Cole Hatfield’s 500th career assist was special, but it wasn’t as big as No. 501.

Hatfield drove the lane as he has done countless times, pulled up 10 feet from the basket and passed the ball to teammate Adam Berry with time running out.

Berry made the basket with three seconds left to give Fairland a 66-65 lead and the Dragons held on to beat the South Point Pointers Friday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

Hatfield surpassed 500 assists early in the third quarter. He finished with seven for the game including the one that led to the game-winning shot.

“He got number 500 early in the third, but he got the big one at the end,” said Fairland coach John McClung. “(Hatfield) could have shot an 8-footer, but he passed it to Berry underneath.

“Cole made an outstanding play. Berry caught the ball and finished it. A lot of times tonight we didn’t finish. Cole is a great team leader. He found a lot of open guys tonight.”

South Point took a 65-64 lead with 16 seconds left. But Hatfield and Berry teamed up for the go-ahead shot. The Pointers had one final chance but Kevin Davis’ 3-pointer hit of the front of the rim as the buzzer sounded.

“It was a physical game. We kept preaching to get to the basket and try to get to the foul line,” said McClung.

Fairland’s ability to drive to the basket enabled them to make 23-of-33 from the foul line. South Point converted just 4-of-6.

Berry led Fairland (9-5, 4-2) with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Hatfield had 12 points and seven rebounds to go with his assists. Tyler Godby also had 12 points.

“Adam Berry played the best game I’ve seen him play. He battled South Point’s big guys all night,” said McClung.

Chase Kratzenberg had 20 points including four 3-pointers to lead the Pointers. Ethan Prater had 13 points and seven rebounds while Greg Taylor had 11 and Drew Lynd scored 10 points.

South Point (8-6, 2-4) took a 19-17 lead as Lynd and Kratzenberg combined for 10 points. Berry had seven points and Hatfield five for Fairland.

Berry scored 10 points in the second quarter but Kratzenberg scored eight points as South Point maintained a 34-31 halftime lead.

“Kratzenberg is a pretty good player. He hit some big shots for them,” said McClung.

Zach Jordan had all seven of his points in the third quarter as Fairland tied the game 49-49 at the end of the stanza.

In the fourth quarter, Hatfield scored seven points and Godby six to offset eight by Greg Taylor.

Fairland was 20-of-54 from the field for 37 percent and just 3-of-15 from behind the arc.

“We took a lot of 3’s, but we ran sets to get them. We had looks but we just didn’t hit them,” said McClung.

South Point 19 15 15 16 = 65

Fairland 17 14 18 17 = 66

SOUTH POINT (8-6, 2-4): Chase Kratzenberg 4 4 0-0 20, Jordan Fletcher 1 0 0-0 2, Drew Lynd 5 0 0-0 10, Kevin Davis 0 1 0-0 3, Ethan Prater 6 0 1-2 13, Cody Taylor 3 0 0-0 6, Greg Taylor 4 0 3-4 11, Kyle Winkler 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 28-57 4-6 65. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 5-15. Rebounds: 29 (Prater 7, Fletcher 5, Lynd 5). Assists: 6. Turnovers: 13.

FAIRLAND (9-5, 4-2): Zach Jordan 1 1 2-2 7, Matt Bloomfield 1 0 3-4 5, Chris Ward 1 0 1-2 3, Chad Fisher 1 0 0-0 2, Cole Hatfield 2 1 5-6 12, Tyler Godby 6 0 0-0 12, Adam Berry 5 1 12-19 25, Adam Salyers 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-54 23-33 66. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 3-15. Rebounds: 38 (Berry 11, Godby 10, Hatfield 7, Bloomfield 5). Assists: 13 (Hatfield 7). Turnovers: 2.