Chance Short
chance.short@irontontribune.com

PEDRO — The Fairland Dragons bounced back on Tuesday night after suffering a conference loss last Saturday that made things interesting.
South Point defeated Fairland to force a tie in conference standings between the two before they meet up again on Feb. 18th to settle the score. That is if the two teams handle business before then.
Rock Hill (1-14, 0-9) nearly did the Pointers a solid and put Fairland another game back, but couldn’t maintain momentum as they ended on the losing side of the game 53-39.
The Redmen drew first blood behind Owen Hankins’ 7 points in the first quarter that helped them take an 11-9 lead.
Fairland (13-4, 10-1) would flex their future in the second quarter as sophomore J.D. Thacker scored 6 points. The 6-foot-3 forward filled in the lineup for senior starter Jacob Polcyn. Aiden Porter added a pair of triples in the quarter to snatch the game from Rock Hill at the half.
Hankins scored a quick bucket in the second, but the Redmen shot just 2-of-8 in the period and fell behind 30-16 at the break.
Porter scored all 7 points for the Dragons in the third while his teammates struggled to get things going.
Jacob Schwab found his touch around the rim to score 6 points, but Rock Hill was only able to make up for one point despite the struggling quarter from Fairland.
Down 37-24, Rock Hill continued trying to chomp away at the Dragon lead and Brayden Adams scored 6 points in the final quarter and the Redmen got within 7 points.
But Clayton Thomas closed out any comeback hopes by the Redmen with 8 points for the Dragons in the fourth quarter while going 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Take away the second quarter explosion by the Dragons and this one could have been a different story.
Porter led all scorers for the Dragons with 22 points and Thomas added 11.
Hankins finished with 13 points for the Redmen with Adams getting 10 points, 4 assists and 3 steals. Schwab had 8 rebounds and Brayden Malone 7.
On Friday, Fairland visits Ironton and Rock Hill will host Gallipolis.
Fairland 9 21 7 16 = 53
Rock Hill 11 5 8 15 = 39
FAIRLAND (13-4, 10-1): Aiden Porter 4-7 3-6 2-2 22, Gavin Hunt 1-2 1-1 2-3 7, Clayton Thomas 1-7 1-3 6-7 11, JD Thacker 3-4 0-0 0-0 6, Jordan Williams 0-2 0-0 0-0 0, Zander Schmidt 1-4 1-3 0-0 5, Nate Thacker 1-1 0-3 0-0 2. Totals: 11-28 6-16 10-12 53. Rebounds: 24 (Porter 6). Turnovers: 7. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none.
ROCK HILL (1-14, 0-9): Noah Doddridge 1-4 1-2 0-1 5, Owen Hankins 6-11 0-1 1-2 13, Caleb Murphy 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, Brayden Adams 5-8 0-1 0-2 10, Victor Day 0-0 0-1 0-0 0, Brayden Malone 0-2 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Schwab 4-8 0-0 1-4 9. Totals: 18-39 2-9 39. 3-pt. goals: 1-5. Rebounds: 8-O, 14-D = 22 (Schwab 8, Malone 7). Assists: 6 (Adams 4, Malone 2). Steals: 6 (Adams 3). Turnovers: 13. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: Adams.