UPDATED: Fairfield gains 13-point win over Highland County counterpart Hillsboro

HILLSBORO — The non-conference game Friday night had it all as the game included not only two Highland County schools when the Hillsboro Indians hosted the Fairfield Lions, but the game also had the top three boys basketball scorers in Highland County as well. 

Once the final buzzer sounded, it was the Lions winning on the road against the Indians, 56-43, giving the Lions a five-season win streak against Hillsboro (6-16).

The Lions (14-6) had two of the top three scorers in Highland County boys basketball in the game, and neither player disappointed, as junior Griffin Friend (No. 3 in the standings) led the Lions with 23 points, ending the game with seven two-point baskets, one 3-pointer, and he was 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. 

Brody Smith (No. 2 in the standings), a Fairfield junior, finished with 20 points, by making two 3-pointers, four two-point baskets and he went 6-of-8 from the free-throw line. 

Hillsboro junior Jack Howland (No. 1 in the standings) ended the game with 17 points as he sank five two-point baskets, two 3-pointers and was 1-of-2 in his free-throw attempts. 

The game, in front of a packed gymnasium at HHS, began with dueling 3-pointers, starting with Smith sinking a trey at the 7:07 mark of the first quarter, then it was Howland’s turn with a 3-pointer for the Indians at the 6:12 mark. 

Friend joined in with a two-pointer with a layup, and Smith added a steal and layup with 4:37 left in the first for a 7-3 Fairfield lead. Howland later took a charge, and off that the Indians regained possession of the ball where senior Brady Juillerat sank a long jumper for the Indians, finishing the game with eight points. 

Howland tied the score at 7-7 with a layup, and he maneuvered through the defense of the Lions, then the Indians took the lead with another basket in the paint for a 9-7 score with 49 seconds left in the opening frame. 

Fairfield regained the lead to end the first quarter with a 3-pointer from senior Zach Ahsaruk for a 10-9 lead for the Lions. 

“We did not have the energy I would like to have, especially defensively,” Fairfield assistant coach Raymond Friend said, as head coach Quentin Williams was absent from the game. “Even though we held them to 18 points, we expected just a little bit more intensity than we saw, and it kind of carried over."

Publisher's Note: On Monday, Feb. 23, the district declined to comment on Williams' absence or address how many games he would miss. "Fairfield Local Schools does not publicly comment on individual personnel matters," Superintendent Kesia McCoy said. "However, it is district policy to thoroughly review and investigate any complaint reported to us involving a staff member. In some situations, an employee may be placed on paid administrative leave as a standard precaution while an investigation is completed. This action does not imply wrongdoing and is taken to protect all parties involved."

It was another 10-9 quarter for the two Highland County teams, and again the Lions won the frame, taking a halftime lead of 20-18. The score was tied twice in the second at the 7:36 mark following a free throw made by sophomore Dawson Barnett of HHS — who totaled 11 points — and after the Indians took the lead with a basket by Howland, it was a jumper from Smith with 5:37 left in the frame that tied the score at 12-12. 

“We want our defense to create our offense, and we didn't get that in the first half, and so they had some different things," Coach Friend said. "They were trying to get the ball out of Brody and Griff's hand and making our other guys shoot it, and when those aren't going in, those guys can't shoot it, and that's the best thing we got. We can have some games where those guys can just be hammering it, and it really works out for us. We picked up the second half, and we wanted to get on a run, and that's what we were able to do.”

The Indians gained a one-point lead off a Howland free throw, but that was answered with five straight points by Friend (a 3-pointer and layup), then came points from Howland, leaving the score 17-15 in favor of the Lions. 

Fairfield took a five-point lead with a 3-pointer from Landyn Hoskins with 2:21 left in the first half, and the final points were scored by Barnett as he made a 3-pointer at the 1:47 mark of the two-point halftime deficit for HHS at halftime. 

The Indians were held to their third consecutive single-digit scoring quarter, while the Lions extended their lead with a 16-7 frame for a lead of 36-25 after three quarters. What became an 11-point lead started with a run of nine consecutive points by the Lions to start the third with Smith making a layup, two free throws and a 3-pointer at the 4:15 mark for a 27-18 lead. After the Indians called a timeout, Ahsaruk made a jumper for an 11-point lead by the Lions with 3:28 left in the quarter. 

Hillsboro’s Barnett broke the scoring run with a 3-pointer, but Friend was there to score two points for Fairfield with the assist from Caleb Rice. FHS ended the third outscoring the Indians, 5-4 with points from Rice, Quentin McIntosh (who had five offensive rebounds in the second half) and Smith for a Fairfield lead of 11 points at 36-25. 

Fairfield eventually won the game by 13 points, as they won the fourth frame at 20-18. 

“We knew we were going to get Hillsboro’s best shot,” Friend said. “They've been to a lot of our games, and we completely respect Josh and Jack the way he plays. We knew this was going to be a battle, and these are the kind of games you want to have going into the tournament. You want to have people push you, and so we're thrilled to have these types of games.”

The Lions’ fourth quarter had five points from Smith, 14 points by Friend and one point from Ahsaruk. 

Hillsboro’s fourth quarter was six points by Juillerat off two 3-pointers, a 3-pointer by Mason Dumpert, two points by Weston Kibler, Barnett with two points, a 3-pointer from Howland and two points by Zack Brown. 

“Hats off to [Fairfield], because they played hard defensively, and they shut our keys down and they didn't set their keys down,” HHS head coach Josh Howalnd said. “Brody Smith, I thought we didn't have an answer for him, especially in the third there, and Griffin Friend, we didn't have an answer for him, especially in the second half. Hats off to them. They played their hearts out.”

Howland spoke well of his bench. 

“They came in and gave us good minutes, and no doubt about it, and helped keep it within reach, but once Jack fouled out, we knew we were going to have trouble scoring consistently,” Howland said. “I thought the other kids, the role players, stepped up and played hard.

“We knew it was going to be, really, their top five against our top five or six, and they (Fairfield) came to play. They were able to give it everything they had.”

Other final scoring totals for the Lions included: Ahsaruk (6), Landyn Hoskins (3) Rice (2) and McIntosh (2). Hillsboro final scoring totals also included: Dumpert (3), Kibler (2) and Brown (2). 

BOX SCORE
FHS    10 10 16 20 — 56
HHS    09 09 07 18 — 43

FAIRFIELD (56) — B.Smith 4 (2) 6-8 20, C.Rice 0 (0) 2-2 2, G.Friend 7 (1) 6-8 23, Z.Ahsaruk 1 (1) 1-2 6, Q.McIntosh 1 (0) 0-2 2, L.Hoskins 0 (1) 0-0 3. TOTALS: 13 (5) 15-22 56. 

HILLSBORO (43) — B.Juillerat 1 (2) 0-0 8, M.Dumpert 0 (1) 0-0 3, W.Kibler 1 (0) 0-0 2, D.Barnett 2 (2) 1-2 11, J.Howland 5 (2) 1-2 17, Z.Brown 1 (0) 0-0 2, E.Inman 0 (0) 0-2 0. TOTALS: 10 (7) 2-6 43.