Fairfield Union 37 Tri-Valley 33 a final

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pfloyd
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Fairfield Union 37 Tri-Valley 33 a final

Post by pfloyd »

Fairfield Union 37
Tri-Valley 33 a final


... high school post-season basketball - "survive and advance, one and done, win or go home" time of the year ... regional semi-final play means there are 16 teams remaining in the state of Ohio in each division vying to make it to the Elite 8 - with it comes the opportunity to "get to the show"... "the Final 4 " ... from district play through last night's semi-final each team has played "the best of the best" - the survivors ... those teams that have left everything on the floor for team, for the coaching staffs, the school communities ... regional basketball at the Convo - to say it's special would be an understatement ... the crowds from the schools this year have been amazing! the numbers are up again - recovery from the "Covid Years" is complete - the fans are back ... on another thread, a poster from the East district stated that the atmosphere at the Convo is not what it's cracked up to be - bs ... I've been on the Convo floor during games such as last night- the crowds were amazing!!! loud!! into the games!... singing along with Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline ... I was smiling the whole time ... Basketball :30 IS REAL ... it is THE goal for ALL TEAMS in SEO as it SHOULD BE ... last night's regional semi-final was as intense as you will find anywhere between 2 outstanding teams ... Tri Valley entered having already beaten Fairfield Union in the regular season @ TV 54-49 ... Fairfield Union entered on a roll, having won 11 straight games with the LAST FU loss coming ... wait for it ... coming to this same Tri Valley Scotties team Jan 19th ... TV entered the game averaging 67 ppg vs their opponents 38 ppg in their own 7 game win streak ... FU hangs their hat on defense, in their 11 game win streak opponents put up on average 35 ppg ... all arrows pointed to this one being a "battle" at both ends ... as the dust settled after 32 minutes of intense play by both teams ... Lou Horvath said it on the PA "Your Falcons are coming back to the Convo!!! in the Elite 8!!!" ... Fairfield Union 37 Tri Valley 33 a final ...

... the obvious storyline in the opening quarter was that the score ended jr Terrell Darden (TV) 8 ... jr Caleb Redding (FU) 6 after 1 ... both teams came out with the intense man-to-man D ... as the 6-3 Darden opened the scoring with a 3 pointer followed by 2 drives into the lane for 4 pts with an "and 1" added ... the jr power forward , appeared unstoppable as he appeared to be able to get to the rim at will as the Scotties offensively spread the Falcon defenders wide on the floor which opened up the driving lanes for Darden and made it difficult to cut off driving lanes with defensive rotations ... for Fairfield Union ... opening quarter turnovers (4) and fouls added up ... as they may have not been able to stop Darden the defense overall was outstanding - as the Falcons shutdown everyone else on the floor ... nada ... no looks, no shots, no points allowed ... when you can shutdown the opposition it gives you an opportunity to get back in a game ... Caleb Redding hadn't missed a 3 pointer since draining the winning 3 ball vs Gallia Academy 2 games ago! as he hit 4/4 vs New Lex in the district 'ship so 5/5 now turned to 6/6 as he took the lid off the basket for FU with trey (3pts) ... FU as a team went 1/4 from beyond the arc ... Redding's streak of made 3 pointers ended at 6 in a row as he missed one off the front the rim ... the 6-3 forward got to the rim for 2pts and 1 to close out the quarter for FU - back in the game ... defense/patience on offense ... Tri Valley 8 Fairfield Union 6 after 1 ... Defense travels ... doesn't matter what the surroundings are on the court - floating baskets, big floor, "black college 3 point line" - defense is the name of the game in the post season ... the 2nd quarter - the FU defense held TV to 1 fg (2pts) ... fouls started mounting on the FU bigs in the 1st qtr and early in 2nd both 6-3 Redding and 6-6 Ted Harrah picked up their 2nd fouls - enter subs Isaac Schmelzer (6-0) and 6-2 Cole Johnson both seniors ... before the foul trouble the Falcons had found some flow in the offense as FU went on a 7-1 run ... Caleb Schmelzer 2/2 from the FT line, a Ronnie Rowley a 3 pointer and C. Schmelzer 2pter deep in the paint in front of the rim ... 4:38 on the clock FU 13 TV 8 after Eric Neal went 1/2 from the line ... with Redding/Harrah - 2 of the 3 scoring options for FU - on the bench with over 4 minutes to play in the 2nd ... the FU fouls put TV at the line ... Terrell Darden leading the parade to the line - the 6-3 jr forward went 4/4 from the FT stripe in the 2nd ... 13-13 at 1:12 on the clock ... a late drive to the rim by Jayden Walker 2pts gave TV a 15-13 lead ... the Falcons were without 2 main scoring options and turned the ball over 5 times in the period to allow the TV "surge" to get back in the game ... as time ran out sr Cole Johnson found the ball in his hands after an interior pass found the senior on the block with a reaction shot from the left block for 2pts ... EVERY point counts even if it's a "look what I found/gotta put it up" bucket ... Fairfield Union 15 Tri Valley 15 at the half ... watching Tri Valley warm up in the pregame - they HAVE shooters but the FU defense wouldn't give up perimeter shots, or shots in the paint to anyone not named Darden ... Darden through 2 qtrs had scored 12 of the TV 15 points ... the 3rd period saw Fairfield Union "explode" for 12 points , get separation ... Redding for FU picked up his 3rd foul early in the qtr - to the bench/ Isaac Schmelzer back in the game for the Falcons ... Harrah a putback bucket 2pts before he too picked up his 3rd foul ... Ronnie Rowley sr. with a drive to the rim 2pts /Caleb Schmelzer 2pts in the paint ... for TV Max Lyall hit a deep 3 pointer ... 3:04 FU 21 TV 18 ... Harrah with his 3rd foul - to the bench ... with FU bigs on the bench, Darden picked up a bucket at the rim (14 points in the game) following Jack Winland's 1/2 from the line ... 21-21 ... offense for FU? Brennen Rowles 2/2 FTs on a drive to the block ... Ronnie Rowley a BIG transition basket 2pts and Isaac Schmelzer with 2 FTs to give FU separation ... 3 pts ... in a game where the D rules the floor 3 points is huge, as the Falcon D can make it stick ... Fairfield Union 27 Tri Valley 24 at the end of 3 ... 8 minutes to the Elite 8 ... I didn't stop smiling the entire game, marveling at the intensity of the defenses by both teams ... FU finally got the starting 5 , all 3 main scoring options back on the floor to start the 4th ... Could the Falcons ADD to the separation? ... at 6:30 neither team could get a bucket 27-24 FU ... at 4:40 on the game clock the FU lead was down to 1 ... 29-28 Falcons ... TV behind the scoring of Terrell Darden went on an 8-3 run to take the lead 32-30 with 2:21 to play ... 3 FU turnovers ... Dardin with a putback bucket, a transition basket , 2/2 from the FT line ... defense ... playing for TEAM ... the Falcons went on a 7-1 run to close out the final 2:21 ... led by Caleb Schmelzer's back to back baskets at the rim with the last bucket an "and 1" ... :46.5 on the clock FU 35-33 after Darden 1/2 from the FT line ... Darden had 24 of the TV 31 points ... the final 2 possession by TV - Darden never had a touch - the final minute defense by Ronnie Rowley on Darden was incredible, a block shot by Ted Harrah kept the Scotties off the board ... at the other end, Harrah was fouled in the paint with 1.5 on the clock , the senior went 2/2 to give the Falcons a 4 point advantage 37-33 ... Defense ... Fairfield Union 37 Tri Valley 33 a final ...

