Five Takeaways: Fairmont at Beavercreek
Photo Credit: James Rider
A double OT thriller in Beavercreek, OH had the fans on their feet for most of the game as Fairmont outlasted Beavercreek 80-76 on Friday night. Firebirds senior guard Jack Hendricks (#186 2018) continues to dominate the Dayton area with a 23 point outing while Beavercreek was led by Jon Alessandro (#34 2018) and 21 points. Fairmont continues to impress a lot of people and is still looking like a dark horse contender in Division I. These were my Five Takeaways from this GWOC matchup.
Fairmont can shoot the 3 ball well
15 of Fairmont’s first 20 points came from behind the arc. Hendricks and Kellan Bochenek (2019) paced the Firebirds outside assault. This Fairmont team has 2 other starters that can also knock down long range shots in Cade Morgan (2018) and Ryan Hall (#82 2019). The constant threat behind the arc allows the Firebirds to spread 4 wide across the perimeter and attack off the drive opening up good shot opportunities.
Beavercreek made changes after the 1st that exposed a weakness
After Fairmont’s big 1st quarter, Beavercreek slowed the tempo down on the offensive end, focusing on running half-court sets and resetting the offense; usually swinging the ball from side to side if the initial look wasn’t there. As a result, Fairmont did not have as many opportunites to push the ball in transition and could not take advantage of fast break opportunities that led to the bulk of their points in the 1st quarter. This plan worked as Beavercreek outscored Fairmont in the 2nd and 4th quarter keeping them in the game.
The Beavers can learn from Fairmont behind the arc
I felt watching Fairmont that everyone had a green light to shoot and all 5 players on the court had the confidence to put up shots. Beavercreek on the other hand did not seem to match that intensity. Alessandro and Chris Herbort (#52 2020) were the only players that seemed confident to put up open shots. Brayden Walther (2019) had a strong showing, but even he passed up on a few open shots to try and set up a teammate. The unselfishness isn’t a bad thing at all, but come tournament time, they will need someone besides Alessandro and Herbort to shoot the ball.
January will show us if Fairmont is the real deal
The Firebirds have been clearly outstanding up to this point in the season, but the next few games will really show us how good they can be. This week they face Lebanon and Spire Institute, and they face GWOC leaders Wayne, Springfield, and Trotwood-Madison later this month. Beavercreek also has some good matchups coming up with games against St. Xavier and Springfield later in the month.
The future looks good for both teams
It may be too early to be looking into the 2019 season, but both teams have talented players returning that should give both programs confidence they can compete. Fairmont has Bochenek and Hall in the junior class as well as Dashawn Brown (#120 2019) coming back. Bochenek has a dagger of a long range shot, Hall will be their next top point guard, and Brown shows promise of being a low post scorer with his length and athleticism. Beavercreek also has a strong back-court returning in Herbort and Yousef Saleh (#79 2020). Saleh came off the bench and handled Fairmont’s full court pressure extremely well, but he passed up on several midrange opportunities on the offensive end.