The Fairfield Eagles split the games, one at home and one on the road and remain in the playoff chase as the teams near completion in the first half of the round robin district matchups.
The Eagles returned to the Johnson Activity Center to take on the Elkhart Elks. They regained the shooting levels on Tuesday coming off the overtime loss in Mexia on Friday.
Connor Colvert scored ten of his 12 points in the first quarter. He made two three pointers, as did Donte Alexander and Kohl Collins, to jump out to a 28-5 first quarter lead. Madden McElroy hit a three pointer in the first moments of the second period and Manny Brown hit a shot along with a pair of free throws. The lead swelled to 41-10 at the half.
The teams played the entire bench for the remainder of the game and Fairfield finished with a 62-41 win. Jeremy Brackens scored nine points in the second half and others on the floor tallied points with Braylan McMillian and Tylan Davis scoring in the win.
The Fairfield Eagles took back to the road on Friday night with a date with third ranked and district leading Palestine Westwood Panthers.
The main strategy was to keep junior guard Kavian Bryant off the scoreboard, and he started the air show with a pair of slam dunks in the opening period. Kohl Collins kept the game in check with several offensive rebounds and scores with eleven points in the first half. Colvert hit a three pointer and McElroy had a follow up shot off a rebound to keep the game close. Hicks came on with eight points in the third period, but the game was slipping away at the half.
Trailing into the third period, McElroy had a valiant effort to draw the game close by scoring 16 points in the second half. A couple of times, Collins put backs put the game to within 15 points, but the Panthers would not allow the score to close any further. Kavian Bryant scored 25 points and his younger brother, Kaden Bryant added 21 in the win.
Westwood continues to lead the district race with an unbeaten record and the Mexia Blackcats trail by one game in the standings. Fairfield is two games back with both losses to the front running Panthers and Blackcats.
Fairfield will be at home on Tuesday with an intercountry battle with the Teague Lions will occur. They will travel to Buffalo on Friday with a game against the Buffalo Bison to finish the week.
(Photos by Natalia V. Marsters)
