Fairland 59 Unioto 43 a final ...

[pfloyd]

Fairland 59
Unioto 43 a final

... the last game of the inaugural Battle in the 740... a 2 day high school basketball event put on by Jim Berry and the Elevated Sports Events ... well run event both days, as Mr. Berry kept the games moving from 1 to the next which as a fan of the game being "on schedule" is important to the success and satisfaction of the attendees ... well done Jim Berry and Elevated Sports Events!

... Fairland vs Unioto ... the U returns all 5 starters from last years 14-9 squad ... while Fairland under Coach Nathan Speed (entering season #14 as the FHS Head Coach) finished 15-9 in 2022-23 ... the Dragons sport a senior laden roster (7 seniors) including All-OVC PG Chase Allen ... I'd watched Unioto in their opening game win over Miami Trace at the U ... the Shermans looked to be still be in football mode, as they have a lineup with a strong inside presence - Jordan Perkins (6-5) and KB Perkins jr (6-4) ... soph PG Blake Fitch has the ability to get where he wants on the floor which usually finishes in the paint or at the rim for 2 pts ... Blake Hoops (jr) is a physical 6-1 wing man who prefers using his strength to get inside off the dribble ... the most consistent perimeter threat is from Zeke Schobelock (sr) who entered the game having made all of the U's three pointers but one on the season ... Fairland out of the OVC wants to up tempo the game with 2 of the best guards in the SE district - Chase Allen/Brody Buchanan . both able to put up a 20 pt game on any given night ... a consistent swing forward for FHS has been Will Davis (sr)- as quick as they come in getting to the rim, at 6-1 he gets on the boards at both ends of the floor, while being a fixture in the Dragon man to man defense ... last season FHS struggled in the paint/ on the boards without size in the paint, this season has the Dragons in a better situation size wise with 6-4 Noah Marcum, 6-3 Keegan Smith, 6-3 Cliff Fransen in the paint & in Fairland tradition - each of the bigs can step out and knockdown the 3 ball ... depth for the Dragons allows Coach Speed & Co. to play an up tempo, pressure the ball man D that looks to push the ball in transition on every possession ... Fairland 59 Unioto 43 a final ...

... the opening quarter set the tone for the game ... Unioto struggled to score points ... led by PG Blake Fitch hitting a pair of medium range jumpers (6pts), 6-4 KB Perkins with a pair of strong at the rim, inside moves (4pts) ... no real perimeter game offensively for the U ...0/4 from behind the arc ... the Dragons kept perimeter pressure on Schobelock giving him zero looks from the perimeter, his only points 1/2 from the FT line ... Fairland got out in transition with 2 buckets off of Sherman turnovers led by sr PG Chase Allen's 11 first quarter points including a pair of treys and an old fashion "and one" 3pts ... pushing the ball, FHS's jr. big man Keegan Smith added 7pts with a trey bookended by a pair of 2 pointers ... Brody Buchanan added a fast break fg (2 pts) ... Fairland 20 Unioto 11 after one ... with Unioto through the opening 2 games being "points challenged" , unable to have consistent perimeter scoring outside of Schobelock ... the offense appears to be looking to figure out if it wants to pound the ball inside to the bigs OR play an ISO game - taking defenders one on one to the rim OR do they go inside first to the bigs on the block ... an offense in search of an offensive identity ... neither team lit up the scoreboard in the 2nd quarter as the defenses of each team got the win ... Unioto holding the Dragon offense to 2 fgs ( a Cliff Fransen trey and a Brody Buchanan drive to the rim) add to the mix 4/4 from the line ... FHS with only 9 points still put up more than the U offense who saw Zeke Schoelock get his only fgs of the game with a trey plus a transition bucket 5pts in the qtr/6 for the game for the Unioto shooting guard ... the only other points in the qtr for the Shermans was 2 pts in the paint from 6-5 Jordan Perkins ...a 7 point team total for the period ... Fairland 29 Unioto 18 after 2 ... with the pesky Dragon D, and the U struggling to put up points either inside or outside this game was in the books as the Unioto never threatened in the 3rd/4th quarters ... getting the score to a 10 point Fairland advantage in the 3rd at 28-38 with 2:19 in the qtr - Blake Hoops leading the U with 6 pts/KB Perkins 3pts and Blake Fitch 2 in the qtr ... for Fairland Buchanan led the Dragons with 4 pts/ a Keegan Smith step to the top of the key 3 ball, a fg apiece by Davis & Allen ... Fairland 40 Unioto 29 after 3 ... the closest Unioto would come in the closing quarter was 9 points with 5:01 on the clock (45-36 Dragons) ... Keegan Smith kept the U at bay netting 7 points with a triple and a pair buckets in the paint ... the only other fg for FHS was a 2 pointer on Will Davis spin move drive that finished at the rim for 2 pts ... the rest of the Fairland scoring was from the charity stripe as the Dragons went 11/14 from the line to close out the game ... Fairland 59 Unioto 43 a final ...

Pfloyd's official "UN-official" Napkin Stats - Unioto

Scoring ... Blake Fitch 12, KB Perkins 10, Zeke Schobelock 6, Blake Hoops 6, Jordan Perkins 4, Caden Cutright 3, Ashton Crace 2
3 Pointers ... 2/14 ... Zeke Schobelock 1, Caden Cutright 1
FTs ....... 9/11
TOs ..... 11
PnP ... 11 fgs/ 22 points in the paint
PnT ... 1 fg/ 2 points in transition
Pbk .... 1 fg/ 2pts on putback buckets

Pfloyd's official "UN-official" Napkin Stats - Fairland

Scoring ... Keegan Smith 17, Chase Allen 16, Brody Buchanan 13, Will Davis 10, Cliff Fransen 3
3 Pointers ... 6/15 ... Keegan Smith 3, Chase Allen 2, Cliff Fransen 1
FTs ... 16/21
TOs ... 11
PnP ... 11 fgs/ 22 points in the paint
PnT ... 2 fgs/ 4 points in transition
Pbk ... 0 fgs

[Dragonguy13]

Thanks as always for your coverage Pfloyd!