Lions upend Hillsboro in rivalry game
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — If there ever was a game where Fairfield head coach Everett Snyder could say his players stepped up, it could be after Saturday night.
The Lions, coming off a tough league loss the night before, not only defeated Highland County counterpart Hillsboro, 44-38, but did it without the normal lineup, and on Farifield's Hall of Fame night.
Not playing for the Lions was leading scorer and senior captain Quentin Williams, who sat out with an injury, but his teammates stepped up their game and gave the home crowd something to cheer about, especially in the final minutes when junior Ryan Bates swatted the basketball into the stands, putting the stamp on the Lions' non-league win.
The win puts the Lions at 8-8 overall this season, while the Indians fall to 6-10 overall.
Coach Snyder explained that this was a big win for his team, especially under the circumstances.
"Without Quentin, we were wondering how the kids would react, and I thought the kids stepped up big," Snyder said. "They played well, even without Quentin playing. We'd love to have him in there, but the kids defensively played as well as they have all year in the second half.
"The loss Friday was disappointing … but they probably bounce back better than I do. Once the game is done, they just let it go and look forward to the next game. I don't think they dwell on it as much as I do."
As for the FHS second-half defense, they held the visiting Indians to just 10 points in the final 16 minutes of play, as they didn't allow the Indians to make a single field goal in the fourth quarter.
"This was just an excellent job defensively," Snyder said. "We switched things up and put Gage Montgomery on Jordan Captain, and Gage did an excellent job and pulled down a bunch of rebounds in the fourth to help control the boards."
The quarter that decided the game for both teams was the fourth, as the Indians went into the quarter leading 34-30 but were outscored, 14-4.
Fairfield began the fourth with Cody Bennett (who ended with 10 points) scoring two points, as he continued to energize the Lions from the third quarter as he sank a 3-pointer with 1:06 left in the third.
"Cody came in and played good defense," Snyder said. "He had a couple big threes, and I was real pleased with his performance. I think Friday's game where he had to play without Blake and Quentin, that boosted his confidence. That's what we've been searching for with him all season."
Bates followed with two points, putting the Lions ahead 35-34 with 6:50 left in regulation, a lead they didn't relinquish. Bates was tied with Montgomery in scoring as they led the Lions with 12 points each.
The 10-0 run to start the fourth continued with Montgomery sinking three of four free throws, giving FHS a 38-34 lead with 3:03 left in the game.
Near the end of the quarter, all the momentum went to the Lions with the aforementioned block by Bates, who sent the ball at least five rows into the stands as the Indians were attempting a 3-pointer around the 2:00 mark of the fourth.
Bates followed that with two free-throw conversions, and with 40.7 seconds left, Elijah Carmean added a point to the Lions' total.[[In-content Ad]]
The Indians ended what was nearly 8:00 without scoring a single point with two free throws by Austin Bagshaw with 32 seconds on the clock. From there, all the final points were scored via the free-throw line, with the final three FHS points by Blake Hildebrant and Montgomery.
Hillsboro head coach Brett Prince spoke about his team's loss, especially the fourth quarter.
"Honestly, I don't know … in the first half we got the ball in the paint, but that didn't happen as frequently in the second half," Prince said. "We had to rely more on our perimeter game, and we just couldn't make any shots.
"It was a tale of two halves … their interior got going in the second half and ours went away, and when they had good things happen in the post, it opened up opportunities for their perimeter guys."
Coach Prince also spoke about his team's free-throw shooting, as the Indians went 7-of-16 from the charity stripe, including 4-of-10 in the second half. In the third, HHS was 0-of-4. Fairfield finished 18-of-26.
"They made a lot more free throws than we did," Prince said. "We struggled tremendously at the free-throw line for the past two games. That's two nights in a row we've struggled at the free-throw line.
"Tuesday, we went 19-of-21, then the next two games we go 12-of-27 combined. We just missed a lot of shots, and the ball didn't go in. I would like to think we are better than what we shot, that's why we put guys in those situations. In my opinion, we did exactly what we wanted to do offensively, we got the shots we wanted offensively, they just did not go in. When things went bad … they went bad."
