Lions gain dominant homecoming win over Greyhounds

LEESBURG — There were two causes for celebration Friday night at Grandle Gymnasium, as the Fairfield Lions gained a dominant 35-point win over the visiting Manchester Greyhounds, and that win came on homecoming. 

The win was the Lions’ fourth consecutive victory (all Southern Hills Athletic Conference games), as they defeated Manchester by a 71-36 score on a night where Quentin McIntosh was crowned king and Rilee Quickle was crowned queen.

As for the game, it was evident the Lions were the stronger team on the court, taking a 21-10 lead at the end of the first frame. Manchester scored first with the first two points of the game, but Brody Smith of Fairfield answered with a basket of his own, followed by a steal and another two points to the Fairfield scoreboard for the early 4-2 lead. 

After Manchester tied the score at 4-4 off a basket by Luke Applegate, the Lions scored the five points with a 3-pointer from Caleb Rice and a layup from Smith with 4:42 left in the first. 

Manchester came back with two free throws by Applegate, but the Lions ended the frame by scoring 12 of the next 16 points scored, starting with a jumper from Griffin Friend. Later, it was a three-point play by Smith, and he also sank a 3-pointer for Fairfield’s next basket for a 17-8 advantage with 1:10 left in the first. 

Manchester scored their final two points of the first, and the Lions answered with a layup by Friend and a bucket from Smith, who took the ball the length of the court for the basket and a 21-10 lead to end the first quarter. 

“I thought we did a good job of pushing the pace tonight,” FHS head coach Quentin Williams said. “In transition, we did a really good job of pushing the ball offensively. Defensively, for the most part we weren’t communicating at the level that I like, but I felt like for the most part we played extremely hard and did a good job on our assignments and our schemes.” 

Smith finished the game with 25 points, collecting nine two-point baskets, two 3-pointers and he was 1-of-3 from the free-throw line. 

Friend followed with a 20-point game, as he made nine two-point buckets from the field and he was also 2-of-2 in his free-throw attempts. 

FHS had two others finish in double-figure scoring, that being Rice with 14 points by making two two-pointers, three 3-pointers, and he had a 1-of-2 evening from the free-throw line. Quentin McIntosh finished with 11 points as he made four two-point baskets and was 3-of-5 from the free-throw line. Also with one point was Joel Matthews. 

“We had four guys in double digits, and that’s the main thing I’m looking for, to spread the wealth,” Williams said. “Everybody starts getting confidence, and it is easy to key in on one or two people, but you now have four people scoring in double digits consistently, and that makes you a tough team to beat.

“Quentin does a good job on rebounding on both sides of the floor, and Griff did a pretty good job, but we can still get better at that for the most part. Finishing plays on defense, we need to do a better job of that so we can get out in transition more. We’ll clean that up.” 

Fairfield outscored Manchester 23-11 in the second for a 44-21 halftime lead, as they opened the second frame with a 13-0 run as McIntosh began the scoring with a rebound and basket, then it was Smith with two points and Friend followed with a basket at the 5:50 mark. Next came a 3-pointer by Rice and two points off a fastbreak by Smith. The scoring drive ended like it began as McIntosh grabbed another rebound and put the ball through the hoop for a 34-10 Fairfield lead with 3:52 left in the first half.

After two points by the Greyhounds, Friend scored two points on a fastbreak, as he gained possession of the ball on a no-look pass from Smith with 2:38 left in the quarter. 

The Lions (7-3, 10-4) ended the second quarter outscoring the Greyhounds, 8-6, as Rice had six of those points and Friend ended the frame with a basket.

Fairfield in the third outscored the Greyhounds 17-9 for a 61-30 lead, as Smith scored seven points in the quarter, including a 3-pointer with 1:56 left in the quarter. The Lions also had two points by Rice, three points from Friend and five points scored by McIntosh. 

In the fourth frame, the Lions had 10 points with Friend scoring seven points, McIntosh having two points, and with one point was Matthews with a free throw. 

Parker Hayslip led the Greyhounds (3-7, 7-11) with 13 points by making four two-point buckets, one 3-pointer and he went 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. Applegate finished with nine points off two two-pointers, one 3-pointer, and he was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. 

The Greyhounds also had the following final scoring: Clayton Colvin (6), Braylon Rickett (6) and Colton McChesney (2). MHS totaled 12 two-pointers, two 3-pointers and he was 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. 

Fairfield team totals included 24 two-point baskets, five 3-pointers and they went 8-of-14 with their free-throw attempts. 

The Lions improved to 10-4 overall and 7-3 in the SHAC Division II standings with the victory. FHS currently sits in third place in the SHAC Div. II standings, as Peebles is 8-2 and Fayetteville is 8-1. 

FHS split the regular-season series against Fayetteville and still have one game left against Peebles (Jan. 30), plus have SHAC games remaining against North Adams (Feb. 6) and Whiteoak (Feb. 13) both at home. 

“I feel like in the past two weeks we have really started to become more connected and are starting to have more fun with each other, and you can see it by how they play on the floor,” Williams said. “We had the big win against Fayetteville where we were really connected together defensively, did a really good job of listening and were coachable, and we are having less lapses, which is good for me, and we are being more consistent. 

“If we keep getting more consistent and showing up every day with the right attitude, I think we’ll be pretty good by the time the tournament rolls around.”

Manchester is now 7-11 overall and 3-7 in the SHAC Div. II standings. 

Next on the schedule for Fairfield is a non-conference game Tuesday, Jan. 27 on the road against the Hillsboro Indians at Hillsboro High School. 

Manchester is scheduled to play again Tuesday, Jan. 27 on the road in a non-conference game against Portsmouth West High School. 

BOX SCORE
MHS    10 11 09 06 — 36
FHS    21 23 17 10 — 71

FAIRFIELD (71) — B.Smith 9 (2) 1-3 25, C.Rice 2 (3) 1-2 14, G.Friend 9 (0) 2-2 20, J.Matthews 0 (0) 1-2 1, Q.McIntosh 4 (0) 3-5 11. TOTALS: 24 (5) 8-14 71. 

MANCHESTER (36) — P.Hayslip 4 (1) 2-2 13, C.Colvin 3 (0) 0-2 6, B.Rickett 2 (0) 2-2 6, L.Applegate 2 (1) 2-2 9, C.McChesney 1 (0) 0-0 2. TOTALS: 12 (2) 6-8 36.