Jacob Nicol, right, of Fairbanks draws a foul while driving down the paint against West Jefferson on Friday. Nicol tallied 10 points during the Panthers’ 58-48 win.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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The Panthers of Fairbanks boys basketball team made its first big push to claim the title of the Ohio Heritage Conference North champion with a 58-48 win over West Jefferson Friday.
Fairbanks head coach Justin George was happy with the win as it set the team up for conference success.
“I think West Jefferson, West Liberty and us are going to all be fighting for the top spot in the OHC,” he said. “This is a good step for us.”
Both teams came off of the tip with strong man-to-man defense that challenged every shot.
Each team traded shot-for-shot with the lead never getting above four points.
The equal matchups lead to a 12-12 stalemate at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw trouble start to brew for the Panthers.
Braylon Green got into some early foul trouble that led to a technical foul and put him on the bench for the remainder of the first half.
Nick Murray, though, came off the bench and chipped in three points from the free-throw line.
That allowed FHS to take a 25-22 lead at the half.
“We had some big mistakes in the first half,” George said. “We were still fortunate to be ahead by three.
“Overall, it was great team effort,” he said. “The bench came through in the first half when we got into some foul trouble and kept us there. That is always a good thing to see.”
The Panther shooters kept the tempo high as they tallied 12 points during the third quarter behind the efforts of Cross Hackathorne and Green.
Fairbanks’ real success came from the free-throw line in the final quarter.
FHS put eight different shooters at the stripe and the Panthers notched seven points. George said this was the real difference in the game.
“When we got to the free-throw line, that was the big difference,” he said. “When you get there 24 times, that’s was big in this game.”
The Rough Riders attempted to answer with some long shots, but the Panthers answered with a few three-point goals of their own to take a healthy lead by the end of the game.
George credits the win to his starters getting to double digits.
“We have to have our starters in double digits for us to be successful,” he said. “They hit some big shots when we needed them and that is all you can really ask for.”
The Panthers will return to OHC action on Tuesday when they travel to Triad.
FHS 12 13 12 21 58
WJ 12 10 10 16 48
Fairbanks
Hackathorne 6-1-15, Green 5-3-13, Beem 3-4-12, Nicol 2-4-10, Murray 0-3-3, Smith 1-0-3, Miller 1-0-2. Totals 18-15-58.
Three-point field goals: Hackathorne 2, Beem 2, Nicol 2.
West Jefferson
Hamter 4-3-14, Thompson 4-2-13, Fuller 3-2-10, Casey 3-2-8, King 1-1-3. Totals 15-10-48.
Three-point field goals: Hamter 3, Thompson 3, Fuller 2.