HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Some day, hard work will pay off for the Fairland Dragons.

Despite their effort, the Dragons were unable to beat the heavily-favored Williamson Wolfpack as they lost 62-43 in the consolation game of the Class A-AA Huntington St. Joe Invitational Friday.

"It was a typical game for us. Our kids worked their tails off. In the third quarter, we couldn't buy a basket and we had a couple of lapses on defense," Fairland coach Chad Belville said. "Williamson is more athletic than we are, but we found a way to stay in it. That's a positive sign to show we're moving in the right direction."

Fairland shot 40 percent from the field in the first half and converted 8 of 10 free throws and trailed 35-27 at the break.

"They hit a three at end first quarter and a

two at the end of half. In a span of three seconds, they scored five points. Otherwise it's a 3-point game at the half. Defensively, we didn't do a bad job the first half," Belville said.

But Williamson outscored the Dragons 15-4 in the third quarter to surge in front 50-31.

The Dragons cut the deficit to 13 points in the fourth quarter, but Williamson padded its lead late to win going away.

"The third quarter killed us. They executed and we made some mistakes. We made a run in the fourth quarter. It's the same old story, our kids never quit fighting," Belville said. "Maynard shot the ball pretty well for us."

Todd Maynard led the Dragons with 24 points and seven rebounds. Daniel Spears and Zach Pemberton had six rebounds each.

Maynard, who had 21 points in the semifinals, was named to the all-tournament team.

Williamson's Steven Turner

led all scorers with 25 points. Jameson Bradley added 11 points.

Fairland918412-43

Williamson10251512-62

FAIRLAND (3-13):

Kyle Wise 0-1 (0-3) 2-2 2, Josh Johnson 1-2 (0-1) 1-2 3, Todd Maynard 5-13 (3-6) 5-8 24, Daniel Spears 1-1 (1-2) 2-2 7, Matt Burd 1-3 (0-0) 1-2 3, Nic Zundel 0-0 (1-2) 0-0 3, Michael Spence 0-0 (0-0) 1-4 1, Rich Staggs 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Travis Cardwell 0-3 (0-1) 0-0 0, J.B. Smith 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Ethan Black 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Zach Pemberton 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Michael Higgins 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 8-25

(5-15)

12-20

43. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 32 (Maynard 7, Spears 6, Pemberton 6). Turnovers: 26. Steals: 6 (Maynard 3). Assists: 3.

WILLIAMSON (NA):

Steven Turner 8-13 (1-1) 6-7 25, Tim Hatcher 3-7 (1-4) 0-0 9, Jameson Bradley 5-7 (0-2) 1-3 11, Zach Maynard 1-4 (0-0) 2-4 4, James Bradford 2-6 (0-0) 1-2 5, Sholten Singer 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2, Richard Forbes 0-2 (0-4) 2-2 2, Jared Blaylock 1-3 (0-1) 0-2 2, Andy West 1-2 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 22-43

(2-12)

12-20

62. Fouls: .18. Fouled out: Bradford. Rebounds: 33. Turnovers: 14. Assists: 8.