Fairfield fends off Mt. Pleasant in OT

FAIRFIELD — When No. 8 (Class 3A) Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield squared off on Friday night, despite not yet being the postseason, the energy in Dan Breen Gymnasium felt like just that.

Just nine points separated the two teams when they last met and this time the margin was even narrower as overtime was needed to decide a winner.

While the Panthers took victory the last time around, Fairfield got some payback on Friday evening as they defeated the Panthers by just one, 69-68.

“This is a big game and a big win coming into seeding time,” Fairfield’s Max Weaton said. “We hope to gain another home game out of seeding. We’ve done a lot of good in the last three weeks to help ourselves.”

Heading into the fourth, the Panther and Trojans were locked at 49-49.

Aaiden Ashton scored back-to-back buckets to put the Trojans up four with 6:12 remaining.

Fairfield’s first points in the fourth came from the hands of Riley Perkins. Perkins gave the Trojans the spark they needed as he scored the first three field goals for Fairfield.

The first brought the Trojans to within one at 53-52, the second tied it at 55 and the third gave Fairfield the lead at 58-57 with 3:25 remaining.

Ashton responded with a pair and Payton Hagans followed with two to make it a 61-58 ballgame with 1:12 remaining.

“The biggest thing for us was to stay composed.” Fairfield head coach Mick Flattery said. “Our guys just kept swinging.”

Max Weaton battled down low for two to make it a one point game once again, 61-60 with 50 seconds to go.

With just 16 seconds remaining, the Panthers got the score they needed to at least protect themselves from a game winner as Hagans put two to the board to make it a three point margin, 63-60.

Following a timeout, the ball found the hands of Trojan point guard JJ Lane, who leading up to the fourth had hit the final shot of each quarter prior.

Lane delivered the game tying three with 0.1 on the clock, sending the game to overtime at 63 all.

In the extra period, Weaton got the Trojans on the board first with a lay-in and they would never lose the lead.

Ashton was able to tie it on the next possession for Mt. Pleasant, but a Tate Allen two gave the Trojans back the lead with 37 seconds to go.

A foul sent the Panthers to the line with a chance to tie, but the shot was off and they were forced to foul.

Perkins hit all net on the pair of free throws to push the lead to 69-65 and Ashton’s three with three seconds to go didn’t make a difference as Fairfield was able to let the clock run.

All-in-all in was a tightly contest game for both, but each had their moments.

Fairfield came out of the gate strong, outscoring the Panthers 25-14 through the first quarter, but the lead was short-lived as Mt. Pleasant rallied with a 22-12 second to come within one at the break, 37-36.

That momentum carried on into the third as a 9-0 run to begin the period gave Mt. Pleasant its largest lead of the night, 45-37.

The lead was short-lived though as from the 5:17 mark on, Fairfield put together a 12-4 run to tie it heading into the fourth.

“There’s certainly some moments throughout the game that we can pick apart, not even so much with the players, but as coaches,” Mt. Pleasant head coach Eric Rawson said. “I think we missed some opportunities. We will certainly learn from tonight.”

Max Weaton finished with 21 points to lead Fairfield on the night.

For Mt. Pleasant, Payton Hagans led with a game-high 28 points.