Junior guard Camden Welch once again did what he's seemingly done all season long for Fair Play – taking over and powering the Hornet offense en route to a 64-52 victory over Wheatland in Polk County League play on Tuesday.
Averaging around 20 points per contest this season, the 6-foot-tall workhorse poured in a game-high 26 points to lead his team in a game in which Fair Play (10-6) led wire-to-wire.
“He has to score a lot for us,” Fair Play head coach Lynn Long said of Welch after the win. “We don't have a lot of offensive firepower. He has to get that many for us every night and this is what we've come to expect.”
Wheatland (4-11), already squaring off with the Hornets for the third time this year, knew that Fair Play's offensive attack would run through Welch.
Still, Welch was able to have his way – charging out of the gate with eight first-quarter points despite primarily putting up shots that were commendably contested by the Mules.
“I thought we did a decent job on him,” said Wheatland coach Brian Pearson. “We had a hand in his face a lot and he just hit some tough shots. He's a good player.”
Despite not seeing a lead during any juncture of the game, the Mules were kept in the thick of things by talented juniors Hunter Jones and Zac Sutt, who combined to score 29 of Wheatland's 52 points on the night.
The visitors never trailed by more than eight points until the final minutes of the contest and clawed within three points on several occasions – keeping them within striking distance to potentially pull off the big scoring run they were looking for.
But thanks to timely defense by Fair Play and the continued heroics of Welch, that run would never come.
“I was worried that they would come back and do that,” said Long in reference to Wheatland's ability to put a run together. “When they got close, we made a couple of good plays that kept the lead. I felt good about that.”
One thing that Wheatland was able to hang its hat on after the loss was quality free-throw shooting. On the night, the Mules made good on 12 of 13 shots from the charity stripe.
“I guess we're looking for positives right now, so we'll take that,” added Pearson.
Box Score
Wheatland – 14 17 6 15 – 52
Fair Play – 22 12 9 21 – 64
Wheatland – Hunter Jones 16, Zac Sutt 13, Bailey Jones 7, Devin Shields 5, Tristen Shaddox 5, Devin Koenig 4, Mitch Bigham 2
Fair Play – Camden Welch 26, Devon Rovenstine 14, Justin Viles 9, Ryan Rutledge 8, Kendal Wright 5, Justin Smith 2
