FAIRMONT, W.Va — When Greg Johnson connected on a three-pointer with 3:25 to play in the fourth quarter, Fairmont Senior was even with Charleston Catholic at 41, erasing what had been a six-point deficit moments earlier.
That left the outcome in the balance, but the Irish countered with six unanswered points to ensure a strong closure and 52-45 victory over the Polar Bears at the Fairmont Senior Field House.
“We’re a lot more poised than we were maybe a month ago,” Irish head coach Hunter Moles said. “Our group has gotten so much better than our first couple games and even better than our last game. We just want to keep that progress. We knew if we had the lead they were going to ramp up the pressure and we had to be tough with it.”
Less than 10 seconds after Johnson’s tying triple, Zaden Ranson got free behind the defense and converted a go-ahead layup.
“Every opportunity where we got it tied and felt like we had momentum, we’d leave a guy wide open for a layup,” Fairmont Senior head coach David Retton said.
Charleston Catholic, which never trailed in the second half, got two free throws from Ranson with 2:23 left to double its lead, before Mikaden Hale scored in the paint with 1:15 remaining to leave the visitors with a six-point advantage.
Landin Morris made a trey for his only field goal of the matchup to cut the Fairmont Senior (3-3) deficit in half with 59 seconds left, but the Irish made 5-of-6 foul shots the rest of the way, including Ranson going 4 for 4 from the charity stripe over the final 21 seconds.
It marks the first time in six tries under Moles the Irish have defeated Fairmont Senior.
“We didn’t talk about that beforehand, but we knew if we could come here and get a win, it’s a huge win,” Moles said. “We have total respect for coach Retton and everything he’s about. He’s an amazing coach and kind of a mentor to me, so a win here is amazing.”
Neither team led by more than 10 throughout a tightly contested matchup, and the only instance of that came when CCHS (3-3) ran off nine straight points to start en route to going in front 12-2. During that time, the Irish effectively utilized zone defense, but the Polar Bears found their offensive rhythm over the final few minutes of the opening frame and pulled to within 16-14.
The Polar Bears still by trailed by two at 23-21 before getting three straight baskets from Maleek Terry, Jaylen Deuesenberry and Jaden Fleming for their largest first-half lead. However, Hale scored the final four points of the half, including a driving layup in transition to pull the Irish even at 27 at halftime.
Ranson, who was limited to one first-half field goal, accounted for the first two of the second half to make it eight straight points for the Irish, who did not trail after halftime.
Despite struggling offensively for long stretches of the third, FSHS got separate buckets late in the frame from Deuesenberry, including a layup off a steal in the closing seconds to trail 37-33 entering the fourth and final frame.
“We talk all the time about win the third and finish the fourth, and that was really the mindset going into the half,” Moles said.
Jaden Fleming knocked down a contested jumper to start the fourth-quarter scoring and pull the home team to within two, but Will Gruse made a scoop shot in the paint and Hale added a floater for a 41-35 Irish advantage.
A conventional three-point play from Darrell Claybrook combined with Johnson’s triple allowed the Polar Bears to pull even at 41, but they made only one more field goal the rest of the way.
Ranson led all players with 16 points and eight rebounds. He made 8-of-8 free throws in a matchup where the Irish had a decisive advantage from the charity stripe, making 12-of-15 attempts to the Polar Bears’ 4 for 7 effort.
“We told him we need 15, 10 and five from him and less than two or three turnovers for us to be successful,” Moles said. “He knows that, but pressure is a privilege and it means things are expected of you. He has to do a little bit of everything. He had to guard and rebound. He had some good, tough buckets. He’s super physical and sometimes he has to dial it back because he wants to see how the other team is guarding him. Once he understood how the game was being called, he got in that rhythm in the second half.”
Wilkes Aliff scored 12 in the win, Hale added 10 and Gruse contributed nine.
Claybrook led the Polar Bears with 15 points and Deuesenberry added 10.
All 12 Fairmont Senior turnovers came over the final three quarters.
“As poorly as we played, we still had a shot,” Retton said. “I don’t know how many turnovers we had, but we had a bunch of unforced turnovers and those were absolute killers today.”