...

...Pfloyd's official UN-official Napkin Stats - Tri Valley

Scoring ...Terrell Darden 24, Jayden Walker 4, Max Lyall 3, Jack Winland 1, Eric Neal 1
3 Pointers ... 3/10 ... Terrell Darden 2, Max Lyall 1
FTs ... 10/15
TOs ... 10
PnP ... 6 fgs/ 12 points in the paint
PnT ... 1 g/ 2 points in transition
Pbk ... 1 fg/ 2 points on putback buckets

... Pfloyd's official UN-official Napkin Stats - Fairfield Union

Scoring ... Caleb Schmelzer 11, Ronnie Rowley 7, Ted Harrah 6, Caleb Redding 6, Brennen Rowles 3,Isaac Schmelzer 2, Cole Johnson 2
3 Pointers ... 2/6 ... Ronnie Rowley 1, Caleb Redding 1
FTs ... 11/13
TOs ... 14
PnP ... 9 fgs/ 18 points in the paint
PnT ... 1 fg/ 2 points in transition
Pbk ... 1 fg/ 2 points on putback buckets

... the last 2 games by Fairfield Union defensively have been golden - the rotation to cut off penetration in the New Lex game - brilliantly executed ... adjusting for Tri Valley "spreading" the floor to cut down on the FU ability to rotate defensive - the only player to "get to the rim" was Darden ... the rest of the TV team was shutdown ... held to 9 points ... intensity on D ... sitting at the scorer's table it was amazing, active hands, feet, body on body physical defense ... rotating to cover the backside , then getting back ... the best I've seen ... Ronnie Rowley gets a game ball for his last 2 minutes of D on Darden, when FU was making a run, Rowley kept the ball out of Darden's hands/ not a single touch on 3 straight TV possessions that ended with FU points on the offensive end - separation - great TEAM effort at BOTH ends of the floor by the Falcons ... the Elite 8 ! the Falcons are coming back to the Convo Saturday night at 6pm - pfloyd will be in the house ! the Round House on Richland to be exact !
Last edited by pfloyd on Fri Mar 10, 2023 9:12 pm, edited 4 times in total.


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VetteMan
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Re: Fairfield Union 37 Tri-Valley 33 a final

Post by VetteMan »

Pfloyd, sounds as if you saw a tremendous ballgame. Very good rundown as always.


Smeltzy
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Posts: 507
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:35 pm

Re: Fairfield Union 37 Tri-Valley 33 a final

Post by Smeltzy »

Pfloyd.......as usual another great rundown. It was nice to see you sitting along side the "legend" at the scorers table. Only bad thing was I couldn't come by and say hey. I know that the next game against #1 undefeated Bishop Ready probably won't end well for FU, but it has been a magical ride and an historic one for FU and we are very proud. We will see you along the road next season!!


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