Wildcats keep ahold of 1st place, defeat Lions
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — A first quarter dominated by the Fairfield Lions wasn't enough to keep the host Wildcats down for long as they used the second half to their advantage by defeating the visiting Lions, 58-52, keeping the top spot in Division II of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference.
In Division II of the SHAC, the Wildcats lead the division at 6-2, followed by Fairfield at 5-4 and Fayetteville, who entered Friday at 5-3.
Overall, the Wildcats move to 9-6, while the Lions move to 7-8 on the season.
"We were picked (by the coaches poll) to come in second at the beginning of the year, and we've played well," WHS head coach Tom Wessner said. "We've played well on the road, which we haven't done in the last year or two. We've beat some good teams in the small school division, and we still have several games to go.
"Of the five league games we have left, four are at home. At this time of the season, you really don't want to be looking up at people. But like I said, we have three tough home games against the small school division and two more against the big school division, so we have our hands full and a very tough road ahead of us, but this is the position we want to be in."
The Friday night home win by the Wildcats came to life in the third frame, as they entered the quarter trailing by seven points, only to take a 37-34 lead eight minutes later.
"I didn't think our shot selection was bad (in the first half), we just missed a lot of shots in the first half," Wessner said. "We played fairly well defensively, and with them only having 26 points at halftime, you can play poorly on offense when we have that effort on defense."
With 1:00 left in the third when Tyler Williams sank a 3-pointer to break a 34-34 tie, the Wildcats never trailed for the remainder of the game, as two starters for the Lions fouled out starting with 3:42 left in the fourth.
As for the aforementioned 18-point third frame by the Wildcats, a big part of that was their defense, as they held the Lions to 14 points combined in the second and third quarters.
As for the Wildcat offense, Gage Carraher began the third with two free throws, and that began a 6-0 run in two minutes as those points were followed by a jumper by Doc Seip and a layup by Seip, who received the ball via an underhand ball in the paint by Luke Taggert, cutting the Lions' lead to 26-25 with 6:01 left in the third.
Seip finished with 21 points, followed by Carraher with 15 and Taggert with 14 points.
Later in the quarter, Carraher tied the game with a 3-pointer, and Seip put the Wildcats in the lead for the first time since the first quarter with two points in the paint with 4:07 left in the quarter.
Fairfield's Quentin Williams, who led FHS with 18 points, put the score deadlocked at 30 with a jumper, but that was answered with points by Taggert and Seip for a 34-30 Wildcat lead.
Ryan Bates tied the game for the Lions with back-to-back baskets, leaving 1:23 on the clock in the third, but that was answered with the previously mentioned 3-pointer.
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In the fourth, WHS opened the quarter with an 8-2 run, including a 3-pointer by Carraher putting WHS ahead 45-36 with 6:35 left in regulation.
FHS got to within six points of tying the game following a jumper by Cody Bennett and again with 3:25 left on the fourth-quarter clock as he sank a 3-pointer. Bennett finished with 11 points, all in the fourth frame.
After two free throws by Carraher, Quentin Williams made a 3-pointer but on the trip down the court was called for his fifth foul with 2:32 on the clock. A minute earlier, starting point guard Blake Hildebrant also fouled out.
After the foul-out, the Lions never got any closer than within five points of tying the game. For the game, the Lions were 6-of-7 from the free-throw line, while the Wildcats were 17-of-27.
"We got to the free-throw line … we didn't shoot particularly well from the free-throw line, but we got there," Wessner said about the fourth quarter. "We've played in a couple games this year where we got into a couple situations where it's turnovers and not using any clock, but we didn't do that tonight.
"At the very least, we got to the free-throw line, and hopefully we can shoot a little bit better from there in the games to come."
For all that happened to the Lions in the second half, the complete opposite could be said for the first quarter as they outscored the Wildcats, 20-10, including a 6-0 run to begin the game from Joey Wilson, Gage Montgomery and Quentin Williams.
"It seemed like we came out, ran some sets, got some good, open looks at the basket and then we just had four or five positions where we just turned the ball over," FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. "We tried to force the ball in transition, or we just weren't taking care of the basketball on the perimeter. There were times where we didn't meet the pass on the perimeter, and they got a hand on it and deflected it out.
"Turnovers at the end of the first and the start of the second hurt. Having foul troubles didn't help matters … I don't know, we're just going to have to do a better job of moving our feet defensively and not reaching and keeping the offensive player in front of us."
Later in the first, Quentin Williams scored five straight points on a layup and 3-pointer from the corner near the WHS bench for a 13-4 Lion lead with 4:33 on the first-quarter clock.
FHS ended the first with seven straight points from Montgomery, Bates and a 3-pointer by Blake Hildebrant for the final points of the first.
The Lions play again on Saturday as they host the Hillsboro Indians in a non-conference game. The Wildcats will play again on Tuesday when they host Fayetteville.
In JV play, the Lions won over WHS, 57-46. Leading the Lions were Mathew Leach with 16 points and Dustin Willey with 12. For WHS, Jason Jones led all scorers with 32.
