Dragons can't hold lead, fall to Falcons in District Semis

ATHENS — The Minford Falcons took advantage of a four-minute scoring drought by Fairland in the fourth period, and the Dragons fell 58-45 in the Boys Division 3 District Semifinal at Ohio University's Convocation Center on Sunday evening.

Fairland's Brody Buchanan (33) puts up a jumper during Sunday's Boys Division 3 District Semifinal game between the Minford Falcons. (Photo by Tim Gearhart)

The Flacons return to Athens on Saturday, March 9 and face the winner of Ironton and North Adams at 6:00 PM.

Brody Buchanan led the Dragons in scoring with 17 points. Trevor Lochow went three-for-three from behind the arc for 9 points.

Minford jumped out to an early 8-4 lead after a lay-in by Jackson Shoemaker.

Fairland responded as Buchanan buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the Falcons' lead to one with 1:18 remaining opening frame. Then Chase Allen drained a trey from the corner as time expired, giving the Dragons a 10-8 lead after one period.

Buchanan sparked the Dragons offensively in the second period, scoring the first 7 points and boost their lead to 17-13. He later swished another 3-pointer in the final seconds to give the Dragons a 24-18 lead at the break.

The Mohawks started to gain the momentum in the third, highlighted by Keyser's dunk off an alley-oop pass from Jeffery Pica that brought the Northwest crowd to life and gave Fairland just a 29-26 lead.

Montogmery's jumper from the foul line gave Minford it's first lead since the first quarter 30-29 with 3:50 remaining.

Fairland's Trevor Lochow (3) bounces a pass to a teammate during Sunday's Boys Division 3 District Semfinal game between the Minford Falcons. (Photo by Tim Gearhart)

Lochow would tie things back up with a 3-pointer on Fairland's ensuing possession.

Lochow would sink another three at the buzzer to give the Dragons a slim 37-36 lead heading into the final period. He extended Fairland's lead even more with a 3-pointer from the corner to make the score 42-38 with 5:58 remaining.

On their next possession, Keyser hit a jumper from the foul line, making it a two-point game. He followed up on the defensive end with a block shot, resulting in two free throws from Montgomery to tie it back up with just over 5 minutes remaining.

Montgomery then forced a turnover and score to give Minford a 44-42 lead with 4:55 on the clock.

Keyser scored three-straight under the basket, including an and-one to give the Falcons a 51-42 lead with 3:35 to go.

Allen sank a free throw with 2:28 left to stop a 14-0 run by Minford. To that point, Fairland hadn't scored for nearly four minutes and trailed 52-43.

Rhodes added three straight from the charity stripe, giving Minford it's biggest lead of the game and the final score.

Minford was led by Montgomery with 22 points and 7 boards. Keyser scored 17 and grabbed 8 rebounds.

Fairland 10 14 13 8 = 45

Minford 8 10 19 22 = 58

FAIRLAND (16-8): Will Davis 2-11 0-2 0-0 4, Chase Allen 2-11 0-2 1-2 6, Noah Marcum 2-7 0-3 0-0 4, Keegan Smith 2-4 1-3 0-0 5, Brody Buchannan 7-14 3-7 0-0 17, Trevor Lochow 3-5 3-4 0-0 9, Brycen Hunt 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Peyton Jackson 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Elijah Kipp 0-0 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-52 1-2 45. 3-pt goals: 7-21. Rebounds: 28 (Smith 6, Davis 4, Allen 4, Buchanan 4). Assists: 7 (Buchanan 3, Allen 2). Steals: 0. Turnovers: 12. Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Keegan Smith.

MINFORD (19-4): Troy Rhodes 2-4 0-1 4-6 8, Myles Montogmery 6-11 1-3 10-10 22, Jeffery Pica 1-2 0-1 2-2 4, Jackson Shoemaker 2-8 0-4 3-5 9, Bennett Keyser 8-12 0-0 1-4 17, Cade Glockner 0-0 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-37 20-27 58. 3-pt goals: 1-10. Rebounds: 25 (Keyser 8, Montgomery 5, Shoemanker 5). Assists: 5 (Keyser 2). Steals: 7 (Keyser 2, Montgomery 2). Turnovers: 5. Fouls: 7. Fouled out: None.