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| 6-5 FAIRFIELD POST PLAYER Tevin Green bumps up against a Groesbeck Goat defender that is as tall as he. |
Fairfield has had a bit of a struggle thus far in the district season, chalking up a pair of losses against a single win, but the year is still young—-seven games remain on the district schedule.
Part of the struggle comes from limited services from senior post Eric Bradford, who sprained an ankle in the district opener and was not up to speed last week. Bradford, whose ankle remains tender, has seen his scoring and rebounding efforts drop.
The post player managed just four points against Westwood, but increased his output to 10 against Palestine.
Against the Panthers, the FHS quintet opened a 13-9 lead the first period and added 10 points the second period to hold a slim 23-20 advantage at half-time.
The Eagles tallied 12 points in the third period, which allowed the Panthers to pull within one at 35-34, then found their stride in the final stanza to score 26 points and claim a 61-50 win.
Free throws provided the margin as the FHS squad shot 76 percent from the charity stripe, making 29 of 36 attempts.
“We did a good job making free throws down the stretch. The difference in the game was our ability to make free throws late,” Fairfield head coach Joey Worley says.
Leading scorer Willie Tatum got 13 of his 19 points from the free throw line, including nine in the fourth period. Tatum was 81 percent from the charity stripe.
“Willie had a huge night. He attacked the basket and got fouled a lot,” Worley points out.
Second leading scorer for Fairfield, counting 10 points, was Josh Lynch.
Others scoring were: Eric Palmer, 9; Tevin Green, 7; Chris Jones, 6; Bradford, 4; LaDarius Brackens, 3; and Andre Gilley, 3.
The Eagles got off to a good start against the Wildcats, taking a 21-13 lead the first period, but were out scored by four points in the second period to see the margin drop to just four points at 36-32.
Fairfield lost the third period 9-11 and fought neck-and-neck through the final stanza before dropping a 58-65 decision.
“Palestine got aggressive and gave us the opportunity at the line, but we didn’t make our free throws,” Worley reports.
Eagles cagers shot just 44 percent from the charity stripe, making eight of 18 tries.
The game was tied with 1:30 remaining, but the Wildcats managed to pull away from the Eagles.
Fairfield cagers were unable to contain Palestine’s Larry Jackson who scored 37 points on the night.
“We had a hard time keeping him off the boards,” Worley says. “He’s their go-to guy.”
The Eagles were led by Tatum, 17 points. Also in double digits were Palmer, 16, and Bradford, 10.
Others scoring were: Jones, 6; Lynch, 4; Gilley, 3; and Green, 2.
Lynch led rebounding with 11, of which five were on offense.
In junior varsity action against Westwood, the Eagles held a slim lead of 10-9 the first period and 18-17 the second period, before opening up the margin some to 27-22 at the end of three.
Fairfield scored 16 points in the final stanza and gave up just 10 to post a 43-32 win.
“These guys continue to play hard night after night, which has paid off tremendously with confidence and overall team play on the court,” coach Jody Walker says.
Leading the offensive effort with 17 points was Tim Benson.
Others scoring were: Daniel Wilson, 9; Evan Simpson, 5; Chris Warren, 4; Dustin Burgess, 4; and Jay Brown, 2.
The Fairfield jv quintet had an easier time with Palestine, taking a 13-8 lead the first period and working that to a 27-19 edge at intermission.
The Eagles tallied 18 points in the second half and gave up 13 to win 45-32.
“These young guys played a very good game and really got after the Wildcats from start to finish,” Walker reports.
Scoring for Fairfield were: Benson, 9; Wilson, 9; Simpson, 7; Warren, 6; Vernard Evans, 6; Burgess, 4; Brown, 2; and Andrew Myers, 2.
Walker notes that rebounding was a total team effort.
As were the jv, the Eagles freshmen squad was 100 percent last week against Westwood and Palestine.
In the Westwood game, the FHS frosh jumped out to a 19-9 lead the first period and added eight points in the second period for a 27-15 advantage at half-time.
The Eagles upped the ante to 19 points in the third period and tacked on 14 in the fourth, giving up six and nine, for a decisive 56-30 win.
Reaching double digits with 10 points was Brodrick White.
Others scoring were: Robert Durham, 9; Darian Scott, 9; Nick Munoz, 8; Jacob Cain, 6; Dillon Burgess, 4; Tad Cannon, 4; and Tulio Cordon, 2.
Everyone on the team scored in a 53-32 win over the Palestine Wildcats.
The Eagles took a 10-6 lead the first period, but gave back most of the margin to lead 18-17 at intermission.
Fairfield frosh cagers, however, turned up the heat with 20 points in the third period for a 38-26 advantage, and tacked on 15 in the final stanza.
In double digits were Durham, 14 points, White with 12 and Scott, 10.
Rounding out scoring were: Cooper Vandiver, 5; Munoz, 3; Burgess, 2; Richard Cain, 2; Jacob Cain, 2; Clifford Taylor, 2; and Cordon, 1.
The Eagles were scheduled to play at Madisonville early this week, host Mexia on Friday and head to Groesbeck on Tuesday.