In the freshman game, FHS won 50-31 at WHS. Leading the Lions were Putnam with 17 points and Corzatt with 12. Jacob Burns led WHS with 14 points.
In Division II of the SHAC, the Wildcats lead the division at 6-2, followed by Fairfield at 5-4 and Fayetteville, who entered Friday at 5-3.
Overall, the Wildcats move to 9-6, while the Lions move to 7-8 on the season.
"We were picked (by the coaches poll) to come in second at the beginning of the year, and we've played well," WHS head coach Tom Wessner said. "We've played well on the road, which we haven't done in the last year or two. We've beat some good teams in the small school division, and we still have several games to go.
"Of the five league games we have left, four are at home. At this time of the season, you really don't want to be looking up at people. But like I said, we have three tough home games against the small school division and two more against the big school division, so we have our hands full and a very tough road ahead of us, but this is the position we want to be in."
The Friday night home win by the Wildcats came to life in the third frame, as they entered the quarter trailing by seven points, only to take a 37-34 lead eight minutes later.
"I didn't think our shot selection was bad (in the first half), we just missed a lot of shots in the first half," Wessner said. "We played fairly well defensively, and with them only having 26 points at halftime, you can play poorly on offense when we have that effort on defense."
With 1:00 left in the third when Tyler Williams sank a 3-pointer to break a 34-34 tie, the Wildcats never trailed for the remainder of the game, as two starters for the Lions fouled out starting with 3:42 left in the fourth.
As for the aforementioned 18-point third frame by the Wildcats, a big part of that was their defense, as they held the Lions to 14 points combined in the second and third quarters.
As for the Wildcat offense, Gage Carraher began the third with two free throws, and that began a 6-0 run in two minutes as those points were followed by a jumper by Doc Seip and a layup by Seip, who received the ball via an underhand ball in the paint by Luke Taggert, cutting the Lions' lead to 26-25 with 6:01 left in the third.
Seip finished with 21 points, followed by Carraher with 15 and Taggert with 14 points.
Later in the quarter, Carraher tied the game with a 3-pointer, and Seip put the Wildcats in the lead for the first time since the first quarter with two points in the paint with 4:07 left in the quarter.
Fairfield's Quentin Williams, who led FHS with 18 points, put the score deadlocked at 30 with a jumper, but that was answered with points by Taggert and Seip for a 34-30 Wildcat lead.
Ryan Bates tied the game for the Lions with back-to-back baskets, leaving 1:23 on the clock in the third, but that was answered with the previously mentioned 3-pointer.
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In the fourth, WHS opened the quarter with an 8-2 run, including a 3-pointer by Carraher putting WHS ahead 45-36 with 6:35 left in regulation.
FHS got to within six points of tying the game following a jumper by Cody Bennett and again with 3:25 left on the fourth-quarter clock as he sank a 3-pointer. Bennett finished with 11 points, all in the fourth frame.
After two free throws by Carraher, Quentin Williams made a 3-pointer but on the trip down the court was called for his fifth foul with 2:32 on the clock. A minute earlier, starting point guard Blake Hildebrant also fouled out.
After the foul-out, the Lions never got any closer than within five points of tying the game. For the game, the Lions were 6-of-7 from the free-throw line, while the Wildcats were 17-of-27.
"We got to the free-throw line … we didn't shoot particularly well from the free-throw line, but we got there," Wessner said about the fourth quarter. "We've played in a couple games this year where we got into a couple situations where it's turnovers and not using any clock, but we didn't do that tonight.
"At the very least, we got to the free-throw line, and hopefully we can shoot a little bit better from there in the games to come."
For all that happened to the Lions in the second half, the complete opposite could be said for the first quarter as they outscored the Wildcats, 20-10, including a 6-0 run to begin the game from Joey Wilson, Gage Montgomery and Quentin Williams.
"It seemed like we came out, ran some sets, got some good, open looks at the basket and then we just had four or five positions where we just turned the ball over," FHS head coach Everett Snyder said. "We tried to force the ball in transition, or we just weren't taking care of the basketball on the perimeter. There were times where we didn't meet the pass on the perimeter, and they got a hand on it and deflected it out.
"Turnovers at the end of the first and the start of the second hurt. Having foul troubles didn't help matters … I don't know, we're just going to have to do a better job of moving our feet defensively and not reaching and keeping the offensive player in front of us."
Later in the first, Quentin Williams scored five straight points on a layup and 3-pointer from the corner near the WHS bench for a 13-4 Lion lead with 4:33 on the first-quarter clock.
FHS ended the first with seven straight points from Montgomery, Bates and a 3-pointer by Blake Hildebrant for the final points of the first.
The Lions play again on Saturday as they host the Hillsboro Indians in a non-conference game. The Wildcats will play again on Tuesday when they host Fayetteville.
In JV play, the Lions won over WHS, 57-46. Leading the Lions were Mathew Leach with 16 points and Dustin Willey with 12. For WHS, Jason Jones led all scorers with 32.
In the freshman game, FHS won 50-31 at WHS. Leading the Lions were Putnam with 17 points and Corzatt with 12. Jacob Burns led WHS with 14 points.