EAGLES VARSITY CAGER Chris Jones drives to the basket against the Westwood Panthers. A pair of wins last week by the Fairfield high school Eagles varsity basketball team moved them to third place in District 20-AAA standings with three regular games remaining on the schedule.

Fairfield, with victories over the Athens Hornets and Palestine Westwood Panthers, are posting a 4-3 season mark to trail Crockett, 6-1, and Athens, 5-2.

The Eagles lost to Athens and Westwood earlier in the year at home, but beat both opponents on the road.

Westwood and Brownsboro are 3-4 in district games and Palestine is 0-7.

The box score does not indicate it, but the Eagles held the Hornets scoreless for a full quarter in taking a 42-29 win early last week.

From 2:36 minutes remaining in the second quarter through the first 6:30 of the third period, the Hornets could not get a basket.

The FHS quintet also held Athens to single digit scoring in all four periods.

The Eagles jumped out to a 14-7 lead the first period and took a 22-12 advantage into intermission.

FAIRFIELD EAGLES JUNIOR POST Tevin Green takes a shot over the top of a Westwood Panther in District 20-AAA action on the road Friday night. Fairfield tallied 12 points the third period and eight in the fourth, giving up nine and eight.

"It was a big win because they had beaten us here," FHS head coach Joey Worley says.

The coach reports that when his team was up by 15 points in the fourth quarter they became patient with the ball, setting up and taking only the best shots.

In double digits with 12 points, and grabbing 12 rebounds was senior Josh Lynch, who also blocked four shots. Lynch scored his first six points on offensive rebound putbacks.

Others scoring were: Chris Jones, 7; Willie Tatum, 6; LaDarius Brackens, 6; Andre Gilley, 6; and Tevin Green, 5.

Green also grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked four shots, and Gilley got nine rebounds.

The Eagles out rebounded the Hornets 41-31 in the contest.

Fairfield shot 44 percent from the floor, but were just 37.5 percent from the free throw line, making three of eight attempts.

On the other side, Athens shots 19 percent from the floor and 36 percent from the charity stripe.

Against Westwood on the road Friday evening, the Eagles got off to a fast start by taking a 15-10 first period lead, provided largely by Jones who tallied nine of the first 11 total points scored in the game by either team.

"He got us off to a great start," Worley says.

The Panthers were not done by any means, though, as they made up a couple points of the deficit to make it a 27-24 game at half-time.

Early in the third period Westwood took a 32-31 lead, then the Eagles answered with a 13 point run, keyed by six consecutive points by Brackens, to end the period ahead 44- 38.

The Eagles half their 16 fourth period points from the free throw line when Westwood had to start fouling late, giving the FHS quintet a needed 60-50 win.

"We needed to get a split with them," Worley says, noting that the Panthers won an earlier matchup in overtime.

"We were both 3-3 going into the game and were tied for third place," he adds.

Junior guard Tatum had a big night with 14 points to lead the team, while Lynch tallied 12 and Jones and Green hit for 10 each.

"Willie is back to looking like he did last year. He is getting back in the paint," the coach reports.

Others scoring were: Vernard Evans, 8; and Brackens, 6.

The Eagles won the rebounding battle again, 45-33, with three players in doubles---Green grabbed 13, Lynch got 12 and Gilley had 11.

"They are doing a great job on the boards," Worley says.

Fairfield shot 50 percent from the field, but still needs improvement from the free throw line. Free throw shooting was 55 percent, connecting on 11 of 20 attempts.

However, Fairfield made eight free throws in the final stanza to help put away the game.

"We made some big free throws when they were fouling us at the end," the coach says.

In junior varsity action at Athens, the Eagles took an 11-8 lead the first period and were out scored by four points the second period to trail 21-22 at the half.

Fairfield jv cagers won the third period 14-12 to retake the lead and matched the Hornets' nine fourth period points for a close 44-43 win.

Leading the offensive effort with 15 points was Brodrick White.

Others scoring were: Justin Terry, 8; Dominique Owens, 6; Dillon Burgess, 5; Cooper Vandiver, 4; Garrett Thompson, 2; and Robert Durham, 2.

The jv shot 53 percent from the free throw line, making eight of 15 attempts.

Holding the Panthers to single digits through four quarters, the Eagles jv quintet claimed a 53-26 road win.

Fairfield took a 13-4 lead the first period, held a 32-12 advantage at the half and were ahead 35-21 through the third period.

Eight of the 11 players on the team scored.

Getting points were: Thompson, 9; Burgess, 9; Owens, 9; Jacob Cain, 7; Josh Brown, 7; Durham, 7; White, 4; and Anthony Price, 1.

Free throw shooting came in at 44 percent, with the Eagles hitting eight of 18 attempts.

Connecting on a 3- pointer each were Cain, Burgess and Brown.

The Eagles were scheduled to host Crockett early this week, and finish up the district season on the road Friday at Palestine and Tuesday at Brownsboro.