Trojans swarm Mt. P, ready for rematch with Osky

The Fairfield boys' basketball team improved to 18-3 overall with their 10th consecutive victory and third of the season against Mt. Pleasant with a 51-30 second-half stomping of the visiting Panthers in the Class 3A substate 5 semifinal.

'We were just feeding off of our crowd honestly,” said senior Cole Engle. 'Every time we get our people to fill the gym, we just want to play well and get them loud.”

The Trojans gave the nearly capacity crowd in the FHS gymnasium, that holds approximately 1,800 people, a lot to cheer early as Fairfield jumped out to a 9-3 lead during the first five minutes of play.

'What a loud student body and fans from our community,” said head coach Mick Flattery who had made a call to Trojan Nation to come out in full force. 'You all led to one unbelievable atmosphere to play basketball in! Our guys really fed off that energy in the building. Thank you Trojan land!”

The two SEC rivals went back and forth throughout the first half and were tied at 11 a piece when the first quarter horn sounded.

With 7:24 left in the first half, senior Austin Simpson made the first bucket of the second quarter to give the Trojans a 13-11 advantage, although the Fairfield faithful were very displeased with what seemed to be another high-contact, no foul called-play.

Eleventh grader Landon Kooiker hit a big 3-point attempt from the corner to extend the home team's edge to 16-11 with 6:24 on the clock before the referees seemed to mix he and Simpson up a minute later, accessing a foul to No. 23 Austin instead of No. 22 Landon, prompting the Trojans to sit Simpson for fear of him receiving a third foul before the half.

'The past couple of days I haven't been shooting very well, but I've just been thinking about what coach told me, to trust my shot and follow through, and it went in,” explained Kooiker.

With 3:36 in the period, Fairfielders gave a rousing applause when the Panthers were called for their second personal foul while the frustrated Trojans had already been dinged with seven such calls.

Mick's crew held for the final shot, but lost possession and held a 22-18 edge at the break.

An emphatic and-1 by senior Tristin Waugh gave the Trojans the first bucket of the second half and started a 9-0 run that concluded with a play of the year nominee that featured senior Collin Breen fly into the Trojans bench to save a ball that went to the top of the key where classmate Carson Crile touch passed the rock to Cole Engle for a layup that sent Jefferson County into a frenzy.

The Trojans ended the third with a 38-22 advantage and outpaced the Panthers in the fourth 13-8 to advance to Monday's substate final against Oskaloosa.

'It means a lot [to end my career with a home win] and I think we wrapped up a pretty good era for Fairfield basketball,” said Simpson. 'It's kind of sad, but we are moving on to Osky and that's what we'll put our focus on.”

'We shot an amazing 21 of 27 from inside the arc,” said Flattery. 'Just terrific shot selection and execution.”

Offense wasn't the only story, though.

'What great team defense,” added the Trojan skipper. 'We held Mt. Pleasant scoreless for over 3:00, five separate times with two of those lasting five minutes or longer.”

Stats

Austin Simpson 14 points, four blocks and three deflections; Tristin Waugh 11 points, four rebounds, two blocks and two charges taken; Carson Crile nine points, six rebounds, three deflections and a steal; Cole Engle seven points, four deflections and three assists; Collin Breen five points, six steals, five deflections and five assists. 'Collin played a terrific floor game,” added Flattery; Landon Kooiker three points; Brittan Bowman two points.

Tears of joy

With the seniors playing their final game in Trojan Gymnasium, reserve guard Brittan Bowman scored on a layup in the final minute that sent the student section into another level of excitement and brought tears to his twin sister Blair's eyes.

Next

No. 5 Fairfield will be the road team against No. 6 Oskaloosa Monday at Mt. Pleasant with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. and the winner advancing to the state tournament in Des Moines.

'We're ready for a battle,” said Simpson. 'Thirty-two minutes of basketball and none of the players are doubting each other and we expect to win.”

Flattery has one request, 'Let's turn Mt. P's gymnasium into Fairfield East on Monday night with a packed Trojan side of the gym.”

As for the new kid Kooiker, he's ready as well.

'It's a blast getting to know the rivalries and getting the bad blood in your system and wanting to put a smack down on someone.”