Keith Workman (2) puts up two against North Central.
The Fairfield Central Griffins held off a late fourth-quarter push by the North Central Knights Friday night to take a 49-33 region win at home.
Keith Workman led the Griffins with 18 points, while Jalyn Davis dropped in 13 on the night.
The Knights kept it close early, but the Griffins defense ultimately held North Central to single digits in the first quarter while the offense built a 14-7 lead. The Knights struggled to find the basket against the aggressive Fairfield defense in the send quarter, going scoreless for the first three minutes of play. A free throw by Brian Brister with 4:57 to go gave the Knights their first points in the period, while the Griffins were able to stretch their lead to 26-13 before the half.
Fairfield came out with the half-court trap to start the second half of play, utterly confounding the Knights’ offense, which was held scoreless into the 4:36 mark when Josh Jones hit a field goal to make the score 31-15, Griffins. A full-court press by the Griffins in the closing minutes of the quarter kept the Knights at bay, and Fairfield Central took a 38-19 lead into the final period.
As the press lifted, the Knights then went on an 11-4 run to start the final quarter, cutting the Griffin lead to 42-30 with 5:47 left in the game. But the Griffins found the accelerator, returning to the full-court pressure to hold the Knights to just three more points in the game.
The Griffins host Columbia High School Tuesday night following the girls’ game, which tips at 6 p.m. The Griffins bested the Capitals in Columbia Jan. 4, 62-51.
FC—D’Andre Belton: 1, Keith Workman: 18, Jalyn Davis: 13, Chanti Jones: 3, Compton Walker: 2, Shadarius Hopkins: 5, Kewaun Squirewell: 2, Daniel Maple: 5.
NC—Brian Brister: 15, Josh Jones: 6, Chris Vasquez: 3, Kewaun Hough: 7, Lamont Frazier: 4.
