The Fairfield Eagles earned two hard fought, district wins over Buffalo at home and the Teague Lions on the road to remain a solid third place in District 20-3A. They trail the Mexia Blackcats and Franklin Lions by a game in the standings.
On Tuesday, the Eagles made the short trip to Teague, where they face their in-county rival. Both teams battled throughout the game and made runs to gather a lead, but the Eagles hit some key free throws to pull away and take a 58-53 road win in district play,
The Eagles took a slight edge at the end of the first period with some hot shooting and timely defense. Jy’ren Canady led the team for a couple of transition scores and Jehmel Rice kept pace with a score and a Brandon Leija three pointer. Fairfield would take a 15-12 lead at the end of the period.
Teague would go on a 10-0 run to open the second period and end the half with a 30-21 lead. Rice sparked the run with steals leading to scores. J’kybryen Harris showed his quickness in the frontcourt by slapping the ball away and leading to easy transitions that would cause the Eagles to call a timeout. George Zimmerman broke the run with a free throw three minutes into the period and the teams played even throughout the remainder of the half.
The opening moments of the second half began with an Eagle run and they would take the lead back. Rex Bean had a key score and Pierre Algood scored with some short jumpers to put the Eagles ahead. Leija and Rice matched the scores until late in the period and Steven Bates scored inside and the end of the period but the Eagles led 42-38.
Fairfield held onto the lead in the fourth period to take the win. Algood scored from the field and Canady hit four free throws to close out the game. Rice led the Lions with 19 points and Leija finished with 15 points. Algood tied for game high honors with 19 points and Canady added 14 points and Camren Daniels scored 13 points.
The Eagles returned to the Johnson Activity Center for a date with the Buffalo Bison. Fairfield had a two game lead on the Bison and had a chance to draw into the playoff race, but the Eagles would hold serve and protect the home court for the 63-58 win.
Buffalo led most of the way in the first half. The Bison jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead before Algood hit a baseline three pointer to put the Eagles on the board. Daniels hit a pair of free throws to draw to within one before the Bison went on a 4-0 run, all off of offensive rebounds. Zimmerman hit a lay-up with 11 seconds remaining in the first period and the Eagles trailed 12-7.
The Bison pulled away to take a seven-point lead at the half. They answered each score that Fairfield made and ended the half with a 5-0 run to close out the half. Bean had a short jumper off of an offensive rebound and Zimmerman had a score and was fouled. Kipp Collins hit a pair of free throws and JaCorey Daniels had a rebound and score off of a missed three pointer, but the late Buffalo run put the Bison ahead 31-24.
Fairfield continued to hit the offensive glass to begin the second half. Bean put back a shot and closed the gap to 33-33 and Algood hit a short shot to tie the game. Algood passed to Canady for a score and the first lead for the Eagles in the game at 35-33. Cal Wilson hit a baseline three pointer and Algood added a driving lay up to end the period and the Eagles took a 46-44 lead into the fourth.
Two Buffalo free throws tied the game to open the fourth and Bean hit a three pointer on a great pass from Algood. Zimmerman hit two free throws to hold onto the slim lead. Midway through the period, Camren Daniels dunked a shot off of an Eagle miss and Algood took a Buffalo miss and scored to open the game slightly. Bean hit another off an offensive rebound and the Eagles had their largest lead of the game 57-51. Zimmerman and Algood held the lead for the Eagles at the free throw line to preserve the 63-58 win.
Algood finished the night with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Bean added 13 points. Camren Daniels finished with 13 points.
Fairfield (5-2) trail the Mexia Blackcats and Franklin Lions by a single game for the district lead. Groesbeck is a game back of Fairfield and they will host the Eagles on Tuesday. Fairfield will take on Franklin at home on Friday which will include huge games for both teams in the district race.
