The Auburn High School Varsity  boys basketball team lost 48-40 to visiting Fairbury last Friday. The 6-8 Jeffs made nearly twice as many two-point field goals than the Bulldogs to hold on for the win.
AHS Coach Bryce Roth said, “Fairbury is a very aggressive team. They have some guards who are athletic and drive really hard. They also have one of the best post players in the area. We knew all of this going into the game, and in the first half, we did a poor job of defending their dribble-drive offense.
“We picked up some very silly fouls and had three of our starters in foul trouble in the first half so we definitely didn’t get the start we wanted. However, we were still only down eight points at half (22-30) and we talked a lot about that in the locker room.
“We played much better in the second half. We played more intelligently and we actually put ourselves in a position to make a late run, but we just didn’t finish plays and missed some opportunities on the free throw line to pull it off.
“I am still looking for us to play more consistently. We’ve been competitive in every game this year, but we need to defend more consistently, rebound better, and have a few more people step up and play more aggressively on the offensive end,” he commented.
Game Statistics
Patrick Frary and Donavan Halfhill led Auburn with 12 points apiece. Caleb Nelson also scored in double figures with 10. Easton Dauel added four points and Kamron Fender scored two.
Auburn converted only 8 of 20 free throws, while Fairbury didn’t fare any better as they sank just 11 of 31 shots at the charity stripe.
Leading rebounders: Nelson 8, Fender 7, Halfhill 5.
Blocked shots: Nelson 2, Halfhill 1.
Steals: Frary and Nelson 2, TJ Wynn 1.
Assists: Nelson 7, Dauel 2, Frary and Fender 1.
The Bulldogs had 15 turnovers, three more than the Jeffs.
Next Action
Auburn traveled to 8-6 Lourdes Central Catholic at Nebraska City on Tuesday, Jan. 15. The Bulldogs then return home to play Clarinda, Iowa on Friday, Jan. 18, and 1-12 Conestoga on Tuesday, Jan. 22.