Boys Basketball
Fairfax claws past Lone Peak, 44-40, for third


  

Tue, Dec 22, 2015 @ Iolani


Final 1 2 3 4  
Fairfax 8 872144
Lone Peak 10 5 18 740




Babacar Thiombane's free throw with 4.2 seconds sealed the deal as Fairfax (Los Angeles, Calif.) rallied to beat No. 17 Lone Peak (Highland, Utah), 44-40 to claim third place in the Iolani Classic on Tuesday night.

"It's huge because we are really young and we play a freshman and a a sophomore a lot and even the seniors, they are playing major roles. This group has been very resilient," said Fairfax coach Harvey Kitani.

Ethan Anderson came off the bench and led the Lions with 13 points. Thiombane added 12 and Jamal Hartwell chipped in 10.

Frank Jackson poured in 22 points to lead the Knights, who are currently ranked 17th in the USA Today Super 25 Expert Rankings. He scored 11 in the third quarter and his two free throws gave Lone Peak a 10-point lead, 33-23 going into the fourth quarter. Jackson went 7 of 8 from the free throw line and hit three 3's.

"Jeremy Hamilton and Robert McRae did an outstanding job and it was a team thing, because one guy can't guard a good player like that. So we were able to help and it was a collective thing about them," said Kitani, on defending Jackson.

The Lions found life in the fourth and outscored the Knights, 21-7. Anderson scored nine of those points in the fourth quarter to help rally Fairfax. Hartwell also contributed to the rally and brought the Lions within three, 38-35 after he crossed his opponent and hit the jumper. The Lions immediately called timeout with 3:11 remaining.

"I was very proud of them, to be in that situation and play a good team like Lone Peak and to grind each possession and make good plays to convert. It was a good way to end this tournament," said Kitani.

Lawrence McGee hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 38 with a little over two minutes remaining and Anderson's steal and layup gave Fairfax a 40-38 lead prompting Lone Peak to call a full timeout with 1:50 left.

"We had to defend, rebound and make passes. We had too many bad passes and even at the end, we had the ball and make a bad pass, the score is tied and we were lucky they came down and missed and we were able to get the ball back," said Kitani.

"We made too many bad passes and committed too many turnovers," lamented Lone Peak coach David Evans. 

Jackson hit two free throws to tie the game at 40. McGee's basket with over 31 seconds remaining gave the Lions the lead, 42-40. Anderson was fouled, he missed the first free throw, but sank the second to give Fairfax a 3-point cushion, 43-40 with 17.1 seconds on the clock.

Following a Knights' timeout, Jackson dribbled time off the clock and passed it to Nate Harkness who had a 3-point shot near the top of the arc, but it bounced out and Thiombane grabbed the rebound and was fouled immediately with 4.2 seconds. He made the first free throw and the second rimmed out and Jackson's half court heave was no good.

Fairfax led at the half, 16-15 but Lone Peak made a run to start the third with a 10-0 run to create some separation. 



Reach Brandon Ching at [email protected].



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