HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — When the Fairland Dragons were able to control the speed of the game, they were able to control the Wayne Pioneers.

Fairland used its speed to generate a running game and rout the Pioneers 72-44 Wednesday in the opening round of the Huntington St. Joseph Invitational.

“We got a lot of easy baskets with our pressure. We made the game fast and the fast pace we played was in our favor. Defensively we were able to slow down (Chase) Perry. Our fastbreak really helped us out,” said Fairland coach John McClung.

Fairland (5-5) will now play Huntington St. Joseph (9-1) at 9 p.m. Friday in the championship game.

Jon Baise scored a career-high 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to spark the Fairland offense.

“(Baise) really hit the offensive glass well,” said McClung.

Jonathan Holbrook had 12 points and 7 rebounds for the Dragons while Evan Salyers added 11 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Chad Fisher scored 12 points and Matt Bloomfield handed out 5 assists.

Seth Merritt scored 12 points and Perry 9 for Wayne (2-8).

Holbrook scored 10 of his points in the first quarter while Salyers and Baise had 5 each as the Dragons jumped all over Wayne to take a 23-6 lead.

Baise had 5 more points in the second quarter but Merritt and Jarred Stevens scored 4 each as Wayne trailed 34-19 at the half.

But Matt Bloomfield got all 7 of his points in the third quarter and Fairland stretched its lead to a comfortable 51-33.

McClung pulled his starters in the fourth quarter and Anthony Dillard came off the bench to score 7 points.

Fairland 23 11 17 22 = 72

Wayne 6 13 14 11 = 44

FAIRLAND (5-5): Jon Baise 7-16 1-1 1-2 18, Blaine Fuller 1-2 0-0 0-0 2, Matt Bloomfield 3-6 0-0 1-2 7, Chad Fisher 3-7 2-5 0-0 12, Anthony Dillard 3-3 0-0 1-3 7, Eric Riley 0-1 0-0 2-2 2, Kyle Riley 0-2 0-0 0-0 0, Jonathan Holbrook 3-6 2-2 0-0 12, Evan Salyers 5-9 0-0 1-3 11, Matt Campbell 1-2 0-0 0-0 2. Totals: 31-62 6-12 72. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 5-8. Rebounds: 37 (Baise 10, Holbrook 7, Salyers 6). Assists: 10 (Bloomfield 5). Steals: 13 (Salyers 4). Turnovers: 14.

WAYNE (2-8): Jarred Stevens 23- 1-1 0-0 7, Derrick White 1-4 0-0 0-0 2, Forest Reed 0-0 1-2 0-0 3, Seth Merritt 6-12 0-4 0-0 12, Chase Terry 2-13 1-1 2-2 9, Caleb Webb 2-3 0-0 1-4 5, Michael Davis 3-7 0-0 0-0 6. Totals: 19-50 3-6 44. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None. 3-point goals: 3-8. Rebounds: 27. Assists: 7. Turnovers: 22.