SIDNEY — Fairlawn ran away from Lehman Catholic in the fourth quarter of a nonconference game on Saturday night to finish regular season with a 56-44 win.
The Cavaliers came as close as three points in the third quarter, but Fairlawn pushed its lead to 40-34 by the end of the quarter. The Jets then used a 16-10 scoring advantage in the fourth to push the margin of victory to 12 points.
Fairlawn freshman guard Ashton Piper led the team with 14 points to lead a balanced scoring effort. Senior guard Steve Blanford scored 11 points while freshman guard Skyler Piper and senior forward Drew Brautigam each added 10 points. Brautigam scored all of his points in the second half.
“All year, it’s been a different guy every night,” Fairlawn coach Justin Tidwell said. “That’s what kind of makes us a little dangerous. We don’t know who’s going to be the guy every night, and neither does the other team. They do a nice job of playing as a team.
Senior forward Luke Hickman added seven points. Saturday was senior night for Fairlawn, and Tidwell was happy the team sent the class out with a win. He said it was also a big night for Brautigam and Hickman.
“Drew’s been a varsity player for four years and Luke’s been a varsity player for three years,” Tidwell said. “It’s always nice to send the seniors out on a win. It’s the best thing you can havefor them.”
Fairlawn jumped out to an early 14-4 lead, but Kameron lee hit a 3-pointer in the final minute of the first to bring the Cavaliers within seven points.
Lehman cut Fairlawn’s lead down to as little as two points in the second. The Jets led 28-23 at halftime and finished the third quarter on a 6-2 run.
Skyler Piper scored five points and Brautigam scored three in the fourth quarter to help the Jets hold on to the win.
“We just weren’t making the shots,” Lehman coach Tim Gleason said. “I felt like we were getting some good shots, we just weren’t making them. I was very pleased with the defense. We were just very offensive challenged. I felt like at the end of the first half, we had a group of kids on the floor that really did a nice job of playing together, and they did a nice job of helping us come back. But give Fairlawn credit; they played really well tonight.”
Fairlawn finished regular season 11-11 overall. The Jets are the No. 5 seed in the Piqua Division IV sectional and will open tournament play against No. 5 Triad on Friday.
Fairlawn dropped to 3-7 with a loss to Anna on Jan. 5 but won its next four games and has stayed around .500 since. The Jets’ lost 73-39 to Anna in their first matchup but played the Rockets even in the first three quarters before an eventual 61-50 loss on Friday.
“They’ve proved a lot of people wrong,” Tidwell said of the group. “I don’t think at the beginning of the season many people thought we’d be where we are. They’ve accepted the challenge. …We played very strong in January, and it’s kind of set us up to be where we want to be at the end of the year.”
Lehman, which beat Temple Christian on Friday, finished 9-13 overall.
Gleason said the loss was another in an inconsistent effort for the Cavaliers this year.
“We played really superb last night, and a lot of times, we’re finding that after we play a really good game, then we don’t play very well the next game,” Gleason said. “Don’t know the reason. As a coaching staff, we’re a little puzzled by it.”
Gleason said the best example of the team’s inconsistency this year was at Piqua’s holiday tournament. The Cavaliers lost to the Indians by nine points without Lee in the lineup in a semifinal. With Lee back in the lineup the next night, they lost to Covington (5-17).
“We’re just a very inconsistent team,” Gleason said. “We’re not very good consistently shooting well from the floor, and that hurts us.”
Lehman is the No. 9 seed in the Piqua D-IV sectional. The Cavaliers will open postseason play on Friday against No. 11 Covington.
