Fairborn’s Jamil Huffman (31) goes up for a jumpshot against Lebanon during boys basketball action at Fairborn Memorial Field House on Wednesday night.
FAIRBORN — Blake Davenport and the Lebanon Warriors had an answer any time the Skyhawks tried to gather some momentum Wednesday night.
Davenport scored 36 points, and the Warriors handed Fairborn its seventh-straight loss of the season, 70-65, in a GWOC South rivalry game on senior night at Fairborn Memorial Field House.
In the rare game where he was upstaged by an opposing player, Kendrick Williams scored 22 points to lead Fairborn (3-15, 2-4 GWOC South).
“[Davenport] is a good player and he got the momentum on his side,” said Fairborn head coach Nathan Chivington. “We tried to force some turnovers late, but Lebanon did a good job of taking care of the basketball. They got some key putbacks, and we can’t allow those second chance opportunities to happen.”
It was the final home game for senior Anthony Hillsman. Plagued by injury for the first 12 games of the season, the 6-feet-6-inch Fairborn center scored 15 points with six rebounds against Lebanon.
“Our record and our rebounding has been greatly affected by Hillsman’s injury this year. He worked hard in the offseason to prepare,” Chivington said. “It was an unfortunate circumstance with his injury, and we’ve had to go forward with what we have. Even from the bench though we’ve been pleased with what he’s done, and I hope nothing but good things in the future for him. He’ll always be a part of the Skyhawk family.”
Jordan Russell scored 11 points and Beau Smith and Dusty Isaacs added nine each for the Warriors (5-13, 3-3 GWOC South).
Fairborn held a 16-15 lead by the end of the first quarter with the help of a pair of 3-pointers from Brad Hall — who finished with 13 points — and a buzzer-beating jumper from Kendrick Williams over two defenders.
As has been the case in the past, however, things weren’t nearly as fun for the Hawks in the second quarter.
Lebanon shot 9-of-13 from the field in the second frame, and Davenport began to heat up as halftime neared. He scored the final nine points of the second quarter for Lebanon, capping his run with a pullback 3-pointer to give the Warriors a 34-29 halftime lead.
The Warriors started the third period on a 6-0 scoring run, prompting Chivington to replace his starters with five new players off the bench: Tramail Kincaide, Kelvin Gassion, David Choi, Curtis Thomas and Tyler Wlazlo. The new five helped keep Lebanon scoreless for nearly five minutes, and when Williams came back in, he scored seven-straight points to get Fairborn within three at 40-37.
Fairborn’s momentum quickly died though when Davenport drained a 3-pointer and hit a free throw to give the Warriors a 44-38 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“I can take guys going on a run, but the five guys we had didn’t respond with any fight,” Chivington said. “I wanted guys who would go in and fight. That second group came in and played strong, and unfortunately we were just never really able to get past that five or six-point range.”
The Hawks were able to get within four early in the fourth after consecutive baskets from Hillsman, but Davenport’s 17 fourth-quarter points allowed the Warriors to pull away for the comfortable win.
Jamil Huffman added nine points for the Hawks.
Fairborn is back in action at Miamisburg on Friday night.
