Fairfield rally falls short

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield boys basketball team played some pretty good basketball for three quarters on Friday night against Burlington.

Three quarters wasn’t enough though as the Trojans were topped by the Grayhounds 61-52.

The two teams battled through the first quarter as four points is the most that separated the two squads with Burlington holding a 15-11 lead.

Fairfield ended the first on a 8-2 run to head into the second with a 19-17 advantage.

The second was more of the same as a 7-0 run in the final minute capped off by a Max Weaton layup put the Trojans up 29-28.

However, Burlington seemingly took momentum into the half as they scored back-to-back buckets with the final coming with four seconds on the clock to put the Grayhounds up 32-29 at the half.

In the third, Fairfield struggled.

Burlington scored the first four points of the quarter, while Fairfield’s first points didn’t come until the 5:08 mark on a free throw.

The Trojans would score just once more the rest of the quarter on a layup.

Burlington would end the quarter on a 9-2 run to lead 45-32 heading into the fourth.

In the fourth, Burlington looked as if they were going to run away with it after burying a three ball gave them the largest lead of the night, fifteen points, 51-36.

The Trojans wouldn’t wavier though as they responded with a 14-6 run into the final minute making it a 57-50 game.

Time wasn’t on Fairfield’s side though as Burlington connected on their free throws down the stretch.

Max Weaton notched a double-double for the Trojans with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Tate Allen followed with 11 points. Sam Weaton and Cooper Polonsky each finished with six. Noah McNamara had five. Ryan Higgins had four.

The Trojans had two of their starting guards out of the contest, but head coach Mick Flattery said he’s proud of how his guys stepped up.

“I’m very proud,” Flattery said. “We had guys playing way out of position. We haven’t practiced that because we haven’t had to. That’s a good basketball team right there (Burlington). They’re going to be right up there. Right now we just have to try to stay healthy and not get anyone else sick.

With the loss, the Trojans move to 2-4 on the season and 1-2 in Southeast Conference play.

They will take Keokuk (1-4) on Tuesday in their next contest.