Chance Short
chance.short@irontontribune.com

PROCTORVILLE — An overconfident first quarter didn’t keep the Fairland Dragons from advancing past North Adams in the Ohio Division III District semifinals on Tuesday night.
No. 1 seed Fairland (19-4) shot just 1-for-11 in the opening quarter and scored just 3 points as they trailed the No. 8 seed North Adams 9-3 after the first.
“Offensively, I felt like we tried to over dribble because they were up in us. Especially coming off of the Portsmouth game where we shot so well, we are thinking anything we throw up is going to go in,” said Fairland head coach Nathan Speed on the first quarter struggles.
Jacob Polcyn established the paint for the Dragons in the second and found his way to the cup for some easy baskets to settle the team’s nerves. The senior forward scored 8 points and Aiden Porter pitched in 8 points as well to take the lead going into the break, 27-25.
Jayden Hesler paced the Green Devils in the second quarter with 8 points that included a triple at the buzzer to give North Adams the momentum despite being down two points.
“I’m proud of our kids. I think they showed a lot of poise. I don’t think we ever got rattled. We were just forcing things offensively. I think with the seniors and experience that we have, they handled it well,” said Speed.
The senior-led group came out of the break strong as they went on a 12-0 run and stretched the lead to 39-25 to force North Adams to take a timeout. Porter imposed his dominance in the third as he got to the rim at will and scored 9 more points in the quarter.
“I was never worried, I knew we would figure it out. I trust my team to make the right adjustments and we just needed to start knocking down some shots, which we did,” said Porter.
The junior guard for Fairland finished with a game high 24 points and dished out 5 helpers. Polcyn tallied 17 points and snagged 9 rebounds as well for the Dragons. Clayton Thomas sank five 3-pointers for 15 points and found open teammates for 5 assists.
The Green Devils were limited to just 6 points in the third quarter as the game slipped away. North Adams (14-7) found themselves down 50-31 heading into the final period.
The Dragons stood ground in the fourth quarter to hold onto the victory and advance to the District Finals where they will face No. 4 seed Adena. The game will be played at Ironton High School on Friday at 7 p.m.
North Adams 9 16 6 14 = 45
Fairland 3 24 23 20 = 70
NORTH ADAMS (14-7): Jayden Hesler 2-4 3-8 1-2 14, Seth Vogel 1-3 0-0 0-0 2, Bransyn Copas 1-1 3-8 2-2 13, Lane Wagner 0-0 0-0 0-2 0, Carter Crawford 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Brand 0-2 0-1 0-0 0, Brayden Allen 0-2 1-3 0-0 3, Cade Meade 3-4 1-8 2-4 11, Fulton Kennedy 1-4 0-0 0-0 2. Totals: 8-20 8-29 5-10 45. Rebounds: 28 (Meade 7). Assists: 4. Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: none.
FAIRLAND (19-4): Jacob Polcyn 7-9 0-1 3-5 17, Aiden Porter 7-10 3-5 1-2 24, Gavin Hunt 3-5 0-2 0-0 6, Clayton Thomas 0-0 5-10 0-0 15, Jordan Williams 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Zander Schmidt 2-3 0-2 0-0 4, Brycen Hunt 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, Nate Thacker 0-0 0-2 0-0 0, Peyton Jackson 0-1 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 20-30 8-22 6-10 70. Rebounds: 36 (Polcyn 9, Williams 9). Assists: 18 (Porter 5, Thomas 5). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: none.