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This should be a barnburner. Put your comments here.

dragons peaking at tourney time--going on a run!

I am a Vinton County fan, but I saw Fairland play in Chesapeake and will definitely be there to see this one!!

What was the score when they faced peake?

Us from "up north" don't know much about Fairland, except their Girls perfect record, so please fill us in. Record, size, speed, scorers, but don't give away any big secerets.

Record is 16-5. 4 of 5 losses came to the state ranked Chesapeake and Ironton teams. All games were close though.

Team can go pretty deep on bench, and I'm sure there will be talk that the key for FHS is Salyers.

... I've said all season that this Fairland ball club IS the real deal ... if you have followed the Elite 8 over the years you will notice one constant that I have in evaluating TEAMS - I look for TEAMS that are solid fundamentally ... Fairland fits the bill to a T ... obviously you start with The BIG Man in the MIddle - Evan Salyers - the kid at 6-5 is the BEST TRUE post player in Southern Ohio - period ... he is a "thick" 6-5 - meaning teams can not move him off the blocks, he CAN post up with his back to basket AND finish at/around the rim, great hands & foot work ... hard to find a post player who is as canny around the rim as Salyers ... he can step out and face the rim hitting the 15 foot jumper consistently , Salyers when he draws his defender out away from the bucket can/does put it on the floor, gets the base line AND FINISHES - I love Evan Salyers game ... IF the Dragon post play was the ONLY thing to stop life would be much easier for opponents to defend the FHS offensive attack BUT (and there IS always a but) Salyers obviously is Option #1 BUT and I do NOT mean any disrespect to the rest of the Fairland TEAM by calling them "role players" ...FHS has quality "role players" around the post play - Evan Maddox can and does knock down the 3 pointer when it is there , a good ball handler, excellent defender ... offensive option #2 would be Blaine Fuller , in the 2 games that I have seen FHS he has averaged 14 points - he can put the ball on the floor and get to the rim, finishes , excellent defender ...Eric Riley another great ball handler,will give you more solid man defense on the perimeter , not a BIG scorer but will get into the paint to dish for the BIGS ... Alec Warner is the 6th man who does it all - can score double digits if needed , gets on the boards, will knock down a trey when left open AND plays defense (are you seeing a pattern here - these kids KNOW how to play DEFENSE) ... other quality minutes come from Cody Midkiff (out of the 5 games I've looked at including 2 that I eyeballed Midkiff can get you double figure scoring at times), Kyle Raines (6-4), Josh Goodman (6-2), Ryan Wooten (6-2) ALL add to the Fairland mix ... finally the freshmen PG Nathan Campbell for FHS - I really really like this kid ! one of the best perimeter ,one on one defenders you will find ... not a lot of scoring BUT with his quick hands/feet he is abel to get into the paint and distribute to Fuller/Warner/Salyers ... count on him to get you 3-4 stls and 5-9 assists per game ... Campbell reminds me of the Hintz boyz from Chesapeake both Peter/Patrick were/are great pg's for the Peake as well as on the ball defenders ... I love this freshmen's all around game - great ball handler vs pressure, will break down the full court pressure and make you pay at the other end of the fast break ...Campbell "see's the floor" as well as any PG out there -will get the ball where it needs to be, he knows who his go to guys are Salyers/Fuller/Warner/Maddox with himself being the last option ... look forward to seeing Campbell grow as a player in the next 3 years, he will become an offensive option down the road for FHS ...


... a few Pfloyd imo's on Fairland ...

* Solid guard play, difficult to pressure out front quick/hands/feet ... very few TOs from the guards (Maddox,Campbell,Riley)

* Big 3 scorers ... Salyers/Fuller/Warner

* FHS will get 5-7+ steals a game

* Dragons take relatively few 3-pointers /game ... Fairland vs Alexander (3's made/taken) 2/6 ... vs South Webster 4/6, game #3 (2/13), game #4 (2/10), game #5 (3-9) , Game #6 (5/11) ... even though they don't take a lot of 3 balls they make good on their share of shots .. mainly due to the penetration/dishing out of Campbell ... as well as getting the ball in the block to Salyers , he see's the floor will kick back out to Maddox for the trey ...

* TO's per game under double digits ... 10 or less ... Dragons had 18 vs Chesapeake in their last meeting ...

* a quote from Coach Speed " We're a DEFENSIVE TEAM" ...

