Turnovers, missed free throws haunt Fairfield Lions in OT loss to Peebles
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — The Fairfield Lions and Peebles Indians gave basketball fans something to smile about on a cold February evening, as the two teams battled tough in a Southern Hills Athletic Conference showdown at Grandle Gymnasium.
The two teams played physical basketball, and each had to battle back from a deficit at one point in the second half. Regulation time wasn’t enough, and in overtime it was Peebles who took home the SHAC win, defeating the host Lions, 67-60.
Peebles was 21-of-25 from the free-throw line for the game, while Fairfield went 16-of-24. FHS also committed 23 turnovers in the SHAC loss.
“I’ll be honest, all season long we’ve given 100 percent on the defensive end. That hasn’t been the issue, and I’ve been proud of the effort. It is kind of disheartening to see us lose games because of missed free throws and turnovers,” FHS head coach Josh Howland said. “We had 23 turnovers, and that is too many turnovers, especially in a game like this against a team like Peebles who can shoot.
“The turnovers, we can at least recover from that, but the free throws are just points left on the board. I also though we did a good job of keeping Peebles off the offensive boards in the second half, but we gave up five in the first half. We had them down for two in the second half, so that was much better, but too many in the first half.”
At the start of the fourth frame, it was Fairfield leading by six points by a 42-36 score, but the Indians opened the final frame with four consecutive points from Dawson Mills and Alan McCoy. The Lions responded with a 3-pointer by Jon Bentley to push the Lions’ lead back to four points at 44-40 with 5:46 left in regulation.
The Indians answered with four straight points of their own with a basket by McCoy, then two free throws from Mills, tying the score at 44-44 with 5:15 on the fourth-quarter clock.
Fairfield regained the lead with two free throws by Reese Teeters at the 3:37 mark, then Lions added two more points for a 48-44 advantage off a steal and layup, also by Teeters.
Peebles wasn’t finished as they scored the next four points as Hunter White had a rebound and layup, followed by him then driving to the hoop for another basket, tying the score at 48 with 2:35 left in regulation.
The Lions took a one-point lead after a free throw was made by Bentley, but Peebles battled back with two made free throws from Mills, with the away team moving in front at 50-49. Peebles’ Oakley Burba added to their lead with around 2:00 left in the fourth by taking an inbounds pass and putting it through the hoop for a 52-49 score.
PHS eventually built a 55-49 lead with 1:30 on the clock after points from Mills and Burba. The Lions roared back with a three-point play from Teeters, making it a three-point deficit for Fairfield.
Then came turnovers by both teams, leaving the Lions eventually landing at the free-throw line as Connor Priest sank a free throw with 8.8 seconds on the clock, for a 55-53 deficit for the Lions.
Peebles’s Cory Reed sank one free throw with 7.7 remaining in regulation, but the Lions still had fight left in them as Teeters was fouled with 2.1 seconds as he attempted a 3-pointer. Teeters was clutch, making all three free throw attempts, sending the game into overtime as both team had 56 points at the end of the fourth frame.
Peebles had a strong start to overtime, with Burba, Mills and Brock Johnson combining for the first five points of the frame, making them the leaders at 61-56 with 2:30 left in the 4:00 overtime period.
The Lions eventually responded with a 3-pointer by Priest, and Peebles responded with a free throw from Burba for a one-point differential on the scoreboard, with PHS still in the lead at 61-60.
With 54 seconds left in overtime, White of Peebles sank two free throws, and after being intentionally fouled, Burba added to the PHS advantage with two free throws made for a 65-60 lead.
Peebles sealed the win with a layup by Mills on an inbounds pass, giving them the seven-point win at 67-60.
“Our guys don’t stop fighting, and we’ve seen that all season long,” Howland said. “Once Reese fouled out and Brayden fouled out, it took some wind out of our sails in overtime, but other than that they never quit trying, no question about that.”
The Lions were led in scoring by Teeters with 23 points, and he was followed by Priest with 11 points. More Fairfield scoring included nine points by Koben Zink, seven points by Bentley and six points by Tucker Watson. Rounding out the scoring column were Brayden Zimmerman with three points and T.J. Mootz with one point.
The first three frames were just as competitive as the fourth quarter and overtime were. At the end of the first frame, the Indians led the Lions, 13-12, and when halftime arrived it was Fairfield with a 25-23 lead. Fairfield scored 17 points in the third, and Peebles added 13 points, putting the Lions ahead 42-36 after three frames.
For the game, Peebles was led by Mills with 19 points, while Burba totaled 17 points and McCoy scored 13 points, giving Peebles three players in double figures.
White of PHS scored nine points, while the rest of the Peebles scoring included four points each from Cory Reed and Easton Wesley and one point by Brock Johnson.
For the game, the Lions totaled 13 two-point baskets, plus six 3-pointers from Teeters (3), Priest (2) and Zimmerman (1). Peebles had 20 two-point baskets and two 3-pointers (Dawson Mills and Burba).
