The Community R-6 boys couldn’t put together a final quarter to close out this week strong.

Community R-6 vs Fayette New Franklin Tournament Photo Gallery

The Trojans lost the New Franklin Tournament’s seventh-place game 44-36 to Fayette after being outscored 15-8 in the fourth quarter, wrapping up a week that saw them lose 74-40 to district foe Prairie Home/Bunceton and 43-40 to Wellsville-Middletown in the tournament. 

Head coach Kody Asquith said Community’s first two losses could simply be summed up as slow starts where the offense never really got going. That wasn’t the truth on Saturday against Fayette since the Trojans trailed 29-28 heading into the fourth quarter and even took momentary 24-22 and 26-24 leads in the third quarter. The final eight minutes just weren’t good enough to avoid a winless week.

"In the fourth quarter, we just had some silly turnovers and those led to easy points for them," Asquith said. "It's been what we do. When we have one turnover, we tend to have two, three, four right in a row. That's what cost us that game."

In the middle part of the game, Community kept turnovers low after a few were given up in the backcourt in the first quarter. The shaky offense returned in the fourth quarter to allow Fayette to finish with 10 steals and for the Falcons to take 10 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Payton Oeth and Carter Vroman helped Fayette grab 41 rebounds, including many on the offensive glass, and also took many easy shots after Community turned the ball over. Kaleb Friebe had several steals to go with his team-high 21 points.

“We just have to have better awareness and see who’s where,” Asquith said. “My coaches always taught me, ‘Fake a pass to make a pass,’ and to me, that works. Sometimes, in the moment, I understand it’s hard to think of that.”

Asquith said misdirecting opponents helps clear the way for offensive opportunities and allows players to get in proper position. Mason Carroll made a habit of being in the right position to score all week. Carroll recorded a double-double of 27 points and 14 rebounds to go with six steals against Fayette to follow his 24 points against Prairie Home/Bunceton and 16 against Wellsville. 

On Saturday, Carroll took interior passes before completing a pair of 3-point plays in the second quarter to tie the game at 14 before Fayette pulled ahead 20-14 before halftime. He scored 10 points in the third quarter, including a buzzer-beating runner in the lane, to put Community in a winning position after three quarters.

“He’s been like that all season,” Asquith said. “He moves well without the ball, and he knows where he needs to be. When he does get the ball, if someone steps up to him, he’s strong enough that he can move his way to the basket.”

Carroll’s teammates like Caden Thomas and Brant Cope each recorded a few assists to set up Carroll for buckets, but Thomas was Community’s next highest scorer at five points. In the first-round against Prairie Home/Bunceton, the Trojans’ nest highest scorers were Cooper Rohan with nine points and Cope with eight points.

Rohan and Clayton Jennings, who began this season on the bench, both were in the starting lineup on Saturday after Asquith had to shuffle the rotation, partially due to starter Mason Rohan being out a few weeks because of a fractured foot. This means others will have to step up in the games ahead.

“I would like to see some more kids to put up more points,” Asquith said. “Mason’s doing great for us, but I’d like to see some of these other kids to step up. We’ll get there eventually. It’s just taking us a little bit longer.”