* as a TEAM the Dragons commit few fouls per game ... FHS is NOT a physical ball club ... commits few fouls and doesn't get to the line much during a game

* FHS in the games they have lost (3 of which were to the Peake, 1 to Ironton) had difficulty vs ZONE DEFENSES ... defenses that tried to limit Salyers' touches in the paint while forcing FHS to score from the perimeter ...


Roster

#4 .... Cody Midkiff .... (6-0)... Grade 11
#10 ... Alec Warner ... (5-8)... 12
#20 ... Eric Riley ...... (6-0) ... 12
#21 ... Kyle Raines ... (6-4) ... 11
#22 ... Evan Maddox .. (5-10)... 10
#23 ... Blaine Fuller .. (6-3) .... 12
#24 ... Josh Goodman .. (6-2)... 12
#30 ... Nathan Campbell ... (5-8).. 9
#33 ... Evan Salyers ....... (6-5) ... 12
#50 ... Ryan Wooten ..... (6-2) ... 12
#55 ... Dionte Braye .... (6-3) ... 10

... there you have it - my Napkin Stat "rundown" on what I have thought all season - that Fairland is one of the best TEAMS in Southern Ohio ... patience on offense, outstanding D, great post play and guard play , the role players that KNOW their roles and make it all work ...

I saw alot of the same at the Hillsboro game on Friday. Alot of good players. Fairland will match up with Warren on a pretty even basis. Warren being ranked in the state polls all year might be their only difference. I say a dog fight. Thanks pfloyd. We will miss you at the convo.

Pfloyd, wow, what a breakdown, thx, seems like I've sat in on most of their games.

Two very, very good teams. Unfortunate that they have to meet this early. I'll take Warren by 10.

Warren will have to contain Salyer and the rest and play DEFENSE DEFENSE !! I hope Warren's shooting is better than the last game, and I think it will. IMO. We are usually good against the big guys, so Fairland will have to do it away from the basket if they have to score.

Big game at the Convo and probably one of the closest, contested ones to date.

GO WARRIORS !!!!!

By the way. Great rundown on Fairland, Pfloyd.

... it's killing me here knowing that I can't make it to the Convo to see this one!!! Warren vs Fairland is THE Marque' GAME at the Convo this coming week !!! ... Best of luck to both of these excellent ball clubs ...

Fairland 56 Warren 52

Warren plays BIG in BIG games...just look at the resume....Warren 64 Fairland 54....

... Warren has faced excellent "post" players during the season - Malik London (Chillicothe), Dion McKinley (Portsmouth) <= both for 2 games each - Warren split the 4 games win/loss wise ... taking on Evan Salyers and a stingy Fairland defense is not going to be anything NEW to the Warren ball club ... on the flip side - Fairland will need to deal with the physical strength of the Warriors at ALL positions ... Warren has the most depth Fairland has seen to date - even more so than Ironton to whom the Dragons lost closing out the regular season 58-69 Tigers in that one ... Warriors bring the entire package - inside game, outside perimeter scoring, defensive strength/quicks/ pressure for 4 quarters , and depth ... should be a great game for all that will be in the Cheap Seats Thursday night at the Convo ...

Fairlands point guard 22 reminds me of a young Tyler Manion. Good quick offensive player. Salyers however, suprised me. Seems like whatever he tossed up was going in. My question is can he run for 4 quarters. I watched a few Warren games where ball movement was so quick it looked like a tennis match. i.e. athletic Luke Miller of Logan was bent over catching a breath. Can Salyers run?

... 32,16,6 I"m going to go out on a limb and say "we will find out the answer to your question - Can Salyers run for 4 quarters? - come Thursday night LOL ... 4 quarters getting back on defense , Warren pushing the ball on every possession ... Warren's depth WILL come into play BIG in this one imo ... 10+ deep, no let up defensively/offensively - will be a test for the Fairland boyz for sure ... I see the Warriors punishing the Dragons every time FHS scores by getting the ball back down court as quickly as possible ... those good teams ALWAYS make it hard on us Cheap Seat guys doing Napkin Stats! - as soon as you get one thing written down they already have pushed the ball up court and gotten a shot off !!!

I enjoy watching Winland, Knost, Patton, heck all the Warren boys shutdown big men. Should be more of the same this week.

Good luck to the Warriors from this Trojan fan!!..........I will be there watching!!..........GO SEOAL!!