(UPDATED) Lions are 'Elite:' Fairfield defeats Shekinah Christian to advance to regional finals

COLUMBUS — The Fairfield Lions can party like it is 1978! 

For the first time since the Carter administration, the Fairfield Lions are headed to the Elite 8, by defeating the Shekinah Christian School Flames in the Division VII Regional Semifinals on Thursday evening at Ohio Dominican University. 

The Lions played not only outstanding offense, led by junior Brody Smith with a 23-point showcase, but the defense of Fairfield helped in handing the Flames their second loss of the season, extinguishing their opponents’ tournament hopes in the Sweet 16 in what ended up being a 54-41 victory for the Lions. 

Fairfield — the Southeast District 2 champion — answered the first three points of the game  scored by the Flames with a 3-pointer from Smith at the 6:33 mark, then the junior drained another 3-pointer with 5:13 left in the first for a 6-3 Lions lead, allowing the strong Fairfield crowd to jump to their feet early in the first frame. 

Fairfield (19-6) was led by Smith with 23 points, as he made five 3-pointers and four two-point baskets. 

“He's our spark plug, and he opens the floor up,” Fairfield interim head coach Raymond Friend said of Smith. “We ran a set play for him to get an open three the first play of the game, and when he can do that, everything else opens up. [Griffin Friend’s] drives open up, [Quentin McIntosh] opens up. Brody is the catalyst that makes it all go.” 

After two baskets by Shekinah Christian to push them to a one-point lead, Smith came back with his third 3-pointer of the first quarter with 3:15 on the clock for a 9-7 lead. Then came the defense for the Lions, as senior Quentin McIntosh made a huge block in the paint with 2:52 left in the first. Around a minute later, junior Griffin Friend made a layup, and the Flames scored two points with a put-back basket from sophomore A.J. Yoder for an 11-9 score.

Friend ended the game with 14 points, making five two-point buckets, one 3-pointer and one free throw (1-of-4).  

With the Lions leading SCS 11-9 after the first quarter, in the second, Fairfield outscored Shekinah Christian, 18-8 for a halftime lead of 29-17.

Friend greeted the Flames with two points to start the quarter, and following a trey by SCS, Smith scored two points off a basket with the assist by Friend for a 17-12 score. After both teams were charged with an offensive foul, it was Smith getting closer to helping the Lions reach the regional final by making another basket with another assist from Friend with 3:35 on the clock and a seven-point lead. 

With the score at 19-14 after a basket by Yoder, the Lions roared back with a jumper from Friend and a second strong block by McIntosh. Then came a 3-pointer from junior Caleb Rice with 2:11 left in the first half for a 10-point Lions lead. 

Fairfield wasn’t finished in the first half, continuing the second frame with another trifecta and two-point basket from Rice for an 8-0 run by Rice and a 10-0 run for the Lions and a 15-point lead at 29-14. Rice finished the game with eight points by making two 3-pointers and one two-point basket. 

“Caleb Rice just makes things happen,” Friend said. “Whether it’s playing defense, whether it’s getting to the rim, whether it’s shooting threes, he just makes it happen.”

SCS made a 3-pointer with 3.0 off a shot by junior Dakota Hutson and the halftime score of 29-17 for a 12-point Lions lead. 

The second half saw the Flames (25-2) outscore the Lions, 15-12 in the third, with Fairfield still leading by nine at 41-32 at the end of the frame. 

The Lions struck first with a 3-pointer by Smith, and after a short run of scoring for a 8-0 run by the Flames, cutting the Lions’ lead to seven points, a timeout by the Lions calmed things down and FHS went back to work with a fifth 3-pointer by Smith for a 10-point Lions lead at 35-25 with 5:10 left in the third. 

“They're predicated on a couple things, trying to get downhill and then kick it out for 3-pointers,” Friend said of what was discussed during the timeout. “We couldn't allow that, so we had to get back to what we had a plan for. We had to get back to it. They kind of got away from it a little bit, maybe shot a shot that I didn't like or two, but then we got back into it.”

Fairfield extended their lead back to 12 points followed by a two-handed basket in the paint by Friend. The Lions’ lead didn’t get lower than seven points for the remainder of the third, as seniors Zach Ahsaruk and McIntosh both scored baskets in the remainder of the third for a 41-32 score. Ahsaruk totaled four points in the win with a basket, and he was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. 

The Lions ended the game outscoring SCS, 13-9 in the fourth quarter, placing them into the “Elite Eight.”

The Lions’ lead jumped to as many as 15 points in the fourth and was never lower than eight points, securing the win. Friend scored Fairfield’s five points of the fourth with a layup and 3-pointer, followed by two baskets by Smith. 

After a 3-pointer by the Flames, McIntosh made a free throw with 1:10 on the clock, and after another trey by SCS, Friend and McIntosh scored the final points of the game for the 13-point win, stamping their ticket to the regional finals for the first time in 48 years. McIntosh ended the game with five points off two two-point field goals and one made free throw. 

Austin Helmuth led SCS with 14 points as he made three 3-pointers, two two-pointers and he was 1-of-2 from the free-throw line. 

Yoder totaled eight points off four baskets, and next was Camden Miller with six points. The Flames other final scoring totals included Hutson (5), Bryce Miller (3), Michael Miller (3) and David Miller (2). 

The Lions will face Malvern, the East District champions, in the regional finals Saturday, March 14 at 5 p.m. at Ohio Dominican University. Malvern (19-8) defeated the Southeast District 1 champion Racine Southern, 58-56 in overtime Thursday evening at ODU.

“I was born in ’78, so I guess it's been a while,” Friend said of making the regional finals. “That's pretty special, and boy, was the crowd amazing. The crowd was amazing. Little Leesburg here in ODU, so that was fantastic. 

“It was so loud, I had a hard time communicating. The crowd brought it. I was having a hard time calling out plays, and that's completely different than the Convo, completely different.”

Friend also credited his players as well as the coaching staff, which includes Jensen Daulton, Brandtson Duffie and Travis Teeters.  

“The coaching staff, those three guys on the bench. You don't realize how much they do to help this team win,” Friend said. “[The team] fought, they executed the game plan well. 

“Those kids, they have a belief in themselves, and I’m just so proud of them.”

BOX SCORE
SCS — 09 08 15 09 — 41
FHS — 11 18 12 13 — 54

FAIRFIELD (54) — B.Smith 4 (5) 0-0 23, C.Rice 1 (2) 0-0 8, G.Friend 5 (1) 1-4 14, Z.Ahsaruk 1 (0) 2-2 4, Q.McIntosh 2 (0) 1-2 5. TOTALS: 13 (8) 4-8 54.

SHEKINAH CHRISTIAN SCHOOL (41) — D.Hutson 1 (1) 0-0 5, B.Miller 0 (1) 0-0 3, M.Miller 0 (1) 0-0 3, C.Miller 0 (2) 0-0 6, A.Helmuth 2 (3) 1-2 14, D.Miller 1 (0) 0-0 2, A.Yoder 4 (0) 0-0 8. TOTALS: 8 (8) 1-2 41. 

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