The first quarter was pretty close in the scoring column, but it was the visiting Indians who led 15-10, with the score being tied three times.
In the opening frame, the Lions broke an 8-8 tie with points from Hildebrant, but the Indians went ahead 11-10 with a 3-pointer by Zach Young. HHS ended the first with seven straight points with Young's 3-pointer, a steal and layup from Jarrod Hart (who totaled 13 points) and a layup by Young for the five-point lead.
In the second frame, the score was never tied as HHS ended the first half with a 28-23 advantage. For FHS in the second, Montgomery scored six points, while Bennett added four and Shay Snyder added a layup for two points. Joey Wilson also made a free throw in the 13-point quarter by the Lions.
Hillsboro's 13-point second quarter included a 3-pointer by Reese Leibreich and a trey by Hart. Captain added five points in the second, and Trey Moberly made two free throws. Captain totaled nine points for the game.
In the third, FHS won the quarter, 7-6.
"I'm almost at a loss for words, which is rare for me," Prince said. "I think they out-toughed us, and that's a little disappointing. It comes back to just not having the team ready to finish the deal.
"It's every game, we've had the halftime six out of our last seven games, and the third-quarter lead … it's just me not putting them in the right situation in the fourth quarter. We'll just have to continue to grind and find ways to close the deal. I have to go home, look in the mirror, think at what I could have done differently, and I have to get better. We have to get better together."
In JV play, FHS defeated HHS, 55-46. Leading the Lions were Mathew Leach with 18 points, Brant Huff with 15 and Dustin Willey with 10. For HHS, Jacob Aber led with 12 points. Also for the Indians, Austin Bagshaw totaled nine points, and Alex Branscome also added nine points.
"This was just a big win for us," Snyder said. "We won all three games, and that's a step in the right direction for the program. Any time we can beat an SCOL school, we're happy."
The Lions will play again on Tuesday as they visit Ripley. HHS will travel to London on Tuesday.
The Lions, coming off a tough league loss the night before, not only defeated Highland County counterpart Hillsboro, 44-38, but did it without the normal lineup, and on Farifield's Hall of Fame night.
Not playing for the Lions was leading scorer and senior captain Quentin Williams, who sat out with an injury, but his teammates stepped up their game and gave the home crowd something to cheer about, especially in the final minutes when junior Ryan Bates swatted the basketball into the stands, putting the stamp on the Lions' non-league win.
The win puts the Lions at 8-8 overall this season, while the Indians fall to 6-10 overall.
Coach Snyder explained that this was a big win for his team, especially under the circumstances.
"Without Quentin, we were wondering how the kids would react, and I thought the kids stepped up big," Snyder said. "They played well, even without Quentin playing. We'd love to have him in there, but the kids defensively played as well as they have all year in the second half.
"The loss Friday was disappointing … but they probably bounce back better than I do. Once the game is done, they just let it go and look forward to the next game. I don't think they dwell on it as much as I do."
As for the FHS second-half defense, they held the visiting Indians to just 10 points in the final 16 minutes of play, as they didn't allow the Indians to make a single field goal in the fourth quarter.
"This was just an excellent job defensively," Snyder said. "We switched things up and put Gage Montgomery on Jordan Captain, and Gage did an excellent job and pulled down a bunch of rebounds in the fourth to help control the boards."
The quarter that decided the game for both teams was the fourth, as the Indians went into the quarter leading 34-30 but were outscored, 14-4.
Fairfield began the fourth with Cody Bennett (who ended with 10 points) scoring two points, as he continued to energize the Lions from the third quarter as he sank a 3-pointer with 1:06 left in the third.
"Cody came in and played good defense," Snyder said. "He had a couple big threes, and I was real pleased with his performance. I think Friday's game where he had to play without Blake and Quentin, that boosted his confidence. That's what we've been searching for with him all season."
