Charleston – Friday’s Class AAA semifinal clash between No. 2 seed Fairmont Senior and No. 7 seed Scott was a battle inside strength versus perimeter prowess.
Using its strength inside and playing solid perimeter defense, the Polar Bears held off the second straight upset bid by the Skyhawks, 68-54.
Scott was coming off a stunning upset of No. 2 seed Logan Wednesday.
“Watching Scott play against Logan, we knew we had to defend the 3 and they shoot their 3’s in a variety of ways. That was really important. It was just an overall really good performance defensively. We also accomplished the things we needed to do offensively.”
The upset-minded Skyhawks started fast and held the lead for nearly 12 minutes of the contest before Fairmont’s size began to wear on them.
Zycheus Dobbs gave the Polar Bears their first lead on a 3-pointer with 4:23 to play in the half and Fairmont never relinquished the advantage.
A score inside by DeSean Goode preceded an athletic block on the other end by Eric Smith. The Polar Bear big man then secured an offesnive rebound on the next possession.
Smith’s stickback made it a five-point Fairmont lead before Jaren Gaiter answered for the Skyhawks.
A triple by Dominic Viani and a tip-in to beat the buzzer by Goode gave Fairmont a 31-23 lead at the break.
Goode was a problem all game for the smaller Skyhawks pouring in 31 points and grabbing 17 rebounds with eight coming off the offensive glass.
“He has so much length over our guys. A lot of those rebounds, we boxed him out and had position,” Scott head coach Shawn Ballard said. “The guys were putting the effort in, but sometimes guys are just taller and longer than you are. He does a good job not pushing into guys boxing him out.”
A jumper from Joe Uram and a pair of free throws put Scott behind eight-ball building a 10-point lead early in the second half.
The gritty Skyhawks never quit and trimmed the lead the to six at the end of the third quarter. A 3-pointer from Jayden Sharps with 5:44 remaining brought Scott within three points, but that was its last hurrah.
Six straight points from Goode separated the game for the final time.
“In the second half when we started extending our pressure,” Ballard said. “Dobbs is such a good guard and he would get penetration. We would have to help off a little bit and (Goode) is such a big target for him when we help off.”
Fairmont Senior advances to Saturday’s Class AAA championship game against the winner of Shady Spring and Wheeling Central Catholic.
Dobbs finished with 17 points, while Smith had 10 rebounds. Landon Stone led Scott with 16 points and Reece Carden added 10.
The Polar Bears held the Skyhawks to 6-of-31 from behind the arc.
