Akyel Richmond fights to the hoop for F.C. (Photo/DeAnna Robinson)
COLUMBIA (Dec. 16, 2015) – A few more shots going into the basket was what Fairfield Central needed in the second half Tuesday night. The Griffins scored just 9 points over the final two quarters as the Keenan Raiders rolled the Griffins 68-44 in The Cove.
“We could not buy a basket in the second half and Keenan did a great job taking it to their advantage,” Fairfield Central head coach Devin Liferidge said. “We have to take better shot selections if we are going to compete with a tough opponent such as Keenan in the future.”
Despite trailing by 6 points at the break, 37-31, Fairfield Central (0-4) matched Keenan on both ends of the court to give them a shot after halftime. Keenan’s Tariq Simmons (6 points) and Chauncey Haney (5 points) in the third quarter helped lead the Raiders on a 17-4 run to pretty much ice the game for the home team.
“Their guards began to make plays for them and we couldn’t respond in the second half against them,” Liferidge said. “To be champions you have beat the ones who have been there before and Keenan has been known for years to be the team to beat, so we have to execute better in our gym (on Jan. 22) if we want to be competitive.”
FC- Ragin 1, Gibbs 2, Rosebury 3, Adams 13, Pauling 1, Peoples 3, Davis 10, Richmond 13, Armstrong 2. K- Simmons 20, Rodriguez 2, Johnson 2, Osbourne 9, Jones 1, Trapp 2, Johnson 10, Haney 8, Poole 14.
Lady Griffins
A shot of aggression was needed Tuesday night for the Lady Griffins.
A timid Fairfield took an early season beating from the Lady Raiders of Keenan, 64-39.
“Keenan was a lot more aggressive than us tonight,” Fairfield Central head coach Amelia Miller said. “We were beaten on the glass tonight and we beat ourselves with terrible execution.”
After trailing by just a point in the first quarter 15-14, the Lady Raiders pounded out a 21-5 second-quarter advantage behind by Bria Jackson as she dropped 14 points in the second quarter finishing with 18 to lead all scorers.
Keenan’s strong stand on defense led to many turnovers for the Lady Griffins as they could never match Keenan’s intensity on both sides of the court. Despite Keenan’s low scoring output in the second half, only scoring a combined 28 points in the third and fourth quarter, Fairfield’s timid play never allowed them to get back into the game.
FC – Moore 9, Henderson 7, Davis 10, Woodard 3, Cloud 10 K – Hammond 4, Hammond 3, Jackson 18, Bell 4, Young 6, Hill 2, Robinson 11, Jenkins 3, McDaniel 9, Heatley 2, Anderson 2.
