Lions top Greyhounds for SHL win

     MANCHESTER – Fairfield juniors Chris Cox and Cameron Rolark each gained over 20 points Wednesday night, helping the Lions gain their fifth victory of the season as they defeated the Manchester Greyhounds 64-58 in Southern Hills League play.

     FHS improves to a record of 3-1 in the SHL.

     The performances by Rolark and Cox were impressive as Cox led all scorers with 28 points and 16 rebounds for a double-double. Cox made 10 buckets from the field and was 8 of 11 from the free-throw line.

     Rolark ended the game with 21 points, sinking four 3-pointers in the SHL win. The junior also had two blocks.

     Nick Sowders netted six points for the away team and Alex Henson gained seven points.

     Brandon Carmean and Ian Adams each finished with one free throw conversion.

     One thing Fairfield head coach Matt Carson was happy with was the way his team played defensively.

     “I would like to pick out one or two players who played well on defense, but honestly (Wednesday) was a total team effort,” the third-year head coach said. “We would like to take three charges a game, but the one by Nick (Sowders) in the fourth quarter shifted the momentum in our direction. Again, this was a total team effort."

      The Lions began the game by scoring the first 15 points and won the opening quarter 19-7. Manchester regrouped offensively with a 21-point second, but the Lions produced offensively in the same quarter with 19 points.

      Leading 38-28 at the start of the second half the Lions allowed another 20-plus point effort by the Greyhounds as they netted 22 points compared to the 13 by the Lions.

      The Fairfield defense arrived again in the final eight minutes with them allowing just eight points, while offensively the Lions scored 13.

      “In the second quarter the tempo of the game was up and they (Manchester) got a couple of transition baskets on us,” Carson said. “The way we played in the third quarter disappointed me. We called a time out in the fourth and I could tell by the looks on our faces the guys wanted this game. After the timeout, I knew we were going to be fine.

      “Credit Manchester, they are a good team. They beat Ironton 56-52 this season. Another thing that helped us was we kept Manchester’s big man (Blake Blevins) to six points.”

      Leading the Greyhounds in scoring were Dylan Hanson with 21 points and Dawson Little with 10.

      “This was a good, tough ballgame,” Carson said. “It was a good league win. I am proud of the team.”

      The Lions will take the court again Friday night as they host Highland County and SHL rival Whiteoak at Grandle Gymnasium.

BOX SCORE

SCORE BY QUARTERS

FHS – 19 19 13 13 – 64

MHS – 7 21 22 8 – 58

INDIVIDUAL STATS

FHS (64)

Sowders 3 6, Adams 0 1-3 1, Rolark 4 (4) 1-1 21, Henson 2 (1) 7, Cox 10 8-11 28, Carmean 0 1-2 1. TOTALS: 16 (5) 11-17 64.