Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

SARDINIA ­— The Fairland Dragons’ youth kept showing up, so veteran senior guard Aiden Porter took the father figure role.

Porter hit five 3-pointers and went 6-of-9 at the foul line to score 27 points as the Dragons held off the Eastern Brown Warriors 53-51 on Saturday.

“First of all, great defensive effort I felt like the entire game by our guys. I mean, they busted their hind ends the whole game defensively. I thought did a great job keeping their bigs off the bounds rebounding.

“At times, offensively we struggled a little bit against their press back into the zone, but once we calmed down and didn’t panic I felt we adjusted, moved the ball well and got the shots we wanted,” said Speed.

Fairland (2-0) opened the game with Porter hitting three 3-pointers and scoring 13 points and it was 15-6

Kade Walkup hit a 3-pointer and scored 5 points and Luke Garrett had a triple as Eastern took advantage of the Dragons’ offense going cold and getting only 4 points and Fairland led just 19-16 at the half.

Ethan Taylor hit two big 3-pointers to help put the Dragons ahead by 10 points in the third quarter only to have Eastern creep back into the game and cut the deficit to 38-28 at the end of the quarter.

“We had some open shots early that just wouldn’t fall,” said Speed.

“We’re young. Sometimes our immaturity shows on the floor. To play a team as good as Eastern, they’re going to lose their poise a little bit and we just needed to get them calmed down and focused again.”

Garrett hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 10 points while Trent Hundley had 9 points as Eastern made another run in the fourth quarter.

But the Dragons converted 11-of-16 free throw attempts — J.D. Thacker was 4-of-4 and Porter 4-of-6 — to seal the victory.

Thacker added 10 points to the winning effort while Taylor had 5 rebounds.

Garrett scored 19 points and Hundley got 15 to pace the Warriors (2-1).

The Dragons will host Coal Grove on Tuesday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

Fairland           15        4          19        15        =          53

1. Brown 6 10        12        23        =          51

FAIRLAND (2-0): Will Davis 2-3 0-0 1-2 5, Aiden Porter 3-6 5-8 6-9 27, Ethan Taylor 0-1 2-8 0-0 6, Zion Martin 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, J.D. Thacker 2-3 00 6-8 10, Chase Allen 0-1 1-1 2-4 5, Brycen Hunt 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Brod Buchanan 0-0 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-32 14-21 51. 3-pt goals: 8-17. Rebounds: 18 (Taylor 5, Thacker 4). Assists: 5 (Porter 2, Allen 2). Steals: 4 (Davis 3). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.

EASTERN BROWN (2-1): Kade Walkup 1-3 1-1 0-0 5, Luke Garrett 4-12 3-10 0-0 10, Carter Vaughn 1-1 0-1 0-0 2, Christian Hoskins 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Wyatt Haupt 0-0 0-1 0-0 0, Donovan Mynatt 1-3 0-0 0-0 2, Luke Haney 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Caleb Jimison 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Trent Hundley 6-13 2-6 3-4 15, Christian Ambogy 3-7 0-0 2-4 8. Totals: 20-55 5-8 51. 3-pt. goals: 4-15. Rebounds: 23 (Hundley 9, Ambogy 7). Assists: 1. Steals: 6 (Garrett 3, Hundley 2). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Hoskins.