Lions upend South Gallia in district semifinals; move on to D7 finals

CHILLICOTHE — There is only one way to describe the overall play of the Fairfield Lions in the Division VII SE District Semifinals on Tuesday night … “Total Domination.” 

The No. 3 seeded Fairfield Lions (17-6) didn’t let up and gave No. 11 South Gallia their best effort of the season, defeating the Rebels, 55-19 at Southeastern High School. 

Fairfield’s win was their seventh consecutive victory. 

There was no doubt the Lions were prepared to take complete control of the game as soon as the opening tip-off took place, with Fairfield leading 11-2 at the end of the first quarter and 33-8 at halftime. 

“We want to force the defensive intensity and then try to play downhill, and that’s it,” Fairfield Lions interim head coach Raymond Friend said. “If you can do those things like we were able to tonight, and it is good to hit a couple early threes, and then we can play off that.”

Junior Brody Smith, battling through some physical pains throughout the game, put on an outstanding display of shooting to start the district semifinal contest with consecutive 3-pointers swishing through the hoop at the 7:27 and 6:35 marks, setting the tone with a 6-0 Lions lead. Smith totaled nine points in the win. 

Fairfield made it an 11-0 run with a jumper by junior Caleb Rice, and then came a 3-pointer with 4:06 on the clock by Zach Ahsaruk. Rice totaled nine points for the Lions, and teammate Ahsaruk ended the game with seven points. 

South Gallia (8-16) — who reached the district semifinals with an upset overtime win over No. 6 seeded Green on Feb. 26 — didn’t score their first points of the game until there was 1:30 left in the opening quarter off a basket by Caleb Frazee for an 11-2 score. 

The Lions really amped up their scoring in the second frame, along with strong rebounding and stifling defense for a 22-6 frame. 

“I really like the team’s attention to detail of making sure to execute the game plan,” Friend said. “Our defense leads to offense, and that’s the goal.”

Fairfield's Smith, again, was on point from beyond the arc by sinking his third 3-pointer of the first half, and his basket was followed with two baskets by senior Quentin McIntosh, who continued to dominate the boards and the paint, plus another 3-pointer and jumper from Rice left the Lions in front 23-4 with 5:10 left in the second quarter. 

McIntosh led the Lions with 14 points as his totals included seven two-point baskets. He also collected multiple rebounds in the win. 

South Gallia sank a free throw for their fifth point of the game with 4:55, putting an end to the Lions’ 12-0 run to start the second. 

Next were another two buckets in the paint by McIntosh, plus a layup by sophomore Joel Matthews and two free throws from junior Griffin Friend for a 31-5 Fairfield lead with around 2:00 left in the first half. Friend finished the game with 13 points for the Lions. 

A 3-pointer by South Gallia’s Dusty Malone and a basket from Rice left the Lions ahead by 25 points at halftime at 33-8. 

Fairfield held a 34-point lead after three quarters, again putting their stamp on the game with a 3-pointer at the start of the third, this time by Friend, followed by a basket by Ahsaruk for a 30-point lead with 5:36 left in the third. 

After a couple free throws from the Rebels, the Lions roared back with a 3-pointer from Friend and another two-point basket in the paint from McIntosh for a 33-point for a 43-10 score. 

The Lions ended the third with a third 3-pointer in the frame by Friend, and two points with a basket by Ahsaruk, ending the scoring with a repeat of the scoring efforts to start the frame for a 48-14 score. 

“We got our starters a little rest in the fourth quarter, and some of our younger guys got a bucket and an opportunity to be on the court, so that’s always good,” Friend said. 

Fairfield added seven final points in the fourth frame off baskets by Friend, McIntosh and sophomore Logan Burgess as they won the frame at 7-5. 

Next for the Lions is a return trip to the Ohio University Convocation Center in Athens on Sunday, March 8 against the No. 2 seeded South Webster Jeeps at 8 p.m. 

“We’ve prepped for this one, and Wednesday we'll get ready for the Jeeps,” Friend said. “We try not to look ahead, and we make sure it is one step at a time. We look forward to playing at the Convo. It is always special to get a chance to play down there.”

Sunday’s game will be a rematch of last year's district final game where South Webster won over FHS, 59-44.

BOX SCORE 
SGHS     02 06 06 05 — 19
FHS        11 22 15 07 — 55

FAIRFIELD (55) — L.Burgess 0 (0) 1-2 1, B.Smith 0 (3) 0-0 9, C.Rice 3 (1) 0-0 9, J.Matthews 1 (0) 0-0 2, Z.Ahsaruk 2 (1) 0-0 7, Q.McIntosh 7 (0) 0-0 14, G.Friend 1 (3) 2-2 13. TOTALS: 14 (8) 3-4 55. 

SOUTH GALLIA (19) — L.Wright 3 (0) 2-2 8, C.Frazee 1 (0) 1-2 3, H.Wright 0 (0) 0-2 0, J.Snyder 2 (0) 0-0 4, D.Mooney 0 (1) 0-0 3, B.Davidson 0 (0) 1-2 1. TOTALS: 6  (1) 4-8 19.