FAIRVIEW — The Aggies weren’t to be denied Monday night.

Trailing by six midway through the third frame, Fairview’s varsity boys closed their county tilt against Holly Pond by scoring 32 of the final 45 points to come away with a 66-53 victory inside Joe Shults Gymnasium.

The tremendous second-half performance was bolstered by equally impressive outings from Luke Yarbrough, Cameron Guthrie and Sawyer Daniel, all of whom finished with 12 points apiece to help the Purple and Gold improve to 2-1 on the season.

“I’ve got a bunch of guys who feel like it’s their time,” coach Branch Whitlock said. “They have a will to win. And I wasn’t sure we had that until tonight. We fought back when we faced adversity. We played great against a great team. We gave Holly Pond all we had to give and came out on top tonight.”

The two teams were neck-and-neck throughout the first half … but Holly Pond held a slim 31-27 advantage heading into the break.

The Broncos (1-1) led 40-34 in the third quarter following a pair of Zack Shaw free throws before the Aggies came to life.

A Caleb White 3-pointer and a couple of and-ones from by Bryson Fletcher and Truman Boyd quickly gifted Fairview a three-point cushion it wouldn’t surrender for the rest of the contest.

Daniel and Guthrie took care of business in the final eight minutes — knifing through the Green and White’s full-court pressure for layup after layup — to keep the road squad from initiating a comeback down the stretch.

“We want to push it and play great defense,” Whitlock said. “We took a lot of charges tonight. The guys are pumped right now. I’m happy for them. I’ve got multiple guys who can come out here and make plays. They can all complete, defend and score a basket.”

Holly Pond — which played a majority of the game without two of its top players in Griffin Morris and McKinley Garrett — had zero offensive rhythm for most of the night due in large part to Fairview’s swarming defense.

Shaw (12 points), Morris (11), Jake Harris (10) and Kyler Chaney (eight) claimed most of the buckets for coach Mitch Morris’ team.

 % Athens 55, Cullman 50: Zane Manley (17 points), Trey Tucker (12) and Dylan Finch (10) all secured double figures for the Black and Gold during Monday night’s road loss to the Golden Eagles.

Cullman is now 2-3 this season.

% Appalachian 71, St. Bernard 52: Christian Peterson had a team-high 22 points, but the Saints couldn’t get the win last Thursday.

Caleb Guthery also contributed for St. Bernard (1-2) in the loss with 11 points.

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Priceville Thanksgiving Tournament

% West Limestone 59, West Point 57: Stats from this first-round matchup were unavailable by deadline.

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Varsity Girls

% Fairview 53, Holly Pond 28: The Lady Aggies outscored the Green and White 30-9 in the second half to turn a four-point halftime lead into a 25-point home victory on Monday.

Taylor Ann Yeager and Abby Schnittker both tallied 14 points, while Abbi Taylor (12) and Daylia Dean (seven) were stout contributors as well for Fairview, which improved to 3-1 this season. Schnittker also tossed in eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.

“Even though we had a lot of returning starters, we’ve still got some new girls playing some big roles,” coach Mary Hartline said. “We just don’t know how to play together yet. We’ve got a lot of games coming up, so hopefully we can work out the kinks.”

Holly Pond (0-2) was paced by Maddie Heatherly’s nine points. Tess Duke notched five, and Elizabeth Miller netted four.

% Athens 66, Cullman 56: The Lady Bearcats fell to 3-2 this season following Monday night’s loss to the Lady Golden Eagles.

Anna Grace Murphy (17 points), Anna Katherine Eastman (15) and Olivia Neal (11) paced Cullman offensively.

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West Point Christmas Tournament

% West Point 62, Guntersville 31: Brooke Brownfield (15 points), Miriam Oldacre (15), Micah Oldacre (14) and Olivia Ball (12) had big-time outings for the Lady Warriors during Monday’s opening-round triumph.

Mackenzie Carter (seven points) and Kyler Hembree (two) rounded out scoring for West Point (2-0).

% Other score(s): Phil Campbell 67, Cold Springs 59

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Lady Tiger Thanksgiving Classic

% Fairview 57, Decatur 29: The Lady Aggies used a 22-1 second quarter to coast to a first-round victory last Saturday.

Taylor Ann Yeager (15 points), Payton Golden (14) and Daylia Dean (11) eclipsed double figures for Fairview.

% Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 64, Cullman 54: Despite a 24-point showing by Anna Grace Murphy, the Lady Bearcats couldn’t pull off the first-round triumph last Saturday.

Kennedy Wren added nine points, while Olivia Neal and Anna Katherine Eastman (seven apiece) also tickled the twine.

% Brewer 58, Good Hope 28: The Lady Raiders dropped a tough one against their first-round opponent last Saturday.

Leyton Seal was the top scorer for Good Hope with eight points.

% Danville 52, Hanceville 42: The Lady Bulldogs weren’t able to overcome slow second and third quarters in last Saturday’s loss.

Hanceville was outscored a combined 32-14 during those two frames.

Kelly Pickett (13 points), Kierra Merriweather (12) and Karmen Johnson (nine) provided the offense for the Purple and Gold.

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Vina Holiday Tip-Off Tournament

% Winston County 62, Addison 61: The Lady Bulldogs dropped a close one in last Saturday’s championship contest.

Destiny Walker (19 points), Macey Butler (15), Kaylee Brummett (eight), Alexandria Townsend (seven) and Gracie Herald (six) were the top contributors for Addison, which is now 2-1 on the season.

% Addison 77, Vina 73: Kaylee Brummett corralled 23 big points to help the Lady Bulldogs punch their ticket to the aforementioned title tilt. Destiny Walker (16 points), Macey Butler (15), Gracie Herald (eight) and Callie Crider (eight) also had buckets last Thursday.

% Addison 60, Whitesburg Christian 44: The Lady Bulldogs opened the tournament with an easy triumph last Thursday. 

Macey Butler (20 points), Destiny Walker (12), Kaylee Brummett (10), Alexandria Townsend (eight) and Gracie Herald (eight) netted multiple baskets for Addison in the victory.