Fayetteville Ends Historic Season as State Runner-Ups

Lions Were First County Boys Basketball Team to Play in State Finals in 84 years, But Turkey Valley’s Towering Taylor Brothers Were Too Much

The Fayetteville Lions’extraordinary basketball season came to a tearful end Thursday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, where they lost to the Turkey Valley Patriots 66-48 in the state title game.

“We just want to make sure that we find gratitude in these moments,” Fayetteville head coach Jake Diggs said after the game. “We were grateful for the opportunity to come here to the Alamodome. I mean, what a place for our season to end and I just wish we could be on the other side, but we weren’t.”

Turkey Valley (31-4) was last year’s 1A Div. 1 state runner- ups. This year they earned the gold with some incredible play from the towering Taylor brothers, Kanyon and Corbin, who stand at 6’10” and 6’8” respectively. They combined for 44 points and 18 rebounds.

“We wanted to keep them out of the lane as much as we could,” Diggs said. “And every time they got in the lane, we just couldn’t stop them on the finish and couldn’t keep them off the offensive glass. I’d love to have another crack at it. That’s the way it goes.”

The Lions struggled finding the hoop, making just 19 baskets on 49 attempts.

Fayetteville (32-7) trailed by only four points at the end of the first period, 15-11. But they managed only four points in the second, while the Patriots picked up another 15. At halftime the score was 30-15. The Lions were never able to recover.

“We were kind of sloppy on offense and had some turnovers,” said Fayetteville senior guard Kole Schmitt. “Really, we normally score our points in transition, and we didn’t really push the ball that much. I mean, it just kind of got away from us.”

With Turkey Valley’s Taylor brothers dominating under the basket, Fayetteville needed to exploit their range. Just a few weeks ago the Lions broke the national high school record for three-point shots in a game. Heading into the game, this Fayetteville team seemed poised to overcome such a height disadvantage.

But Thursday at the Alamodome, the shots just didn’t fall for the Lions. They struggled to make seven threepointers on 29 attempts, even though they went three-forthree on free throws.

“We couldn’t hit any threes,” said Fayetteville senior Jack Schley. “I mean, the first quarter we hit a couple. I thought we were hot, so we kept letting it fly. But then the second quarter, we couldn’t hit nothing. And so we tried to attack the basket and it’s just hard. It’s hard to attack whenever they’ve got two big guys like that.”

“We started off a bit hot and made our first two,” said senior point guard Mason Fenhaus. “I think Jack (Schley) made one, Kasen (Kocian) made one, and then we went cold in the second quarter. They kept hitting shots. Our defense, we had some mental lapses, and they just kept moving it on.”

The last time Fayetteville made it this far in the basketball playoffs was 1942. World War II was raging in Europe, and the inventor of basketball, James Naismith, had only been in his grave three years. In the post-game press conference, Coach Diggs spoke about how special this season has been for the town of Fayetteville and the school.

“Our community support is incredible,” Diggs said. “I mean, just like every small town, they rally around the team, the high school boys. We are so blessed to be where we are and have the support that we do and every team meal, every goodie bag, everything that they gave us, it was just awesome to be a part of.

“I want to put the shine on all these guys,” he added. “They work so hard. That’s what hurts most, you know, you think you can get it done and you just have an off night of uncharacteristic play. Credit to Valley. They’re a heck of a team. They’re very good. You don’t get here unless you’re good.

“We’re gonna look back on this ride that these guys took us on and be so proud,” he added. “Right now it just hurts. But as the coach of these guys, I have an overwhelming sense of pride in the work that they put in and the accomplishments they made.”

1A Div I State Title Game

Turkey Valley 66, Fayetteville 48

Score by quarters Valley 15 15 17 19 – 66 Fayetteville 11 4 15 18 – 48 Fayetteville scoring: Mason Fenhaus 18, Jack Schley 15, Kasen Kocian 8, Kole Schmitt 7. Valley scoring: Corbin Taylor 26, Kanyon Taylor 18, Carson Tucker 13, Damian Valdes 9.

Rebounds: Valley 36, Fayetteville 16.

• The Conference 1A boys basketball All-State Tournament Team was released at the conclusion of the state tourney. Fayetteville seniors Jack Schley and Mason Fenhaus were named to that team.