Road warriors: South Fayette grinds out win at Ringgold
MONONGAHELA – The South Fayette boys basketball team entered Friday with a 5-8 record, but their point differential was only minus-8.
They’re even now thanks to the disciplined and physical defense they brought with them to Ringgold and are one better in the win column.
The Lions frustrated the Rams with regularity and were proficient on the offensive end as well on their way to a 59-51 victory, their fourth on the road in Class 5A Section 3 play.
“Our No. 1 emphasis on our board tonight was to execute on both ends of the floor, not just offensively,” South Fayette coach Dave Mislan said. “(Ringgold) is a tough team to guard, because they have size and athleticism. We were really focused in terms of being in the gaps and trying to limit them to one shot.”
South Fayette (4-3, 6-8) moved into sole possession of third place in the section, while Ringgold fell to 3-4 in the section and 9-6 overall.
“Our schedule has been a bear,” Mislan said. “That comes with the territory. I don’t think we’re games like this. We’re 4-0 on the road in the section and that’s hard to do. I’m pleased. We’re getting better as the season goes.”
South Fayette led by 10 at halftime, but put the game away with a 12-3 run to begin the third quarter.
Owen Keener, who had made his living inside most of the night, nailed a three-pointer in front of the South Fayette bench, which increased the lead to 35-18.
Tyson Wright followed with a steal and score and that forced a Ringgold timeout.
Keener led the Rams with 19 points and Wright scored 18.
“Owen is always begging us to let him shoot some threes,” Mislan said. “He has a decent shot, but more than anything he’s great inside, so we like him there. He can shoot the three though.”
The Lions ended the quarter strong with a basket by Keener and a runner by Will Scanlon at the buzzer to make it 44-22.
South Fayette won the quarter 19-7 and allowed only three baskets by Ringgold.
“I thought Eli Latouf did a really good job in space attacking gaps,” Midlan said. “We tried to spread them out once we had the lead. It’s hard to do when you don’t but when you have the lead, they have to come out and get you everywhere.”
The Lions saw out the game from there.
Ringgold found a little more rhythm on offense in the fourth, scoring 2 points and made the final score respectable, but the hole was well too big to climb from.
South Fayette set the tone right away.
The Lions were strong on both sides of the ball in the first quarter and got out to a 12-4 lead.
They forced Ringgold to settle for tough shots and the Rams made only two of them. One was by Demetri Lowe, who followed his own miss and Braylon Lomax hit a step back jumper.
Meanwhile, the Lions were efficient on the offensive end, scoring most of their baskets right around the rim.
Keener had six points in the quarter, four coming on layups and two more on free throws after being fouled on a shot in the paint.
The Rams found a little more offense in the second quarter, but South Fayette still won the frame 13-11 to take a 25-15 lead into halftime.
South Fayette feasted in the paint with nine of its 10 first half field goals coming from inside the arc. The only three for South Fayette was hit by Dylan Monz from the top of the arc with 1:55 remaining in the half, which made it 23-8 for South Fayette’s largest lead to that point.
Kennedy Nash answered with a three for Ringgold on its next possession. That was the Rams’ only three of the game.
Mason Colich and Demaris Tolliver scored on back-to-back possessions in the final minute for Ringgold to cut the deficit to 10.
Demetri Lowe led the Rams with 12 points. Takeo Tolliver had 11 points and Dennis Hawkins scored nine, all of them coming in the fourth quarter.