“A big confidence boost for us,” Trent said. “They’ve played a tough schedule and we knew they were going to come ready to go. This was a big one for us to get against a really athletic team, one we thought was maybe the most athletic team we’ve played so far this year.”
The Tigers (7-5) were a Division IV regional finalist in 2025 who plays up a lot on their Northeast Ohio schedule. The 1-2 athletic punch of Jaylen Billingslea (16 points) and Jayden Nellemsbey (14 points) kept the score tight.
But Fairmont (10-4) diversified its scoring more than usual, the night’s first positive sign. Leading scorer Jayden McGraw, a 6-foot-3 junior who leads the Greater Western Ohio Conference with 21 points a game, did his typical work with 15 points over the final three quarters.
“Jayden has been great for us, and he’s obviously been dominant in many games,” Trent said. “But we know that at any point, any one of our guys can score 20 points a game. So to see that today was nice for them to see as well.”
None quite reached 20, but senior guards Kaden Ralston and Nolan Stringer were consistent difference makers with timely baskets. Ralston scored a career-high 17 points and Stringer reached double figures for the first time with 12.
“Nolan, he’s a glue guy for us, he gets us into the right calls, and he’s a hustle guy, rebounds and he shoots well and had a couple big putbacks today,” Trent said. “Caden, I thought he maybe played his best game of the year today, which he’s capable of doing that every single game. He just played with a lot more confidence, which I think was the biggest thing between previous games and this game.”
The Firebirds built a little room on the scoreboard midway through the fourth quarter. Kam Thornton’s layup off Stringer’s steal and Sawyer Newman’s tip-in sparked a 5-0 run that created a 56-51 lead.
The final three minutes came down to making enough free throws, avoiding turnovers and getting defensive stops to become the night’s second positive development. After the lead shrunk to 59-57, Newman made two free throws with six seconds left for the final margin.
“I know we had a couple turnovers towards the end, but I felt like we’ve gotten better with composure at the end of games,“ said Trent, whose team has two recent overtime wins. ”We weren’t as panicked. In the past, we’ve gotten mentally sped up by the other team, especially one like that that’s super athletic.”
Tri-Village 53, Cincinnati Indian Hill 35: Unbeaten Tri-Village opened the second half with a 13-3 run and Trey Sagester led the Patriots with 19 points in the Flyin’ To The Hoop finale.
Brecken Gray and Sagester opened the third quarter with 3-pointers to spark the run. Gray added 10 points for the Patriots (14-0) and Griffin Richards scored 11.
The Patriots had an off shooting night at 40.5% and 30.4% from 3-point range. But their zone defense continued to excel, holding the Braves (6-7) to similar shooting percentages. The Patriots are allowing 34 points a game.
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