Trojans battle back, but lose

FAIRFIELD - There is no such thing as moral victories in an athlete's competitive mind and an 0-2 start to a season is never good, but the Fairfield High School boys basketball team had a few positive things to build on in a 67-62 loss to Washington Saturday.

'I would call this a very good effort,” said Fairfield's Max Weaton, who scored 25 points. 'There were some breakdowns mentally. There were some breakdowns defensively. It was much better than our first game.”

Fairfield played its first game of the season Friday and has not had the amount of practice time other teams have, with virtual learning creating a no sports side effect. Head coach Mick Flattery had them in the gym finally for the first time Dec. 12.

Despite the lack of practice time, the Fairfield team field goal percentage was at 42 to Washington's 31.7. Each team shot 24 3-pointers, but the Trojans made seven (four by JJ Lane, who scored 18 points in the game with four assists and three steals) to the Demons five. Fairfield had 13 assists to Washington's 11, four blocked shots to three and the Trojans had just one more turnovers, 15-14.

'Fairfield is going to continue to improve and will be a force in the conference,” WHS head coach Collin Stark said. 'Rebounds were huge for us.”

Fairfield did lose the battle of the boards, 45-30.

'I don't think the kids will be surprised to learn that we're gonna work on offensive rebounding in practice,” Flattery said.

Washington missed its first nine shots but still led 17-7 at the end of the first quarter. Fairfield scored the first six points in the second quarter but trailed 28-23 at halftime.

'I felt like them going to their 2-3 zone slowed us down and having Lucas Kroll and Trashaun Willis in foul trouble really hurt us in that second quarter,” Stark said,

Fairfield trailed by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter.

'When we were down 13, it went through my head, ‘are we going to revert back to what happened last night against North Scott (a 62-34 loss) or even last year or are we going to dig in,'” Flattery said. The Trojans were 2-20 last season. 'I was real proud of the way the kids dug in because Washington has multiple weapons and they're experienced and they're defending champions.”

The Trojans dug in every time they faced adversity. It helped that sophomore Max Weaton brought the figurative shovel. He finished with 25 points, five rebounds, three assists and a blocked shot. Weaton scored 12 in the second quarter to erase that first quarter double-digit Demon lead. He scored five of Fairfield's first 11 points of the second half when the Trojans took leads of 32-28 and 34-30.

One of those weapons Washington has is Trashaun Willis, who hit a 3-pointer and turned a steal into a dunk as Washington responded with a 13-2 run. By the end of the third quarter, it was a 46-38 advantage as Ethan Patterson scored nine of his 19 in the third.

'I thought the turning point was when Ethan started getting hot in the third quarter,” Stark said. 'This game was all about runs. It seemed like we would get the lead to double figures and then they would get right back in it.”

Willis blocked two shots, altered others and finished the game with 12 points. Kasen Bailey led with 20 points. Kroll had 11. His steal and basket to start the fourth put all four Demons in double figures at that point. Lance Sobaski had three points, but a game-high 15 rebounds. Kroll had eight boards, three steals and two assists.

Bailey was 5-of-7 on free throws in the fourth quarter and Patterson 7-for-7 in the game.

Looking at a 51-38 deficit, Trojans Isaac Harris, Ryan Higgins and Lane hit triples while Weaton sunk two free throws (8-for-8 in the game) and it was 54-51. The next nine points in the game were at the foul line as time ticked away and the pressure increased.

'We got some tournament-style basketball out of those refs,” Flattery said. 'There wasn't more than 15 fouls, neither team shot more than 10 free throws.”

Evan Haines nailed a 3-pointer and Fairfield called timeout, down 62-59 with 1:24 remaining.

A triple by Lane with: 21 left and a travel violation gave Fairfield a chance down 66-62, but four made free throws in the last minute by Washington and a crucial rebound by Kroll helped the Demons salt the win away.

'I think it's safe to say we have a lot of upside, especially since we have Tate Allen coming back and he can't wait,” Flattery said.

The Trojans were to go to Keokuk tonight but that game has been postponed.

Washington plays host to Fort Madison.