The Fairfield Eagles completed the last three games of the district season with a sweep and finished as the runner up in District 20-3A.
The week began with a makeup date at Teague to face the Lions. The Eagles tend to start slow in the first quarter and then pour on the offense later and this game was no different. Jehmel Rice and Nemier Herod each hit three pointers for a quick 6-2 lead. Rice hit a second three pointer for a 13-6 and then the Eagle offense got into gear. Dekerione Cunningham hit a three pointer and Pierre Allgood hit a couple of them to take the lead into the second period at 18-15.
Fairfield would maintain the lead with a couple of three pointers and another by Kamren Griffin. Teague did make a run with Rice scoring six points to close the gap to six at the half 33-27.
The Eagles held the six points lead throughout most of the third period. Tyler Smith scored six in the period but the Lions stayed within six and Herod had a steal and hit a turnaround three pointer at the buzzer to cut the lead to 48-43 heading into the final period.
Wayland Allison hit a shot and Jake Callahan hit a three pointer to cut the lead to 50-48 early in the fourth period. Fairfield hit their first five shots in the period with Cunningham scoring and Griffin scoring on three consecutive possessions, concluding with an Allgood three pointer. Smith broke away for easy baskets late in the game as the Eagles pulled away to a 74-55 win.
Smith led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Griffin with 17, Allgood with 13 and Cunningham with ten.
The Eagles travelled to Groesbeck battle the Goats, who were still in the hunt for a playoff spot. Fairfield began with a quick 6-1 lead on two scores from Griffin and one from Smith. Braden Hurt finished a couple of possessions for the Goats and Bryan Dancer hit a couple of baseline jumpers and Groesbeck led 10-9 at the end of the first period.
Smith continued to score for the Eagles on their way to an 18-12 lead, finished off by a George Zimmerman three pointer. Allgood and Cunningham hit from long distance as the lead changed a couple of times in the period. Tyson Pringle added a three pointer to take a brief lead but the Eagles took a four point halftime lead at 29-25.
Allen Lewis hit a three pointer for the Goats in the first moments of the second half but 38-34 is as close as they would get. Early in the fourth period, Griffin had an offensive rebound and the defense left him and he spotted up and nailed a long shot for a double digit lead and rode on their way to a 68-48 win.
Griffin led the way with 18 points and Smith and Allgood followed with 15 and 14 point.
The district finale was in Buffalo to play the Bison. Jacoby May and Kyle Harrison scored in the first period to build a 13-6 lead. Griffin scored six in the period to keep close but the Bison led 21-17 at the end of the period.
Fairfield built a lead in the second period and made it hold during the remainder of the game and they did it with the long ball. Three pointers from Smith, Rex Bean, Cunningham and two from Allgood paced the Eagles in a 25-10 rout in the period and a 42-31 halftime lead.
The Eagles hit 16 of 27 shots in the second half to complete the win and finish 11-3 in the District 20-3A race. Smith scored 30 to lead all scorers and Griffin finished with 16, Bean had 11 points and Cunningham finished with ten.
The Fairfield Eagles will play Cameron in the first round of the state playoffs. Because of the weather, game time was moved to Monday, February 22, 2021 as this week’s edition was headed to the press.
