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ATHENS — The drought is finally over.
For the last four years, Fairfield found itself on the losing side of a district championship game.
But now, there’s hardware finally coming back to Leesburg.
Behind Larkin Friend’s double-double and a gritty second half performance, the Lions (22-3) knocked off Federal Hocking by a 56-52 count to win a Division IV district title — the team’s first since 2014.
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
“I’m just proud of these guys for being relentless,” Fairfield coach Quentin Williams said. “That’s kind of been our motto this year. We stick together, we play for each other and I thought that showed more than anything tonight. We were down the majority of the game and [Federal Hocking] was hitting tough shots. But we never doubted ourselves. We kept believing and kept plugging away.”
Federal Hocking (18-7) came out firing, and it was Andrew Airhart who led the charge with a pair of 3’s early. Fairfield, however, was matching his shots behind buckets from Logan McIntosh, Gabe Fouch and Cade Miller.
FH’s Tariq Cottrill made a difference as well, knocking down a pair of buckets to put the Lancers ahead 14-10 after the first eight minutes.
Cottrill opened the second with a second pair of baskets, including a deep triple to extend the lead to 19-10.
However, Fairfield continued to keep its pace behind McIntosh and Larkin Friend, cutting the deficit to 22-17. Though the lead was later extended, McIntosh buried a triple to bring the game to within 26-23 at halftime.
After back-and-forth baskets to open the third, Airhart buried a triple. Miller, though, answered on the other end with a trey of his own, only for Cottrill to pull up from distance, keeping the Lancers ahead 34-28.
That’s when Airhart connected again from deep, making it 37-28.
But it was at that point where Friend, McIntosh, Fouch, Trey House and Griffin Friend all contributed on a game-changing run. Each of those names scored an the Lions ripped off a 14-0 run to take a 42-37 lead — and seize every bit of momentum.
“We just didn’t look at the big picture and just took everything one play at a time,” Williams said. “We just stayed focused on what we were trying to do on both ends and didn’t get too high or too low. We just kept chipping away. I thought at the end of the third, and especially in the fourth, we got timely stops. We switched up what we were doing, got a couple of turnovers and changed the momentum of the game.”
Federal Hocking countered as Evan McPherson went on a 5-0 run himself, including a triple at the end of the third to tie the game at 42-42.
In the fourth, Fairfield took a 45-44 lead, but Cottrill struck again. He was fouled and buried a triple before completing the four-point play. That was followed by two free throws from Airhart, putting the Lancers ahead 50-45.
The Lions battled back, though, as Friend and McIntosh spearheaded an 8-2 run, with Friend getting the rebound and stick-back to put them ahead 53-52.
From that point on, the Lions connected on three free throws and forced two Lancer turnovers to close out the win — sending their faithful into a frenzy and ending the four-game district final losing streak.
Friend finished with a game-high 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, while McIntosh added 15 points and seven rebounds to the mix.
“[Friend] is just special and you can’t sum him up with words,” Williams said. “I coach pretty hard and there’s no one I’ve been harder on than Larkin Friend. That’s because I knew he’d be prepared for moments like this. I knew he was going to have a heck of a game tonight. I knew he was going to lead us to a victory.”
Fairfield advances to a Division IV regional semifinal at 8 p.m., Tuesday back at Ohio University’s Convocation Center against South Webster, who defeated Trimble to advance.
“[This win] is everything,” Williams said. “This is my seventh district final, as a player and as a coach. This is the first time I’ve ever won it. The kids have just worked so hard. This has been our goal since I’ve had them as little kids. I started coaching this senior class in seventh grade. It’s a special group. They care about one another, they’re selfless and and they just work so hard. They deserve this.”
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