The optimist says the glass is half full instead of half empty. Fairland coach John McClung is optimistic if the game is full-court or half-court.

Fairland was able to get a full-court tempo going and Cole Hatfield’s last-second basket in overtime lifted the Dragons to a 56-54 Ohio Valley Conference win over the South Point Pointers Friday.

South Point used 13 points by Chase Kratzenberg in the first quarter to keep the game in a half-court set and take an 18-10 lead.

“(South Point) dominated us in the half-court game and Kratzenberg was on fire. They dominated us on the boards in the first quarter,” said McClung.

“We used our full court pressure to get them out of sync and make it a fullcourt game.”

Evan Salyers had four points in the second quarter to help the Dragons cut the deficit to 26-21 at the half.

Fairland kept chipping away in the third quarter and trailed 38-35 as Zach Jordan and Hatfield combined for 11 points. Cody Taylor scored six to keep the Pointers in front.

Hatfield and Kratzenberg got in a scoring battle in the fourth quarter as Fairland rallied to tie the game. Hatfield had 10 of his 19 points and Kratzenberg scored nine of his game-high 25 points.

The game was tied at 51 heading into the overtime and two free throws by Tyler Godby and another by Chad Fisher kept the score even at 54-54.

Fairland (6-3, 2-1) set up the game’s final possession with Hatfield hitting a runner in the lane with just eighth-tenths of a second on the clock, only the second lead of the game for the Dragons.

“We called two plays. One was an inbounds play and one was to clear out for Cole and he drove and banked it in,” said McClung.

“Cole plays hard. He’s only playing at about 70 percent with his bad knee.”

Godby finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Adam Berry had seven rebounds while Hatfield added five assists and five rebounds to his night’s work.

“It was a big win for us. Godby has been consistent lately with double-doubles.

I’m just thankful Cole got heated up in the fourth quarter,” said McClung.

Ethan Prater had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Pointers (4-3, 1-2). Taylor got nine points and five rebounds.

Fairland 10 11 14 16 5 = 56

South Point 18 8 12 13 3 = 54

FAIRLAND (6-3, 2-1): Zach Jordan 2 0 2-2 6, Matt Bloomfield 2 0 0-0 4, Chris Ward 1 0 0-0 2, Chad Fisher 1 2 1-2 9, Cole Hatfield 6 2 1-3 19, Tyler Godby 4 0 2-3 10, Evan Salyers 3 0 0-0 6. Totals: 19-47 4-11 6-12 56. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 12. Assists: 8 (Hatfield 5). Rebounds: 34 (Godby 13, Berry 7, Hatfield 5).

SOUTH POINT (4-3, 1-2): Chase Kratzenberg 3 5 4-5 25, Jordan Fletcher 2 0 0-0 4, Kyle Winkler 1 1 0-0 5, Ethan Prater 4 0 3-6 11, Cody Taylor 4 0 1-2 9, Matt Button 0 0 0-0 0, Greg Taylor 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-33 6-13 8-13 54. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: C. Taylor. Turnovers: 19. Assists: 8. Rebounds: 29 (Prater 9, C. Taylor 5, Winkler 5).