HOLLY POND, Ala. – The first of Tuesday night’s JV Boys matchups featured a showdown between the Fairview Aggies and the Broncos of Holly Pond. Both squads were fighting for a spot in Saturday’s county championship game but after a tight first quarter, the Aggies outscored Holly Pond 15-5 in the second to create some separation and were eventually able to pull away and defeat the Broncos 62-36.
Cade Arnold laid one in and Kobe Payne converted a three-point play at the line to give the Aggies a 5-0 start to the game. Carter Thomas scored inside to get Holly Pond on the board but Cylas Yarbrough netted a pair of free throws to put Fairview back in front by five with just over four minutes to play in the opening period. Yarbrough added two more shots from the line to make it a 9-2 game and Arnold scored off of Bronco turnover to extend the lead to 11-2. Diego Garcia laid one in to trim the lead to seven and Brayden Cason scored inside to make it 11-6 with two minutes remaining in the first. Yarbrough finished another three-point play at the line to give the Aggies a 14-6 lead late in the quarter but Kollin Brown buried a deep three-pointer and scored off a turnover to trim the lead all the way to 14-11. However, Arnold and Cade Yeager were each able to score buckets for Fairview in the final moments of the first to make it an 18-11 game going into the second.
Payne knocked down a three to put the Aggies in front by 10 at the start of the second quarter and Cooper Salazar laid one in to make it a 23-11 game. Brown drilled another deep three-pointer to cut into the Fairview lead, but Payne responded with a basket on the other end to maintain an 11-point lead. Back to back Arnold buckets gave the Aggies a 29-15 advantage with just over a minute remaining in the opening half and Arnold added two more scores before the break to give Fairview a 33-16 advantage going into the locker room at halftime.
The Aggies maintained a 34-20 lead early in the third quarter and neither team was able to make much happen on the offensive end throughout the period. Yeager laid one in to make it a 37-20 game with two minutes to play in the quarter and he banked one in from three-point range to extend the Fairview lead to 20. Cason scored a Holly Pond basket in the final moments of the third, but the Aggies went into the final frame holding a 40-22 lead over the Broncos.
Hunter Farr scored inside the paint to trim the lead to 16 at the start of the fourth quarter but Arnold and Bryson Chamness each scored quick, transition baskets for Fairview to get the lead back to 44-24. Bradley Smith laid one in to add to the lead, but Cason responded with a bucket on the other end. Smith and Cason traded two more baskets to make it a 48-28 game with four minutes remaining and Farr turned a steal into an and-one play for Holly Pond, but the lead was too much to overcome and Fairview pulled away to take the semifinal matchup 62-36.
Arnold led all scorers with 21 points in the win. Yarbrough added 10 points for the Aggies and Payne and Smith posted eight. Cason led the way for the Broncos with 11 points in the loss, followed by Brown with eight and Hunter and Levi Farr with four.
Fairview will advance to play either West Point or Good Hope in the JV Boys title game Saturday at 3:40 p.m. at Tom Drake Coliseum.
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