The Fairfield Lions struggled a bit early but gradually pulled away Saturday to upset No. 3 seed Symmes Valley in a Division IV district semi-final game at Wellston High School, 61-42.

Fairfield is the No. 6 seed.

The Lions trailed 11-10 after one quarter, but then started to gradually pull away. Fairfield led 25-22 at halftime, 41-31 after three quarters and then outscored Symmes Valley 20-11 in the final frame.

Fairfield’s Reese Teeters tied for game-high scoring honors with 16 points. The balanced Lion scoring attack saw Jon Bentley, Tytis Cannon and and TJ Mootz all score 13 points.

Ethan Patterson led Symmes Valley with 16 points and teammate Caden Brammer added 13 points.

Fairfield moves on to the district championship game where it will play Lucasville Valley at 9 p.m. Friday, March 4 at Wellston High School.

BOX SCORE

FHS — 10 15 16 20 — 61

SVHS — 11 11 9 11 — 42

Fairfield: Teeters 5(1)-3/4-16, Bentley 5(1)-0/0-13, Collins 1-0/0-2, Zink 1-2/2-4, Cannon 5(1)-0/0-13, Mootz 0(3)-4/5-13, TOTALS: 17(6)-9/11-61

Symmes Valley: Brammer 4(1)-0/0-11, Patterson 1(4)-2/2-16, Webb 3-1/2-7, Best 1-0/0-2, Welsh 3-0/0-6, TOTALS: 12(5)-3/4-32