2022-23 Fairfield Lions Basketball Preview
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The Fairfield Lions boys basketball team have one of their former standout players and assistant coaches leading the way this season, with Quentin Williams being the new head coach of his alma mater as the Lions begin their 2022-23 boys basketball season.
Fairfield had a very successful season in 2021-22 under Southern Hills Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Josh Howland, who is now the head coach for the Hillsboro Indians. The Lions played in the district finals a season ago, where they lost a heartbreaking game to the Lucasville Valley Indians by a 47-46 score.
Fairfield lost many players from last season due to graduation, including Reese Teeters, who as a guard on the Lions was an All-Ohio selection where he averaged 13.6 points per game, along with 5.2 rebounds per game, 1.6 steals per game and 1.7 assists per game.
Brayden Zimmerman also graduated, as he was one of the top defensive players on the Lions’ roster in ’21-22. He was named to both the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association and Coaches All-District teams a season ago.
In 2021-22, the senior-led team finished with a 20-4 record and were second in the SHAC with a 10-2 record. Now it is time to turn the page, as a whole new pack of Lions are ready to see where they stand in 2022-23, with one returning starter from a year ago.
The returning starter is Tytis Cannon, a senior guard and four-year varsity player. Also back is sixth man from last season, senior forward TJ Mootz. Returning to the roster for their senior seasons are forward Gunner Bennington and guard Wyatt Collins.
Last season, Cannon averaged 14.7 points per game, while adding 6.2 rebounds per game, 2.7 steals per game and 2.5 assists per game. He was an All-Ohio honorable mention selection, along with being an All-District and All-SHAC honoree.
Juniors are point guard Larkin Friend, guard Gabe Fouch, guard Trey House, guard/forward Cade Miller and point guard Janre Lerio. Sophomores this season are guard Logan McIntosh, forward Chase Newman and guard Dane Hodson.
“Tytis Cannon has been playing varsity for four years, so I expect big things from him. I expect him to be in the running for SHAC Player of the Year,” Williams said. “Overall, as a group of juniors and seniors, these kids have played a lot of basketball and done a lot together, so I expect a lot out of all of them as a group. TJ Mootz has put in a lot of work, and I think he should be an All-League player this year.”
The Lions are coming off an offseason where Williams wasn’t hired until July, so he didn’t get to do an entire offseason with his team as varsity head coach, but he was able to get work in with the players.
“The offseason was pretty good. I did not get hired until July so I did not get to do any of the summer scrimmages or stuff in June, which is always some of my favorite,” he said. “I felt like we put in a lot of work in overall (weights, conditioning, plyometrics, 4-player workouts, open gym), starting in July up until this point.”
One of the positives about the 2022-23 Lions is the fact they all are a team in the aspect they enjoy playing basketball as a group, but with every basketball team, there is still work to be done.
“They genuinely like spending time with each other, and we have a lot of fun together as a group. We have different people step up and be leaders depending on the day, which is great. I never have to worry about people being selfish in any aspect. They want to do what it takes to win and are eager to learn. They compete and play hard,” Williams said. “The biggest thing I want to see us improve on is our mental toughness as a group when things do not go our way, not only on the court, but off the court.
“I want them to build in that resiliency better for life. I also want us to be better communicators at everything we do. I feel like we communicate probably better than majority of teams, but we need to do a more consistent effort on constant communication.”
The Lions also are out to prove they are a competitor in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference and will play competitive basketball in not only conference play, but throughout their entire schedule, as Williams describes his team as “fun, hardworking and high-character.”
“I expect us to be better than majority of people probably think we will be. These kids have played a long time together and have built in the necessary character and team traits that it takes to be a good team,” Williams said. “I think we should be in the running for a league title in the SHAC, and my expectations are to compete for and win a district title.”
The SHAC lost a big group of seniors from all of its member schools, and though the league might not be as strong as it was last season, the SHAC will still be full of tough competitive play. Williams said he anticipates tough battles each and every night in SHAC competition.
“I still expect North Adams, Eastern Brown, Fayetteville, Lynchburg-Clay and Whiteoak to be our main competitors this year,” he said. “North Adams was picked as the favorites to win the conference. There are a lot of good coaches in the SHAC that I have a lot of respect for, so you have to show up every night ready to compete, execute and adjust as the game goes or else you could be in for a long night.”
The non-conference slate of games for the Lions includes Washington, Paint Valley, Portsmouth Clay, McClain, Adena, Cedarville, Hillsboro, Southeastern and Ironton St. Joseph (whom Fairfield will host in the inaugural Chad Hodson Classic this February).
“Our non-conference schedule, and our schedule in general is very difficult. We play a lot of bigger teams such as (Washington) Court House, who should be very good, Hillsboro, McClain, etc,” Williams said. “We also play Paint Valley and Ironton St. Joe, who are in both in our sectional and should be very good this year.
“Cedarville is on the schedule as well and are always tough. They beat us at home last year. We have a very tough stretch to begin the year with games at Washington, at Eastern, vs. Whiteoak, vs. Paint Valley, then at North Adams. That’s five very good teams to start off the year.”
With this being year one for Williams as the varsity head coach, he is excited and ready for the regular season to begin.
“I’m eager to get started for my first year as varsity coach and looking forward to seeing everyone at the games,” he said.
