Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

CHILLICOTHE — Luke Thomas was making the shots and Kollin Van Horn was stopping the shots.
Thomas drilled six 3-point goals and scored 21 points while Van Horn blocked 10 shots to go with 10 points and 11 rebounds as the Fairland Dragons routed the Hillsboro Indians 71-39 to win the Division II sectional title on Saturday.
“That’s his sixth career triple-double. He was just very active. He was moving well offensively and moving well defensively. He was doing a good job hedging coming off screens. Our overall focus and his tonight was really good,” said Fairland coach Nathan Speed.
Keedrick Cunningham scored 17 points and Isaiah Howell had 10 points for Fairland while Ty Staten had four rebounds and four assists.
Fairland (20-3) now plays Vinton County at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday in the district semifinals at the Ohio University Convocation Center.
Thomas had a four-point play in his scoring total and hit five straight 3-pointers during an early stretch in the game.
“It comes back to focus. He was locked in and ready to go,” said Speed. “Once he got the first two down, he gets in a zone and he’s going to keep knocking them down. We did a good job moving the ball and finding the open guy.”
Ethan Watson scored 10 points for the Indians who were held to 12-of-35 shooting from the field for 34 percent.
“We really stepped up this week. We’ve been going over running the floor more. Free throws were a big part. We shot great. I think we were 10-for-11 tonight. It’s little things like that and defense is really helping us out,” said Van Horn.
The game was tied at 2-2 when Van Horn made two foul shots to give the Dragons the lead for good with 7:03 left in the first quarter.
Howell’s 3-pointer made it 10-2 but a basket by Caleb Crawford got Hillsboro within 10-6 at the 3:47 mark.
Van Horn scored and Thomas hit a 3-pointer for a 15-6 lead. Thomas hit another trey with 17 seconds on the clock and the lead was 20-7 at the end of the quarter.
The Dragons went on a 12-1 run to begin the second quarter that began and ended with 3-pointers by Thomas and it was 32-8.
Thomas was fouled hitting a 3-pointer and converted the free throw to make it 41-11 with 2:43 left in the half. Howell’s basket gave Fairland a 50-11 lead at the half.
“We just got back to what we did in the tournament last year and have that same energy. It just fell in my hands tonight. Next week it’ll probably be Za (Howell), Ty (Staten) or Keebo (Cunningham),” said Thomas.
Both teams scored 12 points in the third quarter and it was 62-23.
Speed began to empty his bench in the fourth quarter as Hillsboro outscored Fairland 16-9.
Hillsboro    7    4    12    16    =    39
Fairland    20    30    12    9    =    71
HILLSBORO (NA): Mason Swayne 0 0 2-4 2, Ryan Scott 1 0 5-6 7, Gavin Temble 0 0 0-0 0, Hayden Haines 1 1 0-0 5, Marshall Ward 0 0 0-0 0, Ethan Watson 0 3 1-2 10, Silas Simmons 0 0 0-0 0, Jakwan Clark 2 0 0-0 4, Phil Mycroft 2 0 0-0 4, Caleb Crawford 2 0 3-4 7, Brad Miller 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-35 11-16 39. 3-pt goals: 4-15. Rebounds: 6-O, 12-D = 18 (Haines 4, Watson 4, Mycroft 4). Assists: 4 (Swayne 3). Steals: 5 (Mycroft 3). Turnovers: 16. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.
FAIRLAND (20-3): Isaiah Howell 2 2 0-0 10, Ty Staten 2 0 0-0 4, Luke Thomas 1 6 1-1 21, Chase Fisher 0 0 0-0 0, Joel Lambiotte 0 0 0-0 0, Kollin Van Horn 4 0 2-2 10, Matt Mondlak 0 0 0-0 0, Austin Gartin 0 0 0-0 0, Keedrick Cunnigham 7 0 3-4 17, Jacob Polcyn 0 0 0-0 0, Ian Chinn 0 0 0-0 0, Ty Wilcoxon 0 0 4-4 4, Clayton Thomas 0 0 0-0 0, Andy Lang 1 0 0-0 2. Totals: 26-42 10-11 71. 3-pt goals: 9-20. Rebounds: 5-O, 20-D = 25 (Van Horn 11, Staten 4). Assists: 21 (Cunningham 6, Staten 4). Steals: 12 (Howell 3, Cunningham 3). Blocks: 11 (Van Horn 10). Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.