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SOUTH POINT — There were two reasons it was impossible to wipe the smile off of Xathan Haney’s face on Friday night.
The first was that he played one of his best games of the season, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds to help his Pointers earn a 69-56 victory over Fairland on Friday.
“Coming into the game, we knew that their main goal was to try and stop Caleb [Lovely], and understandably so,” Haney said. “So somebody was going to step up. It just so happened that I had it going early and kept going. It can truly be anyone of us who has a big game on any given night.”
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
However, it was afterwards during a postgame interview where Haney was told that Chesapeake, who was sitting in first place in the OVC going into Friday’s slate of games, had lost to Portsmouth.
It took a second, but then the realization set in that his Pointers (11-5, 8-2 OVC) now sat atop the mountain in the OVC standings. That smile went from temporary to permanent and he couldn’t contain his excitement.
“No way, for real? Oh my God, we’re in first place. Let’s go!”
It was the perfect way to cap a big win and avenge an early season loss to the Dragons (11-5, 7-3 OVC) and Haney wasted no time making his impact.
WIth the Dragons double-teaming — and sometimes triple-teaming — Lovely anytime he got the ball in his hands, it cleared the way for open shots and Haney took advantage. He knocked down a triple and a floater in the lane early.
Lovely and Brayden Hanshaw scored as well before Haney and Carter Smith ended the quarter on a 5-0 run, putting the Pointers ahead 17-12.
Smith’s bucket was just the beginning of what was about to be a big night. He knocked down a 3, Hanshaw scored again, and then Smith connected from deep for an 8-2 run, pushing the lead to 25-14.
As Fairland’s offense hit a wall, Smith and Haney continued to score while Josh Childers and Elijah Wilburn’s energy on defense gave the Dragons fits. In the end, the Pointers won the second quarter by an 18-6 margin and took a 35-18 lead into halftime.
“We ran a triangle-and-two defense and they weren’t getting many good looks. But we were also rebounding the ball much better,” South Point coach Travis Wise said. “Defense made our offense flow, and that’s what you want as a coach. Guys were knocking down shots and we were in a great rhythm.”
Less than 30 seconds into the third, Lovely picked up his fourth foul and Fairland slowly began to smell blood in the water.
Brody Buchanan, WIll Davis and Noah Marcum combined for a 10-0 run to trim the lead to 35-28. However, Smith splashed his third 3 of the game to put the lead back into double digits.
“We knew things would get a little stagnant with Caleb being out since he attracts so much attention, and they increased their pressure on us,” Wise said. “Fairland deserves credit for how they battled back, but we weathered the storm and maintained a lead. That shot was huge for us.”
“The way I see it, you just have to keep shooting the shots once you see one go in,” Smith said. “They’re trying to take away Caleb so someone had to score the ball. I was attacking the basket and getting myself in a rhythm.”
Both teams traded baskets for the final 90 seconds of the third, but South Point committed a turnover that led to a Marcum basket that cut the deficit to 44-35 entering the final eight minutes.
The pace quickened in the fourth and the buckets were falling. The Pointers’ lead stayed at a three-possession margin, and they managed to build it to 56-45, following a Childers steal and assist to WIlburn.
But Fairland wasn’t going down without a fight. Chase Allen knocked down back-to-back 3’s before Marcum got a rebound and put back, capping an 8-2 run for a 58-53 tally.
Buchanan later splashed a trey to get the lead down to 60-56, Smith answered back with a bucket on the other end and that spelled the beginning of the end.
The Dragons didn’t make another shot throughout the rest of the night and the Pointers knocked down their free throws before celebrating a revenge win.
“This was a great team win, and everyone who saw the floor tonight completely stepped up. We knew that Fairland was going to run that box-and-one since it worked the first time we played them. There was a lot of work done to offset that and the kids did such a great job,” Wise said. “Xathan and Carter played great, Elijah did a great job guarding Brody [Buchanan], Josh was everywhere on the court, Brayden played well and Caleb showed great maturity, despite dealing with foul trouble. I couldn’t be happier with our guys. But now we have to stay hungry and play one game at a time. There’s still a long way to go in the season.”
Smith finished the game with a game-high 19 points and five rebounds for South Point, followed by Haney’s outing and final numbers.
For Fairland, Davis finished with a team-high 15 points, followed by 13 points each from Allen and Buchanan.
South Point returns to action on Tuesday at Gallia Academy for league action, while Fairland rebounds at home that same evening against Chesapeake.
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