went back on defense.
Also in the second quarter, Austin Hildebrant sank two free-throws, along with Cox scoring two points to put the Lions' lead at 56-23 once the first half ended.
The game was well in-hand for the Lions at the start of the second half. Rolark added one 3-pointer to his record in the third, and one more in the fourth as he left the game with 1:09 remaining in the final frame.
In their 20-point third frame, also adding to the FHS lead were Adams, Ferrell, Tolle and Brandon Carmean. Tolle and Adams made 3-pointers.
The Lions added 16 more points in the fourth quarter, and besides Rolark, Hildebrant, Ryan Evans and Tolle scored points.
For the game, FHS was 12-of-21 from the free-throw line, as Adena went 13-of-17.
Adena was led in scoring by Austin Dennis with 21 points. AHS had two more players score in double figures with Trevor Hauserman adding 17 points and Auston Hottinger with 13.
The Warriors scored 21 points in the second quarter, adding 16 in the third and 25 in the fourth.
"I was upset with the defensive effort in the last couple quarters. We went more man-to-man, and we aren't as good at that," Carson said.
The win lifts the Lions to 6-9 overall. FHS is 4-5 in the Southern Hills League.
"This was a good win because a lot of people contributed," Carson said. "This gave us the ability to see what we need to work on, like our man-to-man, even though we are predominantly a zone team. This showed us some things we need to work on."
FHS will host the Manchester Greyhounds on Tuesday in a makeup game, followed by a game on Wednesday at Fayetteville and their homecoming game on Friday vs. West Union.
"Next week is big for us. We have Manchester coming here, and we just lost to them by a point. Big week for the Fairfield Lions, so it will be an exciting next two weeks of basketball. We face Hillsboro and Eastern Brown, plus we have our tournament draw next Sunday," Carson said.
Carson also spoke about the Hall of Fame.
"Very excited about the Hall of Fame. There were a lot of very classy individuals inducted into that. I'm happy about everything that represents and hope to keep that tradition going."
In JV play, the Lions defeated Adena, 44-39. Brad Clay led FHS with 14 points, and Wes Willey scored 11.[[In-content Ad]]