The Lions start the season Nov. 29 on the road at the Washington Blue Lions in non-conference action.
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Fairfield had a very successful season in 2021-22 under Southern Hills Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Josh Howland, who is now the head coach for the Hillsboro Indians. The Lions played in the district finals a season ago, where they lost a heartbreaking game to the Lucasville Valley Indians by a 47-46 score.
Fairfield lost many players from last season due to graduation, including Reese Teeters, who as a guard on the Lions was an All-Ohio selection where he averaged 13.6 points per game, along with 5.2 rebounds per game, 1.6 steals per game and 1.7 assists per game.
Brayden Zimmerman also graduated, as he was one of the top defensive players on the Lions’ roster in ’21-22. He was named to both the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association and Coaches All-District teams a season ago.
In 2021-22, the senior-led team finished with a 20-4 record and were second in the SHAC with a 10-2 record. Now it is time to turn the page, as a whole new pack of Lions are ready to see where they stand in 2022-23, with one returning starter from a year ago.
The returning starter is Tytis Cannon, a senior guard and four-year varsity player. Also back is sixth man from last season, senior forward TJ Mootz. Returning to the roster for their senior seasons are forward Gunner Bennington and guard Wyatt Collins.
Last season, Cannon averaged 14.7 points per game, while adding 6.2 rebounds per game, 2.7 steals per game and 2.5 assists per game. He was an All-Ohio honorable mention selection, along with being an All-District and All-SHAC honoree.
Juniors are point guard Larkin Friend, guard Gabe Fouch, guard Trey House, guard/forward Cade Miller and point guard Janre Lerio. Sophomores this season are guard Logan McIntosh, forward Chase Newman and guard Dane Hodson.
“Tytis Cannon has been playing varsity for four years, so I expect big things from him. I expect him to be in the running for SHAC Player of the Year,” Williams said. “Overall, as a group of juniors and seniors, these kids have played a lot of basketball and done a lot together, so I expect a lot out of all of them as a group. TJ Mootz has put in a lot of work, and I think he should be an All-League player this year.”
The Lions are coming off an offseason where Williams wasn’t hired until July, so he didn’t get to do an entire offseason with his team as varsity head coach, but he was able to get work in with the players.
“The offseason was pretty good. I did not get hired until July so I did not get to do any of the summer scrimmages or stuff in June, which is always some of my favorite,” he said. “I felt like we put in a lot of work in overall (weights, conditioning, plyometrics, 4-player workouts, open gym), starting in July up until this point.”
One of the positives about the 2022-23 Lions is the fact they all are a team in the aspect they enjoy playing basketball as a group, but with every basketball team, there is still work to be done.
“They genuinely like spending time with each other, and we have a lot of fun together as a group. We have different people step up and be leaders depending on the day, which is great. I never have to worry about people being selfish in any aspect. They want to do what it takes to win and are eager to learn. They compete and play hard,” Williams said. “The biggest thing I want to see us improve on is our mental toughness as a group when things do not go our way, not only on the court, but off the court.
“I want them to build in that resiliency better for life. I also want us to be better communicators at everything we do. I feel like we communicate probably better than majority of teams, but we need to do a more consistent effort on constant communication.”
The Lions also are out to prove they are a competitor in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference and will play competitive basketball in not only conference play, but throughout their entire schedule, as Williams describes his team as “fun, hardworking and high-character.”
“I expect us to be better than majority of people probably think we will be. These kids have played a long time together and have built in the necessary character and team traits that it takes to be a good team,” Williams said. “I think we should be in the running for a league title in the SHAC, and my expectations are to compete for and win a district title.”
The SHAC lost a big group of seniors from all of its member schools, and though the league might not be as strong as it was last season, the SHAC will still be full of tough competitive play. Williams said he anticipates tough battles each and every night in SHAC competition.
“I still expect North Adams, Eastern Brown, Fayetteville, Lynchburg-Clay and Whiteoak to be our main competitors this year,” he said. “North Adams was picked as the favorites to win the conference. There are a lot of good coaches in the SHAC that I have a lot of respect for, so you have to show up every night ready to compete, execute and adjust as the game goes or else you could be in for a long night.”
The non-conference slate of games for the Lions includes Washington, Paint Valley, Portsmouth Clay, McClain, Adena, Cedarville, Hillsboro, Southeastern and Ironton St. Joseph (whom Fairfield will host in the inaugural Chad Hodson Classic this February).
“Our non-conference schedule, and our schedule in general is very difficult. We play a lot of bigger teams such as (Washington) Court House, who should be very good, Hillsboro, McClain, etc,” Williams said. “We also play Paint Valley and Ironton St. Joe, who are in both in our sectional and should be very good this year.
“Cedarville is on the schedule as well and are always tough. They beat us at home last year. We have a very tough stretch to begin the year with games at Washington, at Eastern, vs. Whiteoak, vs. Paint Valley, then at North Adams. That’s five very good teams to start off the year.”
With this being year one for Williams as the varsity head coach, he is excited and ready for the regular season to begin.
“I’m eager to get started for my first year as varsity coach and looking forward to seeing everyone at the games,” he said.
The Lions start the season Nov. 29 on the road at the Washington Blue Lions in non-conference action.
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