By MATT FULTZ / For The Independent
SUMMIT — It was Fairview’s fourth game of the week, including three over the past three days, but the Eagles showed no signs of fatigue, cruising past Boyd County 59-44 Saturday night at Boyd County Middle School gymnasium.
Fairview (18-4) finished the week with a 3-1 record, with the loss coming against Ashland on Thursday.
“I have been really pleased this week,” said Fairview coach Derek Cooksey. “We took a tough loss to Ashland and it would have been really easy for us to hang our heads. We have gotten off to slow starts the past couple of games and I don’t know if that was because of fatigue, but overall I am really pleased with the way we played.”
Brent Jackson helped get the Eagles off to a hot start by scoring seven of his 13 points in the first period. Fairview held a 16-9 advantage after one quarter.
Boyd County (2-17) tried to slow down the game and make the Eagles work on the defensive end in an attempt to wear them down.
“We wanted to work the ball around and try to make them play defense because we knew that they had tired legs,” said Boyd County coach Dave Wooten. “We just wanted them to have to play defense so we could try and wear them down because they are only playing six players.”
The Eagles opened the second quarter on a 10-2 run to push the lead to 26-11, and after that the Lions would never get any closer than 13 points.
Fairview, playing without Mike Terry due to an injury, had a balanced offensive attack, with four players finishing in double figures.
“With Michael out, it gives other people an opportunity to step up,” said Cooksey.
One of the players that stepped up for the Eagles was Trey Stai, who finished 14 points and six rebounds.
“Trey, who a lot of times isn’t thought of as a scorer and primarily a defense player, drove the lanes exceptionally hard tonight and got some easy baskets,” Cooksey said.
Caleb Collins and J.D. Adams also scored in double figures for Fairview, adding 15 and 11 points, respectively.
The Lions’ Jacob Mayes, who has been playing well of late, led all scorers with 18 points. Eric Gindlesperger added nine points, all on 3-pointers.
The two teams will play again on Tuesday night at Fairview in both team’s final district game of the season.
Fairview and Boyd County will also meet in the opening game of the 64th District Tournament with the winner advancing to play Ashland in the finals.