Next for the Lions is a game on Feb. 12 at home vs. Fayetteville. Peebles is scheduled to play again on Feb. 6 at Whiteoak.
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The two teams played physical basketball, and each had to battle back from a deficit at one point in the second half. Regulation time wasn’t enough, and in overtime it was Peebles who took home the SHAC win, defeating the host Lions, 67-60.
Peebles was 21-of-25 from the free-throw line for the game, while Fairfield went 16-of-24. FHS also committed 23 turnovers in the SHAC loss.
“I’ll be honest, all season long we’ve given 100 percent on the defensive end. That hasn’t been the issue, and I’ve been proud of the effort. It is kind of disheartening to see us lose games because of missed free throws and turnovers,” FHS head coach Josh Howland said. “We had 23 turnovers, and that is too many turnovers, especially in a game like this against a team like Peebles who can shoot.
“The turnovers, we can at least recover from that, but the free throws are just points left on the board. I also though we did a good job of keeping Peebles off the offensive boards in the second half, but we gave up five in the first half. We had them down for two in the second half, so that was much better, but too many in the first half.”
At the start of the fourth frame, it was Fairfield leading by six points by a 42-36 score, but the Indians opened the final frame with four consecutive points from Dawson Mills and Alan McCoy. The Lions responded with a 3-pointer by Jon Bentley to push the Lions’ lead back to four points at 44-40 with 5:46 left in regulation.
The Indians answered with four straight points of their own with a basket by McCoy, then two free throws from Mills, tying the score at 44-44 with 5:15 on the fourth-quarter clock.
Fairfield regained the lead with two free throws by Reese Teeters at the 3:37 mark, then Lions added two more points for a 48-44 advantage off a steal and layup, also by Teeters.
Peebles wasn’t finished as they scored the next four points as Hunter White had a rebound and layup, followed by him then driving to the hoop for another basket, tying the score at 48 with 2:35 left in regulation.
The Lions took a one-point lead after a free throw was made by Bentley, but Peebles battled back with two made free throws from Mills, with the away team moving in front at 50-49. Peebles’ Oakley Burba added to their lead with around 2:00 left in the fourth by taking an inbounds pass and putting it through the hoop for a 52-49 score.
PHS eventually built a 55-49 lead with 1:30 on the clock after points from Mills and Burba. The Lions roared back with a three-point play from Teeters, making it a three-point deficit for Fairfield.
Then came turnovers by both teams, leaving the Lions eventually landing at the free-throw line as Connor Priest sank a free throw with 8.8 seconds on the clock, for a 55-53 deficit for the Lions.
Peebles’s Cory Reed sank one free throw with 7.7 remaining in regulation, but the Lions still had fight left in them as Teeters was fouled with 2.1 seconds as he attempted a 3-pointer. Teeters was clutch, making all three free throw attempts, sending the game into overtime as both team had 56 points at the end of the fourth frame.
Peebles had a strong start to overtime, with Burba, Mills and Brock Johnson combining for the first five points of the frame, making them the leaders at 61-56 with 2:30 left in the 4:00 overtime period.
The Lions eventually responded with a 3-pointer by Priest, and Peebles responded with a free throw from Burba for a one-point differential on the scoreboard, with PHS still in the lead at 61-60.
With 54 seconds left in overtime, White of Peebles sank two free throws, and after being intentionally fouled, Burba added to the PHS advantage with two free throws made for a 65-60 lead.
Peebles sealed the win with a layup by Mills on an inbounds pass, giving them the seven-point win at 67-60.
“Our guys don’t stop fighting, and we’ve seen that all season long,” Howland said. “Once Reese fouled out and Brayden fouled out, it took some wind out of our sails in overtime, but other than that they never quit trying, no question about that.”
The Lions were led in scoring by Teeters with 23 points, and he was followed by Priest with 11 points. More Fairfield scoring included nine points by Koben Zink, seven points by Bentley and six points by Tucker Watson. Rounding out the scoring column were Brayden Zimmerman with three points and T.J. Mootz with one point.
The first three frames were just as competitive as the fourth quarter and overtime were. At the end of the first frame, the Indians led the Lions, 13-12, and when halftime arrived it was Fairfield with a 25-23 lead. Fairfield scored 17 points in the third, and Peebles added 13 points, putting the Lions ahead 42-36 after three frames.
For the game, Peebles was led by Mills with 19 points, while Burba totaled 17 points and McCoy scored 13 points, giving Peebles three players in double figures.
White of PHS scored nine points, while the rest of the Peebles scoring included four points each from Cory Reed and Easton Wesley and one point by Brock Johnson.
For the game, the Lions totaled 13 two-point baskets, plus six 3-pointers from Teeters (3), Priest (2) and Zimmerman (1). Peebles had 20 two-point baskets and two 3-pointers (Dawson Mills and Burba).
Next for the Lions is a game on Feb. 12 at home vs. Fayetteville. Peebles is scheduled to play again on Feb. 6 at Whiteoak.
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