"THE FLYING WILLIE" move was on display last week, as demonstrated by Fairfield Eagles cager Willie Tatum against the Brownsboro Bears. The Fairfield high school Eagles improved its post season playoff prospects last week by claiming a pair of District 20-AAA basketball wins over Palestine and Brownsboro.

FHS cagers completed the first round of district Friday with a 2-3 record, tied with the Brownsboro Bears.

Crockett and Athens are currently leading with 4-1 records, Palestine Westwood is in third with a 3-2 mark and the Palestine Wildcats are winless in five starts.

In the early game last week with the Wildcats, the FHS quintet took an 11-10 lead the first period, extended that to 27-17 at half-time and broke open the game in the third period.

Senior Andre Gilley connected on a pair of 3-pointers in the third period, along with a pair of 2-point baskets, to provide 10 of the Eagles 19 points and help the team to a 46-27 lead.

The Eagles tallied 15 points in the final stanza and gave up 11 to win by a 61-38 margin.

"We shot the ball better against the zone," Fairfield head coach Joey Worley says. "Defensively, we held them to 38 points and we were pleased."

"It was good to win a district game at home," he adds.

Scoring leaders with a dozen points each were Gilley and junior post Tevin Green, while junior guard Willie Tatum tallied 11.

Others scoring were: LaDarias Brackens, 9; Josh Lynch, 8; Chris Jones, 6; Jacob Cain, 2; and Evan Simpson, 1.

The Eagles shot 60 percent from the free throw line, hitting six of 10 attempts, and shot 43 percent from the field.

Rebound leaders were Lynch and Green, 10 each, and Gilley grabbed six off the boards.

Tatum made five assists and stole the ball four times.

Fairfield got off to a slow start Friday evening against the Bears, falling behind 6-7 the first period before warming up with 15 second period points to take a 21-15 advantage into intermission.

The Eagles scored 15 points in the third period and 20 in the fourth, giving up six and 17, to get a second district win for the week, 56-38.

"We were really pleased with the effort. Their backs were against the wall and they came out with great focus and intensity," Worley says.

Lynch caught fire in the contest, leading the FHS quitet with 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Others scoring were: Tatum, 9; Vernard Evans, 8; Jones, 7; Gilley, 7; Green, 3; and Cody Anderson, 2.

"Defensively, we held them to single digits until the fourth quarter. They had a lot of 1-and-dones," Worley says.

The FHS coach credits a vocal home crowd with motivating the Eagles to the win against Brownsboro, especially the student cheering section.

Green led the team with 11 rebounds and Tatum chalked up four steals and four assists.

In junior varsity action, the Eagles took a slight 15- 10 first period lead over the Wildcats and exploded for 21 second period points to claim a 36-16 margin at half-time.

Fairfield tallied 14 points in the third period and coasted through the fourth with six points, giving up 15 and 17, for a 56- 48 win.

Leading the offensive charge were Brodrick White, 19 points, and Robert Durham, 12 points.

Others scoring were: Dominique Owens, 9; Garrett Thompson, 6; Dillon Burgess, 6; and Justin Terry, 4.

The Eagles shot 52.6 percent from the free throw line, making 10 of 19 attempts.

Sinking a trey each were Thompson and Burgess.

Fairfield and Brownsboro waged a hard fight that went into overtime before the Eagles fell 59-61.

The Fairfield jv quintet started well by taking a 13- 5 lead over the Bears, but gave up the lead in the second period to trail 21-25 at the half.

The Eagles rallied to go ahead 38-36 in the third period, then wound up tied 51-all at the end of regulation.

In overtime, Fairfield managed just eight points and gave up 10.

Three FHS cagers reached double digits in the game—-Durham scored 16 and teammates Thompson and Owens got a dozen each.

Others scoring were: Terry, 6; and Cooper Vandiver, 3.

The team shot just 23 percent from the free throw line, making four of 13 attempts.

Connecting on a long range shot was Vandiver.

Fairfield freshmen cagers opened a 9-2 lead the first period against Palestine, then let the Wildcats narrow the margin to three points for a 17- 14 advantage at half-time.

The Eagles finished the third period just two points ahead, 27-25, and outscored Palestine 7-3 in the final stanza to win 34- 28.

Reaching double digits with 12 points was Anthony Price.

Others scoring were: Jered DeFrance, 8; Brady Johnson, 5; Jeff Carter, 4; and Matthew Peine, 3.

The Brownsboro contest was even closer as the Eagles held a 24-25 lead at the half, 41-33 advantage through three and found themselves tied 50-all with just two seconds left to play.

Price stepped up to the free throw line after bringing the ball down the court and getting fouled, and made the shot to win the game 51-50.

Leading Fairfield scorer, 19 points, was Jay Brown, Price tallied 12 and DeFrance scored 10.

Brown's total included five 3-point buckets.

Others scoring were: Carter, 3; Peine, 2; Johnson, 2; and Ernest Becks, 2.

The Eagles were scheduled to start the second half of district early this week at Athens, head to Westwood on Friday and host Crockett on Tuesday.