Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PORTSMOUTH — The Fairland Dragons are making sure it’s a “winner take all” showdown.
The Dragons kept up their end of the bargain by beating the Portsmouth Trojans 60-41 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Saturday, thus keeping pace with the South Point Pointers as each team has just one league loss heading for their showdown on Friday at Fairland.
Fairland is now 14-4 overall and 11-1 in the OVC, one-half game behind South Point.
The Dragons have a make-up game at home on Monday against Gallipolis and a victory would mean Friday’s winner will claim the league title outright.
Not only did the win keep the Dragons in line for the conference title showdown, but it was the 200th career victory for head coach Nathan Speed who has guided the boys’ program to five straight OVC titles.
He also went 62-20 as the Lady Dragons’ head coach making him 262-85 overall.
The Dragons fell behind 15-10 in the first quarter against Portsmouth but then came to life in the second quarter on both ends of the floor by outscoring the Trojans 22-5 to take a 32-20 halftime lead.
Aiden Porter hit a pair of 3-pointers and scored 10 points in the decisive second quarter.
Clayton Thomas drained a pair of 3-pointers and Jacob Polcyn added a pair of baskets.
Portsmouth only managed a 3-pointer by DeAndre Berry and a basket by Amare Johnson.
Fairland wasn’t quite as explosive in the third quarter but the defense remained strong as the Dragons outscored the Trojans 13-8 and extended the lead to 45-28.
Thomas had 6 points, J.D. Thacker scored 4 and Porter knocked down a triple. Portsmouth had four different players scored 2 points.
Thacker scored 6 points in the four quarter as six different players scored for the Dragons added to their lead.
Dariyonne Bryant had 6 points in the quarter after getting 5 points in the first quarter to give him 11 for the game. He was the only player in double figures for the Trojans (7-10, 5-8).
Porter scored 16 points to lead four players in double figures. He also had 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
Thomas scored 14 points and had 4 rebounds, Polcyn scored 12 points to go with 7 rebounds and 2 steals while Thacker also had 12 points. Jordan Williams had a game-high 8 assists along with 4 rebounds.
Fairland 10 22 13 15 = 60
Portsmouth 15 5 8 13 = 41
FAIRLAND (14-4, 11-1): Jacob Polcyn 6-12 0-1 0-0 12, Aiden Porter 3-9 3-10 1-2 16, Gavin Hunt 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Clayton Thomas 4-7 2-6 0-0 14, J.D. Thacker 6-6 0-0 0-0 12, Jordan Williams 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Zander Schmidt 1-5 0-0 0-0 2, Zach Tooley 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Allen 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Brycen Hunt 1-1 0-0 0-0 2, Nate Thacker 0-0 0-1 0-0 0, Will Davis 0-0 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 26-60 3-4 60. 3-pt goals: 5-18. Rebounds: 27 (Polcyn 7, Porter 5, Williams 4, Thomas 4). Assists: 13 (Williams 8, Porter 3). Steals: 8 (Porter 3, Polcyn 2). Turnovers: 5. Fouls: 7. Fouled out: None.
PORTSMOUTH (7-10, 5-8): Amare Johnson 1-2 0-0 0-0 2, Drew Roe 1-2 0-2 2-4 4, Dariyonne Bryant 4-8 1-4 0-0 11, Chris Duff 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Reade Pendleton 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Daewin Spence 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Donovan Carr 3-3 0-3 0-0 6, Michael Duncan 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Miles Shipp 3-5 0-0 0-0 6, Dante Hambrick 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Lattimore 2-3 0-0 0-0 4, Tyler Duncan 0-0 0-1 0-0 0, DeAndre Berry 0-0 2-6 0-0 6, Noah Livingston 1-1 0-0 0-1 2. Totals: 18-42 2-5 41. 3-pt goals: 3-16. Rebounds: 21 (Shipp 9). Assists: 5 (Shipp 2). Steals: 1. Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.