Fairfield fends off Hillsboro in Highland County showdown
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO – There was lots of excitement at Hillsboro High School on Monday night, as the Fairfield Lions went on the road in their Highland County showdown with the host Hillsboro Indians and won by a 44-30 score.
The non-conference game was tied at 15 points each after the first quarter, as both teams had their exciting moments in the annual rivalry matchup. It was Fairfield scoring points first with a 3-pointer from Jon Bentley, but those points were quickly answered with a trey by Hunter Price at the 6:35 mark for a 3-3 score.
The Lions scored five straight points in their answer to the Indians’ 3-pointer as Reese Teeters sank a basket, and that was followed with a 3-pointer by Tytis Cannon for an 8-3 FHS lead. Price came back with a 3-pointer for the Indians, but a jumper from Cannon offset some of those points to keep the Indians down by four points with 2:58 left in the first frame.
Following a timeout by the Indians, Ethan Parry sank a trey at the 2:29 mark, but back came the Lions with a jumper from Teeters at the 1:58 mark for a 12-9 Fairfield advantage. HHS had a reply of their own with consecutive baskets by Price and Bryce Parsons, giving the Indians the lead at 13-12 with 59 seconds on the first-quarter clock.
Teeters had a 3-pointer for the Lions with 38 seconds remaining in the first, and the score was tied at 15 points each when Parsons scored two points in the paint for a 15-15 score.
Fairfield dominated the second quarter, outscoring the hosts 11-2 for a halftime lead of 26-17 and changing the pace of the game, which only had two fouls total in the first half.
The Lions began the second quarter with a 3-pointer by Koben Zink, and after Hillsboro scored two points off a basket by Parry, the remainder of the quarter scoring belonged to the Lions.
From the 5:10 mark until there was 1:05 left in the second frame, Fairfield went on an 8-0 run for their nine-point lead. The points in that run were scored by Zink, Teeters, Bentley and Cannon, who picked up the loose ball and went to the basket for two points with 1:05 left in the second frame.
The 26-17 score stood when halftime arrived, but the Indians weren’t finished just yet, scoring 11 points in the third, and at one point with 1:15 left in the frame they trailed by only three points at 31-28. From that point on until the remainder of the game, the Indians scored just two more points in the loss.
“We’ve got a hurdle to get over offensively,” Hillsboro head coach Miles Burton said. “We had a game plan for it, and we just weren’t able to execute.
“Give Leesburg credit, it’s a very good basketball team, and hopefully they're playing well into March.”
HHS began the third with baskets by Parsons and Quintin Captain, but Teeters scored five straight points for the Lions with a jumper and 3-pointer for a 10-point Lions lead with 3:53 left in the third. The Indians battled with another bucket by Captain, a three-point play by Parsons and then another two-point bucket by Parsons for the three-point deficit with 1:15 left in the third quarter.
The game changed with 1.9 left in the third as Fairfield’s three-point lead turned into a 7-point advantage with a four-point play converted by Cannon. The four points came off a 3-pointer while being fouled, followed by Cannon knocking down the free throw attempt.
“We tightened up and quit making silly passes,” Fairfield head coach Josh Howland said. “We held them to 15 points the first quarter and then 15 points for the second, third and fourth combined, so I can't really complain a whole lot.
“[Hillsboro’s] a good team, and I’ve got to say, the community here really is behind them. It felt like a tournament-like atmosphere here. That's what we told the boys, and I think they bought in.”
The Lions’ defense held HHS to another two-point quarter, while Fairfield’s offense put up another nine points for the 14-point win. Fairfield scored the first four points of the quarter with four made free throws by Brayden Zimmerman (2-of-2 in the quarter) and Teeters, as he reached the free-throw line via a technical foul by Hillsboro for disagreeing with an official.
Teeters followed those points with a 3-pointer at the 4:58 mark of the fourth, and the Lions scored their final points of the game with a layup by Zink. HHS scored two points off free throws by Parry with 1:50 remaining in the game.
Teeters led the Lions with 19 points, totaling four two-point baskets, three 3-pointers and he was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. Cannon followed with 11 points in the victory, while the rest of the FHS scoring included Zink with seven points, Bentley totaling five points and Zimmerman with two points.
“Teeters was feeling it and was able to get him to take those two technical shots and then get him a three right there, a five-point swing,” Howland said. “He definitely was going offensively.”
Howland also spoke about the strong defensive effort of his team.
“Tytis Cannon had a four-point play, but he did something that probably a lot of people won’t notice,” he said. “Early on, we had Bentley on Price, and Bentley’s very physical, very quick, but he wasn't playing up on him all the way. We put Tytis on him, and Price had eight points out of the first 13 to start the game, and he only had two points the rest of the game.
“Tytis really controlled the game on the defensive end, and of course Brayden did what he always does on Parry.”
Fairfield improves to 9-4 on the season.
