CLAYTON — Fairmont bombed in four three-point field goals during the first quarter and one in the second Friday night to take a 32-20 halftime lead over Northmont.

The Thunderbolts hit just three of eight shots from the floor during the second quarter and committed two turnovers. Fairmont came up with a steal and scored on five on nine shot attempts to out score Northmont 14-7 to hold an 11 point lead at the half.

Northmont out scored Fairmont 38-31 in the second half but still ended up losing 63-58.

Fairmont gave the Thunderbolts every opportunity to pull out a victory. The Firebirds missed 10 free throws in the final quarter, converting just eight of 18 from the charity stripe.

B.J. Hatcher scored 12 points in the final period to lead a 24 point fourth quarter rally by Northmont. The Firebirds missed seven of ten free throws in the final 50 seconds, but the Thunderbolts couldn’t overcome an eight point deficit down the stretch.

“Second chance points hurt us tonight,” said Northmont coach Darnell Hoskins. “We didn’t do any of the toughness things tonight. Fifty-fifty balls didn’t have our name on them. We did a terrible job of boxing out and limiting them to one shot opportunities so they got second and third chance opportunities, extra possessions and they are a low possession, clock management type of team.”

Fairmont scored three times on second chance opportunities in the first quarter and twice in the second stanza.

The Thunderbolts pulled to within five late in the third quarter following a pair of free throws by Hatcher and a basket by D.J. Williams.

Evan Gentile sneaked down the baseline, took a pass and scored from underneath the basket and Brock Baker buried a trifecta to give Fairmont a 43-34 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

Javen Vaughn scored a basket and Victor Drummond had two buckets in the final minute but Fairmont sank three of four free throws in the final 30 seconds to hang on for the win.

“They are very comfortable playing with a seven to nine point lead,” Hoskins noted. “That’s what they did all night. That’s the way they like to play because they can play at their tempo that way. Give Fairmont credit. They did a great job dictating tempo and we fought from a hole all night long because we refused to do the toughness things.”

With the victory Fairmont moved into fourth place in the Greater Western Ohio Conference while Northmont slipped to sixth place.

Northmont bounced back with a 74-41 non-conference win over Butler on Saturday night to improve to 8-5 overall while the Aviators fell to 6-7.

FMT 18 14 11 20 – 63

NMT 13 07 14 24 – 58

Fairmont: Brice Irakoze 1-0-2, Brock Baker 6-0-15, Mahki Bailey 2-1-5, Jourdan Bray 6-1-14, Evan Gentile 4-2-11, Daniel Seaton 4-2-11, Stevie Doty 1-3-5. Totals: 24-9-63.

Northmont: B.J. Hatcher 7-5-20, Victor Drummond 4-0-8, D.J. Williams 1-0-2, Da’lin Wilkins 3-1-7, Duece Cortner 1-0-2, Javen Vaughn 4-1-10, Chisom Ibe 4-1-9. Totals: 24-8-58.

Three-point field goals: Fairmont 6 (Baker 3, Bray, Gentile, Seaton); Northmont 2 (Hatcher, Vaughn).

Records: Fairmont 8-3 (4-3), Northmont 7-5 (3-5).

Reach Ron Nunnari by email: [email protected].