WELLSTON — The Fairland Dragons threw a New Year’s Eve party a day early.

Trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, Fairland rallied late in the game and slipped past the Wellston Golden Rockets 70-69 Friday to win the Wellston Holiday Classic.

Josh Johnson hit the first of two free throws with seven seconds to play to snap a 69-all tie.

“It was a tremendous win for our kids to come back and win. We had 23 points at the half. It was a good win for us,” Fairland coach Chad Belville said.

More party quirks occurred in the final seconds when Hatfield got a steal and was tackled by Josh Osborne. The intentional foul ignited a melee that included players and fan.

Fairland (5-3) was only 4 of 15 from the field in the first quarter yet trailed just 10-9.

“We just didn’t shoot well early and our scoring was sporadic,” Belville said.

Osborne scored 12 points in the second quarter as Wellston moved in front 36-23 at the half.

“We slowly chipped away,” Belville said.

Wellston went back up by 15 points in the fourth quarter before a 3-pointer by Kyle Wise narrowed the gap to 67-58 with three minutes to play.

Johnson turned a steal into two foul shots and Hatfield had got a steal and 67-65. Fuller’s steal and layup put the Dragons up 69-67. After Wellston tied the game, Johnson ws fouled and hit first free throw for 70-69 lead.

Johnson scored seven points and Hatfield six points against the Wellston in the fourth quarter.

“We could see Wellston was starting to get tired,” Belville said. “It was a total team effort. We had 10 different players and 10 of 12 scored.”

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Wellston10261914=69

FAIRLAND (5-3):

Kyle Wise 1-1 1-2 0-0 5, Zach Jordan 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Johnson 4-18 0-0 1-4 9, Adam Fuller 7-11 1-3 0-2 17, Rich Staggs 2-3 0-1 0-0 4, Ethan Long 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, Cole Hatfield 4-7 0-5 4-4 12, J.B. Smith 1-1 0-0 0-2 2, Chris Barnett 1-2 0-1 1-2 3, Zach Pemberton 0-2 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Lamb 1-12 0-0 3-10 5, Dustin Bumgardner 5-6 0-0 1-1 11. Totals: 27-64 3-12 10-25 70. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 23. Rebounds: 48 (Fuller 10-, Bumgardner 10). Assists: 17 (Johnson 8).

WELLSTON (4-4): Eric Henry 2-7 1-8 6-9 113, Zane Holzapfel 3-9 0-0 2-4 8, Jacob Walburn 0-1 0-1 5-8 5, Josh Osborne 7-12 3-7 3-8 26, Justin Miller 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, Josh Ewing 5-14 0-0 1-4 11, Matt Exline 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, Alex Milliken 1-1 0-0 0-1 2. Totals: 20-46 4-16

17-34

Fouls: 19. Fouled out: Walburn Ewing. Turnovers: 25. Rebounds: 33 (Holzapfel 10). Assists: 8.