Bates followed with two points, putting the Lions ahead 35-34 with 6:50 left in regulation, a lead they didn't relinquish. Bates was tied with Montgomery in scoring as they led the Lions with 12 points each.
The 10-0 run to start the fourth continued with Montgomery sinking three of four free throws, giving FHS a 38-34 lead with 3:03 left in the game.
Near the end of the quarter, all the momentum went to the Lions with the aforementioned block by Bates, who sent the ball at least five rows into the stands as the Indians were attempting a 3-pointer around the 2:00 mark of the fourth.
Bates followed that with two free-throw conversions, and with 40.7 seconds left, Elijah Carmean added a point to the Lions' total.[[In-content Ad]]
The Indians ended what was nearly 8:00 without scoring a single point with two free throws by Austin Bagshaw with 32 seconds on the clock. From there, all the final points were scored via the free-throw line, with the final three FHS points by Blake Hildebrant and Montgomery.
Hillsboro head coach Brett Prince spoke about his team's loss, especially the fourth quarter.
"Honestly, I don't know … in the first half we got the ball in the paint, but that didn't happen as frequently in the second half," Prince said. "We had to rely more on our perimeter game, and we just couldn't make any shots.
"It was a tale of two halves … their interior got going in the second half and ours went away, and when they had good things happen in the post, it opened up opportunities for their perimeter guys."
Coach Prince also spoke about his team's free-throw shooting, as the Indians went 7-of-16 from the charity stripe, including 4-of-10 in the second half. In the third, HHS was 0-of-4. Fairfield finished 18-of-26.
"They made a lot more free throws than we did," Prince said. "We struggled tremendously at the free-throw line for the past two games. That's two nights in a row we've struggled at the free-throw line.
"Tuesday, we went 19-of-21, then the next two games we go 12-of-27 combined. We just missed a lot of shots, and the ball didn't go in. I would like to think we are better than what we shot, that's why we put guys in those situations. In my opinion, we did exactly what we wanted to do offensively, we got the shots we wanted offensively, they just did not go in. When things went bad … they went bad."
The first quarter was pretty close in the scoring column, but it was the visiting Indians who led 15-10, with the score being tied three times.
In the opening frame, the Lions broke an 8-8 tie with points from Hildebrant, but the Indians went ahead 11-10 with a 3-pointer by Zach Young. HHS ended the first with seven straight points with Young's 3-pointer, a steal and layup from Jarrod Hart (who totaled 13 points) and a layup by Young for the five-point lead.
In the second frame, the score was never tied as HHS ended the first half with a 28-23 advantage. For FHS in the second, Montgomery scored six points, while Bennett added four and Shay Snyder added a layup for two points. Joey Wilson also made a free throw in the 13-point quarter by the Lions.
Hillsboro's 13-point second quarter included a 3-pointer by Reese Leibreich and a trey by Hart. Captain added five points in the second, and Trey Moberly made two free throws. Captain totaled nine points for the game.
In the third, FHS won the quarter, 7-6.
"I'm almost at a loss for words, which is rare for me," Prince said. "I think they out-toughed us, and that's a little disappointing. It comes back to just not having the team ready to finish the deal.
"It's every game, we've had the halftime six out of our last seven games, and the third-quarter lead … it's just me not putting them in the right situation in the fourth quarter. We'll just have to continue to grind and find ways to close the deal. I have to go home, look in the mirror, think at what I could have done differently, and I have to get better. We have to get better together."
In JV play, FHS defeated HHS, 55-46. Leading the Lions were Mathew Leach with 18 points, Brant Huff with 15 and Dustin Willey with 10. For HHS, Jacob Aber led with 12 points. Also for the Indians, Austin Bagshaw totaled nine points, and Alex Branscome also added nine points.
"This was just a big win for us," Snyder said. "We won all three games, and that's a step in the right direction for the program. Any time we can beat an SCOL school, we're happy."
The Lions will play again on Tuesday as they visit Ripley. HHS will travel to London on Tuesday.