Lions fall in finals

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The Fairfield Lions (11-13) traveled to Northwest High School on Tuesday night to take on the Scitoville East High School Tarpins in a sectional finals game. From the tip off, anyone in attendance or listening at home could tell that this would be a high scoring, back and forth type basketball game. In the end, the Lions just couldn’t outlast the Tarpins and lost with a final score of 83-76.

As the game started, it also was clear that Fairfield’s Ethan Putnam, who had 29 points in the game, was going to have a good night. He scored the first five points of the game before Sciotoville could get on the board. Sciotoville’s Aika Brown, who led his team and all scores with 43, did his best to match Putnam basket for basket. After one quarter of play, the Lions led 24-18. Putnam had 10 points for the Lions and Brown tallied 11 for the Tarpins.

Unfortunately, the first quarter was the last quarter that the Lions would outscore the Tarpins.

As the game went along, the Sciotoville players slowly chipped away at Fairfield’s lead. By the third quarter, the Lions only had a three point lead on their opponent. In the fourth, both teams came out firing, matching each other basket for basket. However, some missed rebounds and a couple missed free throw shots, allowed just enough breathing room for the Tarpins to edge back in and take the lead with 2:24 left. At this point, it was 71-69 in favor of Sciotoville. The Lions couldn’t find a way to get the lead back from this point forward and when it came time to foul, they coould not get an open three to make up ground. In the end, there wasn’t enough time on the board and the Lions fell in the sectional finals to a final of 83-76.

“I’m very proud of the kids’ effort tonight,” said Fairfield’s Head Coach Everett Snyder after the game. “We executed our game plan, we just fell short there. We would expand the lead to five or six points and then [Sciotoville] would come back and go ahead. The kids never gave up though. They kept fighting back each time but the clock just ran out on us in the end.

“Etahn [Putnam] had a great game. He started out really well and confident. When he is confident most of his shots will fall.

“We told all the guys to come out and play so you have no regrets. You have to expect it to be the game of your life.

“My five seniors are a great group of kids. They’re a group that’s enjoyable to be around. We were hoping to get a district appearance with them and give them a chance to play in the Convo. A couple of them were on the team when we made it there two years ago. So they had been there but hadn’t really played a role at that time. They’re kids that have a great future ahead of them. We told to go away from this game as a positive and use it the rest of life and whatever they decide to do.”

Box:

SEHS – 18 19 14 32 – 83

FHS – 24 16 13 23 – 76

Fairfield: Putnam 6(5) 2/3 – 29; Evans 4 3/4 – 11; J. Current 4 – 8; Walker 1(2) 2/2 – 10; Daulton 3 2/4 – 8; Harris 2 – 4; Cain 2- 4; Lame 1 – 2. Totals: 23(7) 9/13 – 76.

Sciotoville East: Brown 17 9/12 – 43; Scott 8 5/8 – 21; Lowe 2(1) 2/3 – 9; Flannery (1) – 3; Shope 1 – 2; Hatcher 1 – 2; Bruton 0/2 – 0. Totals: 29(2) 19/25 – 83.

Reach Robert Stegbauer at 937-393-3456 ext. 1679 or on Twitter @RStegbauer.

Fairfield’s Jesse Current goes up for one of his four baskets on Tuesday night in the sectional finals game.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2016/02/web1_Current.jpgFairfield’s Jesse Current goes up for one of his four baskets on Tuesday night in the sectional finals game. Robert Stegbauer | The Times-Gazette

Ethan Putnam puts up a three from the corner in Tuesday nights game against Sciotoville East. Putnam had five threes in the game and led the Lions with 29 points.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2016/02/web1_Putnam-1.jpgEthan Putnam puts up a three from the corner in Tuesday nights game against Sciotoville East. Putnam had five threes in the game and led the Lions with 29 points. Robert Stegbauer | The Times-Gazette

By Robert Stegbauer

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