Surrounded by four of South Winn’s five starters, Lincoln Johansen goes up to score for North Fayette Valley. The TigerHawk senior had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds to help beat the archrival Warriors, 67-62, in Tuesday’s (Feb. 18) District playoff game. (Becky Walz photo)

NFV boys battle District foes and weather

By Jerry Wadian
Sports Editor
jwadian@thefayettecountyunion.com

The North Fayette Valley boys’ basketball team had to face Warriors and Little Cyclones last week, but first had to battle Old Man Winter in Class 2A District 7 playoff action.

Monday’s game against South Winn was moved from Monday, Feb. 17 to Tuesday due to heavy snow and high winds. Thursday’s contest against Denver was first moved to Friday, but was not played until Saturday because of blizzard conditions on Thursday and the resultant poor roads on Friday.

Tuesday, NFV beat SW, 67-62, in the rubber match between the two teams, each winning on its home court in the regular season.

NFV was down, 5-4, midway through the first period. Then Thomas Hanson went on a personal 5-0 run in just over a minute. Alex and Austin Callahan added back-to-back baskets and NFV was off to a 16-7 advantage by the end of the first eight minutes.

The TigerHawks built the lead to 23-11 and led by 11 at the half, 33-22.

South Winn closed the gap over the next eight minutes and only trailed by four, 48-44, going into the final quarter of play.

A pair of free throws cut the NFV lead to two, 48-46. Then Hanson and Alex Callahan went on a 5-0 run to build the lead back to eight, 54-46, with just under six minutes to play.

SW came right back, closing to 60-57 with 1:50 to play. The TigerHawks hung tough. Trystan Riley drained a trey, one of seven for NFV in the game, and the TigerHawks went 5-7 from the charity stripe in the final 1:03 to ice the victory.

Callahan led the TH scoring with 19 points. Lincoln Johansen rang up a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Hanson finished with 13 points, including a 3-9 night from beyond the arc.

SW 7 15 22 18 62

NFV 16 17 15 19 67

NFV (67)- Al. Callahan, 19; Hanson, 13; Johansen, 12; Kleve, 8; Riley, 8; Au. Callahan, 6; Hoopes. 3-pointers- Hanson, 3; Kleve, 2; Riley, 2. Rebounds- Johansen, 11; Au. Callahan, 9; Hoopes, 7; Al. Callahan, 6; Riley, 3; Kleve, B. Fenneman. Assists- Kleve, 2; Riley, 2; B. Fenneman, 2; Al. Callahan, 2; Hoopes, 2; Johansen, 2; Hanson. Steals- Hanson, 2; Hoopes, Johansen. Blocks- Al & Au. Callahan, 2; Hanson.

The District semifinal was finally played on Saturday, Feb. 22, in West Union with Denver (13-9) eliminating the TigerHawks, 75-66.

The Little Cyclones breezed into West Union like a full-blown hurricane, racing to a 25-6 lead by the end of the first quarter.

That was just too big a lead for NFV to completely erase, although it tried as hard as possible. The TigerHawks led in each of the next three quarters, but never by enough to make up for the first eight minutes.

Phil Kleve had a career night with 18 points. Hanson added 17 points, including four long-range bombs. Alex Callahan finished his NFV career with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

Denver 25 19 18 13 75

NFV 6 21 22 17 66

NFV (66)- Kleve, 18; Hanson, 17; Al. Callahan, 13; B. Fenneman, 6; 8; Au. Callahan, 5; Johansen, 4; Hoopes, 3. 3-pointers- Hanson, 4; B. Fenneman, 2; Kleve. Rebounds- Al. Callahan, 10; Johansen, 7; Au. Callahan, 5; Kleve, 3; B. Feneman, 3; Moore, 2; Riley, 2;  Hoopes, Hanson. Assists- Hoopes, 3; Hanson, 3; Johansen, 3; Fenneman, Hanson. Steals- Kleve, Hoopes, JoHansen. Blocks- Al. Callahan, 3; Hoopes, Au. Callahan.

North Fayette Valley finished its maiden year in boys’ basketball with an 11-12 record, winning five of its final eight games.

The TigerHawks lose 10 seniors, including three starters and three key reserves. However, next year looks bright because the junior class this year had 14 players, including two starters and five who logged significant minutes off the bench. There was also good numbers in the sophomore and freshman classes, with one sophomore seeing a lot of varsity minutes.