By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
FAYETTE (February 3, 2024) – Down eight midway through the second quarter, Todd Mitchell’s Fayette Eagles cranked up the defense and even though they didn’t shoot it well, hit enough shots to outscore Waldron 26-5 in the next 12 minutes to carry home a 51-34 win over the visiting Spartans.
Early on it was Jacobi Gonzalez that helped put Waldron up 14-9 after a quarter. The senior guard hit a pair of triples, scored on a nifty one-handed scoop and dished to Collin Williams for a fast break hoop to put the Spartans on top by five.
The lead grew to 19-11 when Seth Williams scored on a fourth try putback with 4:43 left in the second.
For the next 12 minutes, Waldron went dry thanks to 12 turnovers in that span and 1-13 shooting from the field.
“It started off we weren’t shooting the ball very well and they were making some shots. Gonzalez came out playing really well and we got behind the eight ball,” Mitchell said of the first 12 minutes.
Xander Dunnett and Sebastian Jacob each tripled and Carter Lavinder laid one in off Wyatt Mitchell’s feed to knot the game with 1:54 left in the half.
“We aren’t much of a pressing team normally but we kind of had to. We got some turnovers and Sebastian Jacob started knocking down some shots and Dunnett hit some shots so after a slow start we played a lot better.”
“After a rough night (Friday in a loss to Holgate) it was nice to see the kids rebound.”
Jacob tripled again and after two Waldron miscues, Dunnett scored on a rebound and hit a three-pointer with 5.4 left to vault Fayette up 27-22 at intermission.
Fayette shot just 39 percent in the first half but put up 28 tries at the rim thanks to nine Waldron turnovers.
The Eagles went only 4-16 in the third but two more of those makes were Jacob three-balls. Meanwhile Waldron was going 0-7 and throwing the basketball away six more times as Fayette rolled into the fourth with a 37-24 lead.
Dunnett hit two more triples in the fourth and Mitchell found Xander Goble sliding down the key to help increase the final margin.
“That was what we just talked about in the locker room was that we have to play four quarters,” Mitchell said.
“We play hockey games sometimes where we only play three periods, and you aren’t going to beat teams doing that. In the fourth we took good shots and that makes every coach look better when the ball goes in the basket.”
Dunnett led all scorers with 20 and Jacob added 15 as the pair combined for nine triples. Gonzalez had 12 for Waldron and Collin Williams chipped in with 10.
Fayette (6-12) shot 20/50 from the field for 40 percent but committed just six turnovers for the game. Waldron was just 14/45 from the floor and had 16 turnovers.
WALDRON (34) – C. Williams 10; Gonzalez 12; T. Shamplo 0; Kutz 0; A. Williams 0; Vondyln 0; Sa. Williams 0; Se. Williams 9; A. Shamplo 3; Ryan 0; Totals 6-5-7 – 34
FAYETTE (51) – Lavinder 6; Leininger 0; Mitchell 4; Beauregard 0; Jacob 15; Goble 6; Dunnett 20; Figgins 0; Totals: 11-9-2 – 51
WALDRON 14 8 2 10 – 34
FAYETTE 9 18 10 14 – 51
JUNIOR VARSITY: Fayette 41, Waldron 14