WINNSBORO – The Fairfield Central Griffins hosted a tough Great Falls Red Devils team last week. The Griffins kept the Red Devils close, but Great Falls had too much firepower in the long-run and escaped Winnsboro with a 65-48 win. The Red Devils ended the game 18-11 in the final quarter to secure the win.
JR Edmonds (3) takes the contested shot at the hoop. | Ross Burton
“I think that defensively we just weren’t great,” Griffins head coach Jonathan Durant said. “I think they ran some good sets and it confused us a little bit. We were definitely out rebounded, and we got to find a way to get baskets.”
Sintell Quattlebaum got the Griffins off to a 4-0 start, but Great Falls responded with a 10-0 run. Nick Young snapped Great Falls run with a three, but Fairfield trailed 17-13 after the first quarter.
Great Falls junior Kelton Talford caused the Griffins headaches all night and scored 10 of his game-high 26 points in the second quarter. He also rang up nine points in the first and racked up a couple of blocks.
“Offensively he crashed the board every time,” Durant said. “And we talked about that at practice but we just didn’t do a good job executing. We didn’t box him out and he finds a way to get in there. He’s a really good player.”
The Griffins trailed 35-26 at the half and went back and forth with the Red Devils in the third quarter. Great Falls extended their lead by a point going into the final period, and the Red Devils offense took over down the final eight-minute stretch.
Sincere Wilmore took over in the fourth quarter and scored seven of the Red Devils final 18 points. Great Falls scored 12 of their fourth quarter points from the charity stripe. They shot 12-17 in the final period.
The Griffins suffered a follow-up loss to Newberry the next night in the conclusion of their back-to-back games.
FCHS: 13-13-11-11-48
GFHS: 17-18-12-18-65
FC – JR Edmonds – 14, Sintell Quattlebaum – 12, Will Barber – 6, Melvin Peay – 5, Nick Young – 5, Chris Suber – 4, Jaylan Craig – 2.
GF – Kelton Talford – 26, RonJay Stevenson – 11, Donnell Adams – 9, Kell Brown – 8, Sincere Wilmore – 6, Zy’ Derrick Jordan – 4, Jaylen Dunham – 2, KJ Abrams – 1.