Price led HHS with 10 points, while Parsons collected nine points. HHS also had seven points from Parry and four points from Captain.
The loss moves the Indians to 8-10 overall.
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The non-conference game was tied at 15 points each after the first quarter, as both teams had their exciting moments in the annual rivalry matchup. It was Fairfield scoring points first with a 3-pointer from Jon Bentley, but those points were quickly answered with a trey by Hunter Price at the 6:35 mark for a 3-3 score.
The Lions scored five straight points in their answer to the Indians’ 3-pointer as Reese Teeters sank a basket, and that was followed with a 3-pointer by Tytis Cannon for an 8-3 FHS lead. Price came back with a 3-pointer for the Indians, but a jumper from Cannon offset some of those points to keep the Indians down by four points with 2:58 left in the first frame.
Following a timeout by the Indians, Ethan Parry sank a trey at the 2:29 mark, but back came the Lions with a jumper from Teeters at the 1:58 mark for a 12-9 Fairfield advantage. HHS had a reply of their own with consecutive baskets by Price and Bryce Parsons, giving the Indians the lead at 13-12 with 59 seconds on the first-quarter clock.
Teeters had a 3-pointer for the Lions with 38 seconds remaining in the first, and the score was tied at 15 points each when Parsons scored two points in the paint for a 15-15 score.
Fairfield dominated the second quarter, outscoring the hosts 11-2 for a halftime lead of 26-17 and changing the pace of the game, which only had two fouls total in the first half.
The Lions began the second quarter with a 3-pointer by Koben Zink, and after Hillsboro scored two points off a basket by Parry, the remainder of the quarter scoring belonged to the Lions.
From the 5:10 mark until there was 1:05 left in the second frame, Fairfield went on an 8-0 run for their nine-point lead. The points in that run were scored by Zink, Teeters, Bentley and Cannon, who picked up the loose ball and went to the basket for two points with 1:05 left in the second frame.
The 26-17 score stood when halftime arrived, but the Indians weren’t finished just yet, scoring 11 points in the third, and at one point with 1:15 left in the frame they trailed by only three points at 31-28. From that point on until the remainder of the game, the Indians scored just two more points in the loss.
“We’ve got a hurdle to get over offensively,” Hillsboro head coach Miles Burton said. “We had a game plan for it, and we just weren’t able to execute.
“Give Leesburg credit, it’s a very good basketball team, and hopefully they're playing well into March.”
HHS began the third with baskets by Parsons and Quintin Captain, but Teeters scored five straight points for the Lions with a jumper and 3-pointer for a 10-point Lions lead with 3:53 left in the third. The Indians battled with another bucket by Captain, a three-point play by Parsons and then another two-point bucket by Parsons for the three-point deficit with 1:15 left in the third quarter.
The game changed with 1.9 left in the third as Fairfield’s three-point lead turned into a 7-point advantage with a four-point play converted by Cannon. The four points came off a 3-pointer while being fouled, followed by Cannon knocking down the free throw attempt.
“We tightened up and quit making silly passes,” Fairfield head coach Josh Howland said. “We held them to 15 points the first quarter and then 15 points for the second, third and fourth combined, so I can't really complain a whole lot.
“[Hillsboro’s] a good team, and I’ve got to say, the community here really is behind them. It felt like a tournament-like atmosphere here. That's what we told the boys, and I think they bought in.”
The Lions’ defense held HHS to another two-point quarter, while Fairfield’s offense put up another nine points for the 14-point win. Fairfield scored the first four points of the quarter with four made free throws by Brayden Zimmerman (2-of-2 in the quarter) and Teeters, as he reached the free-throw line via a technical foul by Hillsboro for disagreeing with an official.
Teeters followed those points with a 3-pointer at the 4:58 mark of the fourth, and the Lions scored their final points of the game with a layup by Zink. HHS scored two points off free throws by Parry with 1:50 remaining in the game.
Teeters led the Lions with 19 points, totaling four two-point baskets, three 3-pointers and he was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. Cannon followed with 11 points in the victory, while the rest of the FHS scoring included Zink with seven points, Bentley totaling five points and Zimmerman with two points.
“Teeters was feeling it and was able to get him to take those two technical shots and then get him a three right there, a five-point swing,” Howland said. “He definitely was going offensively.”
Howland also spoke about the strong defensive effort of his team.
“Tytis Cannon had a four-point play, but he did something that probably a lot of people won’t notice,” he said. “Early on, we had Bentley on Price, and Bentley’s very physical, very quick, but he wasn't playing up on him all the way. We put Tytis on him, and Price had eight points out of the first 13 to start the game, and he only had two points the rest of the game.
“Tytis really controlled the game on the defensive end, and of course Brayden did what he always does on Parry.”
Fairfield improves to 9-4 on the season.
Price led HHS with 10 points, while Parsons collected nine points. HHS also had seven points from Parry and four points from Captain.
The loss moves the Indians to 8-10 overall.
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