Fair opens sizable lead, then has to hold on

A sharp-shooting start for Little Rock Fair was the difference.

Behind senior guard Mickael Foust and senior forward Deavon Bankston, the War Eagles built a first-quarter lead substantial enough to hold off the fast-charging Jacksonville Titans for a 60-58 victory at Titan Gymnasium in Jacksonville on Friday night.

Fair (15-4, 5-3 6A/5A-4) hit 10-of-14 field-goal attempts, to Jacksonville’s 2 of 14, to build a 24-12 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Fair’s lead was 36-24 at halftime, but Jacksonville — directed throughout its comeback by sophomore guard Gerald Doakes — was within 45-41 at the end of the third quarter.

“It’s always like this here for us,” Fair Coach Charlie Johnson said. “We have to struggle for our lives and either win or lose by two or three points, either way.”

Jacksonville continued to trim Fair’s advantage when senior center Christian White ‘s layup put Jacksonville (9-10, 2-5) within 55-53 with 58 seconds left in the game. Fair led 52-43 three minutes earlier.

“I don’t know what we were doing,” Johnson said. “We couldn’t make any free throws, and in the last five minutes of the game, we didn’t make a field goal. We were just making bonehead plays.”

With 36 seconds left, Bankston hit two free throws to give Fair a 57-53 lead, but Jacksonville was within 58-56 after Doakes’ three-pointer with 22 seconds left.

“We were finally able to get into a scoring rhythm,” Jacksonville Coach Victor Joyner said. “But for the turnovers down the stretch, missed shots in close, and missed free throws, we got a chance to beat them.”

Doakes was tied up in the final 10 seconds to turn the ball over to Fair, and Foust hit two free throws with 5.2 seconds left to give the War Eagles a 60-56 lead.

“When the crowd got all hyped, I tried to tell my teammates to calm down,” Foust said.

Foust led Fair with 18 points. Bankston scored 15. Doakes scored 21 points to lead Jacksonville.

After Fair’s fast start, a seven-point run early in the second quarter put Jacksonville within 26-18 after junior center Joseph Phillips’ 6-foot bank shot, though Fair would respond to build its lead to 3624 at halftime.