Bay senior Dan Geuther attempts a free throw with the Fairview student body sixth man as a backdrop during the second half of the Rockets 67-64 loss to the Warriors. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

Warriors use home cooking to stall Rockets
By Zachary Dzurick
Sports
Published Jan. 11, 2006

Click here for an archive of West Life Sports Editor Zachary Dzurick's "Red Right 88" weekly columns.

Friday night was not a good night for the Fairview or Bay boys basketball teams.

The Rockets entered the weekend undefeated. They trailed  North Ridgeville 17-5 after one quarter on Friday night, but led by six with 3:49 remaining. However, the Rangers went on a 11-0 run and won 53-52.

Fairview’s loss may have been even more painful. The Warriors held a 37-18 halftime edge over host Midview, but lost 60-58. A big reason was several missed fourth quarter free throws. The stunning loss came on the heels of another heartbreaker over winter break. In the Aurora tournament, Fairview lost a 10-point lead to Independence when they missed seven free throws in the last two minutes which allowed the Blue Devils to steal the victory with a miracle half-court shot at the buzzer.

Both teams saw a repeat on the horizon early in their match-up Saturday night as Fairview jumped out to 18-9 lead after one quarter. Bay however rallied in the second quarter, briefly taking the lead, but settling for just a 28-26 deficit at the half.

Fairview senior Dan Schaefer starting using the backboard in the second half and his increased production inside also helped open up shots for the Warriors perimeter shooters. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

The second half became about which team learned more from the previous night’s defeat. It was the Warriors, who used a energetic student section to propel them to a 60-47 lead with just 2:23 remaining in the game. Bay would rally with four three-pointers, but Fairview made just enough free throws to hang on for a 67-64 win.

Fairview coach Eric Smith used his team’s late collapses to talk to them about what it takes to win. He especially restated his confidence in point guard Kevin Fillinger, who missed some key free throws against Midview.

“We having been talking about playing with poise, confidence and maturity,” Smith said. “We came in this morning and I told Kevin you are still my man and I have all of the confidence in the world in you. You are my point guard and I got the ball in your hands to control what we do. At the end of the game, you are going to knock down shots. It was nice to get out and play tonight. We didn’t have to sit until Tuesday or next Friday. That was big for us.”

Fillinger took his coach’s words to heart as his two free throws, with 18 seconds left, made Bay’s Trevor Wenzell’s final three-pointer meaningless.

“When I went to the line, I knew I had to just slow down and concentrate on the shots,” Fillinger said. “Last night, I was rushing and not thinking. I was more focused tonight.”

Senior Matt Faska led the Warriors with 18 points. He really shined in the third quarter scoring 10 points as Fairview rebuilt their lead.

“Matt Faska has been tremendous,“ Smith said. “He had been coming off the bench, but we made the switch to him starting recently. Since then he is shooting 50 percent from the three-point line. He is hitting big shots with confidence.”

Both the coach and his players credit the “Sixth Man” for helping the team hold on during Bay’s late comeback.

“I love this place. I love the kids and I love everything about Fairview Park,” Smith said.

“Our crowd is amazing,” senior Matt Kurz said. “They get us going and bring a lot of energy into the place. We knew Bay would start making shots sometime, we had to keep attacking and not back off. It is about finishing games and coming on strong. We didn’t want to crawl into a hole and not respond. This was a statement game. We needed our first conference win after losing a tough one last night.”

Fairview’s student body loves to chant “Fundementals!” and their senior post presense realized that was just what he needed.

“It wasn’t falling in the second period because I didn’t use the backboard,” Dan Schaefer said. “Once you start scoring inside, it really opens the perimeter for the guards.”

Schaefer scored 15 points for the Warriors and had several key assists to open teammates on the perimeter.”

Smith was very pleased with the performance of his bench. Junior Mike Letner in particular had several key rebounds.

“Guys are starting to develop roles,” Smith said. “Only three played varsity last year. Mike is there to come off the bench and rebound the ball and play some defense. Dave Johnson and Brandon Reese come in to play some defense. Sophomore Rob Fraser can shoot it, he made two big shots tonight in the fourth quarter.”

Smith was pleased how his team stood tall when Bay rallied.

“We told them Bay would not go away,” Smith said. “They didn’t win all those game for nothing. They are a very good basketball team. But we told our kids it is all about today and today was big for us.

Top to bottom, in this conference you better bring your A-game. It will be tough to win on the road in this conference. You have to defend your home court.”

Bay coach Scot Sharp gave all the credit to Fairview.

“This is a conference where you have to show up every night,” Sharp said. “You have to give Fairview credit. Time after time, whenever we got close, Fairview hit a big shot. We could never get over that hump.”

Sharp was at a loss to why his team struggled offensively and defensively in the first and third quarters.

“I really can’t explain it,” Sharp said. “It is one of those things about high school basketball. You have 17 and 18 year old kids and you are going to get up and downs. I am still proud of our kids, we fought hard. They got down in the first and came back hard in the second. They got down in the third quarter and came back hard in the fourth. I am proud of the effort but the defense on the floor is not happening right now. We score 64 points and that should be enough to win a basketball game. We could not get stops when we needed them.”

Still, Sharp believes his team will bounce back.

“I told the kids you learn more in defeat then winning,” Sharp said. “These are good kids with good character, but they will bounce back. It is tough right now, we didn’t expect to lose two game this weekend. But when you play as well as we had been, teams will come out hard against you. There is not enough separation in this conference, where any team can come in and feel like you have a win. When teams come out and play you that hard, sometimes it takes time for you to adjust. This weekend was the wake-up call we needed.”