Boys basketball: Trojans fall short of top-ranked upset
Jan. 28—FAIRFIELD — Ryan Wilson had seen all this happen before.
The Fort Madison head boys basketball coach stood down the court in front of his bench with his sights set on the basket at the other end of Fairfield High School's Gymnasium and a basketball that had left the hands of J.J. Lane in the air as time expired.
Almost one year to the day that Lane sank a tie-breaking, buzzer-beating 3-point jumper that lifted Fairfield to a 55-52 win over the Bloodhounds, Lane released another long shot from beyond the arc as the clock hit zeroes. It was in the same spot as last year's game-winning jumper, this time with a chance to force overtime in another incredible battle between the Southeast Conference rivals.
There was a little bit more riding on this shot, however. The chance to knock off the top-ranked team in Class 3A was hanging on Lane's second buzzer-beating 3-point attempt this year.
"I definitely had a little deja-vu from last year when J.J. hit that exact same shot to beat us," Wilson said. "When that shot went up, I'm sure my heart skipped a few beats."
This time, it was Fort Madison that walked out of Fairfield with a 3-point win. Lane's buzzer-beating 3-pointer came up short, allowing the top-ranked Bloodhounds to escape Jefferson County with a hard-fought 57-54 win in hostile territory with a Fairfield gym packed with fans hoping to see No. 1 go down.
"I don't know if getting used to this is the way to put it. This was actually kind of a new experience for us," Wilson said. "We handled it well. There's going be a lot more of this that we can look forward to. We play a lot of road games down the stretch. We'll play in some hostile environments. Everyone is going to give us their best. Everyone is going to want to beat the No. 1 team in the state."
Dayton Davis and Miles Dear, who each tried to throw off Lane's game-winning buzzer beater last January, helped keep the Trojans from scoring the upset. Davis scored 24 points while Dear added 23 as each player scored while being fouled in the final minute to help keep the Bloodhounds in front.
"We haven't played in too many hostile environments like that," Davis said.
"We know they're going to keep coming," Dear added. "People want to knock us off. That's where our hard work comes in. It allows to come up big in those clutch moments."
It was yet another close loss for Fairfield, falling to 4-10 on the season with a 1-7 Southeast Conference record. Seven of those 10 losses have been decided by six points or less, including three of the four meets with the top two teams (Fort Madison and Washington) in the Iowa High School Associated Press 3A rankings that were released on Monday.
Unlike some of those other close losses, however, Fairfield head boys basketball coach Mick Flattery saw plenty to be optimistic about from a Trojan team that forced Fort Madison (14-0, 7-0 Southeast) to fight right down to the final buzzer.
"For our guys to believe they could be in a game like this it great. We talked with them before the game and told them not to make it bigger than it is," Flattery said. "We took a timeout and talked about toughness. We weren't getting on the floor like we should. Right away, Tate Allen went out there and was all over that floor. It became contagious. Sam Weaton started diving around on the floor.
"It was also a great battle between two all-conference big guys in Dayton and Max (Weaton). Dear started out really well. We were able to contain him a little bit in the second half. We battled back and gave ourselves a chance at the end."
Weaton finished with 18 points battling Davis while Lane scored 11, making 2-3 from the foul line in the final minute with the lone miss rimming just short in an effort to tie the game with 46.7 seconds left. Up 53-52, Dear went to work driving to the basket and scoring while drawing a foul on Evan Haines before sinking his own free throw to give Fort Madison a 56-52 lead.
"I know the work I put in. I knew had the ability to blow by the defender and get to the basket," Dear said. "It all goes back to all that hard work we've put in. I wasn't scared to make that move."
Allen hit a tough shot to keep Fairfield alive with 17.2 seconds left. After Dear split two free throws, Fairfield had the ball with eight seconds left and a chance to force overtime with a 3-pointer.
Sam Weaton took the first shot, which was on line but came up just short. With time winding down, Allen made an incredible save leaping into the air to keep the ball from going out of bounds while finding Lane in the same spot one year earlier he hit his buzzer beater.
This time, needing to quickly get the shot off, Lane's 3-point try was again on target. The rush of the shot, however, left it short allowing Fort Madison to escape with the win leaving Fairfield players including Lane looking up longingly at the scoreboard.
"In one way, we're all competitors, so that look is probably a bit of a feeling that we had a chance to beat No. 1 and came that close to pulling it off wondering if you'll ever get that chance again," Flattery said. "On the other side of it, look how close we came to taking down the top team in the state. When you embrace the moment and don't run from it, you give yourself a chance to be No. 1 on the night you play those top teams.
"You don't have to be No. 1 all season. You just have be No. 1 that night. If we do things a little different, things can turn around and probably will. We're looking forward to what we've got left."
Fairfield is back on the court at home on Monday hosting Albia. That same night, Fort Madison will take the state's No. 1 ranking in 3A to Burlington for a key Southeast Conference clash.
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
