SAN ANTONIO — Fayetteville boy’s basketball was defeated by Jayton High School by a final score of 65-26 March 7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The Lions were very much in the game after the first half, then Jayton's guard play took over, which led to easy scoring. "We knew coming into the game, it was going to be very tough defensively," said Fayetteville head boy’s basketball coach Jake Diggs.
"They showed a lot of grit. We just picked a really bad day for our shot not to fall. We had some good opportunities and couldn't get the ball in the hole. It was a lot of stuff here and there that didn't go our way. Hats off to them. Coach Bleiker does a really good job with that program. Hats off to those guys." Lions senior guard Keagan Supak is a natural athlete who played a huge part in the team's success throughout the entire season. "It's been fun," Supak said on playing in a venue like the Alamodome. "Heck of an experience." Jayton scored the first nine points of the game and they all came from sophomore guard Sean Stanaland. Fayetteville fought back with a three from guard Easton Jaeger and two free throws from Cash Smith at the 1:07 mark in the first quarter to put it at 13-7 at the end of the quarter in favor of Jayton.
Lions point guard Mason Fenhaus made a nice drive and spin move early in the second quarter to cut the lead to 15-12, then Jayton stretched their lead again with more scoring from Stanaland, which included him driving the length of the court and making a layup to take a 26-15 lead with 1:20 to go in the second quarter. Smith went on to hit two more free throws for Fayetteville before Fenhaus made a steal and a fast break layup in the final seconds of the half to make it 26-19 with Jayton ahead at halftime.
The Lions came out strong in the third quarter as Jaeger drove
baseline and made a nice and one basket for a 26-21 scoreboard at the 6:45 mark. The Jaybirds bounced right back and took their double-digit lead back at 32-22 when they made a layup with 4:15 to play, leading to another layup in put back fashion to surge ahead 36-23 at the end of the third quarter.
Jayton took total control in the fourth quarter with more scoring from Stanaland, mostly on layups and nice drives to the rim. Fayetteville had trouble finding open shots due to Jayton's feisty defense, leading to a comfortable final quarter for the Jaybirds and a 65-26 win.
