MOVING ON … Fayette guard Elijah Lerma handles the ball while Montpelier’s Garrett Walz applies pressure. Lerma tallied 20 points to lead the Eagles to the Division IV sectional semifinal win over the Locos. (PHOTO BY RICH HARDING, STAFF)
By: Nate Calvin
FAYETTE, OHIO- The third time was the charm for the Eagles on Tuesday night in the Division IV sectional semifinals.
After falling twice to Montpelier during the season by a total of five points, Fayette was up to the challenge in the third meeting between the BBC rivals as they led wire-to-wire to get a 54-36 win.
The Eagles offense was operating at a high-level right off the bat with two field goals from Kaden Frenn, one of them a triple, and a hoop from Elijah Lerma to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
Thomas Jay got Montpelier on the board with a pair of treys, but Tanner Wagner answered with a three ball for Fayette before Frenn and Lerma added buckets to give the Eagles a 14-9 lead after the first quarter.
Fayette was a blistering 6/10 (60%) from the field in the opening quarter while the Locos were just 3/14 (21%).
The hot shooting continued for the Eagles into the second quarter as Lerma and Wagner netted field goals and after a triple by Lerma the Fayette lead had increased to 23-11 after the 9-2 scoring run.
Garrett Walz drained a three-pointer for the Locos following a timeout to cut the lead back to single digits briefly at 23-14.
Fayette would close the half with a 6-2 run as Frenn scored twice and Lerma hit a shot in the lane at the buzzer to give Fayette a 29-16 lead at halftime.
Fayette once again shot 60% from the floor in the second quarter and outrebounded Montpelier 14-6 in the first sixteen minutes.
The Locos started the third quarter with a 3/4 court full court press to try and force some Fayette turnovers, after the Eagles committed only three in the first half.
Blake Alftaffer would get his first bucket of the night to start the quarter, but Fayette responded with a 7-3 run thanks to a field goal from Phillip Whiteside, Eli Eberly buried a corner three, and Frenn scored again to stretch the Eagle lead to 36-21 at the 3:30 mark.
The Locos were able to narrow the deficit to 37-25 after three quarters with a 4-1 scoring spurt after jumper by Tylor Yahraus and a layup from Altaffer.
Fayette was able to maintain a comfortable lead in the fourth quarter led by Lerma who was 3/3 from the field and 3/5 from the foul line for nine points in the quarter.
The Eagles finished the game 21/39 (53%) shooting with four triples had a 27-18 advantage on the glass.
Lerma had a game-high 20 points to lead Fayette while Frenn added 18.
Montpelier was 15/50 (30%) from the field and were topped in scoring by Yahraus who had six buckets for 12 points.
Fayette (9-12) now awaits the winner of tonight’s Emmanuel Christian-Ayersville game.
If Emmanuel Christian wins then Fayette will host the Warriors on Friday night in the sectional finals, an Ayersville wins means Fayette will travel to The Hanger and face the Pilots.
SCORES BY QUARTERS
Montpelier 9 7 9 11 36
Fayette 14 15 8 17 54
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com