Fort Worth Wyatt guard drops 51 points on senior night, Eastern Hills clinches berth
Kendall Fair knew when he stepped onto Robert Hughes Court inside Wilkerson Greines Activity Center Wednesday night that he was in for a special performance.
It was senior night for Fort Worth Wyatt, which made it that much sweeter.
Fair scored 51 points and the Chaparrals beat FW Polytechnic 111-35 in a District 7-5A boys basketball game. Wyatt, No. 6 in the 5A state rankings, improved to 18-5 overall and 13-0 in district.
“I knew as soon as I stepped onto the court. I try to have a big night every time I get on the court,” said Fair, who’s committed to Southern Arkansas. “It’s a great moment and my teammates kept getting me the ball. It’s great to have it on senior night. All my family could see me in my last home high school game.”
Fair had a quiet 20 points in the first quarter and Marcell McCreary and Bobby Flowers helped Wyatt get out to a quick 16-4 lead over the Parrots, who were also celebrating senior night.
Poly honored seniors David Kang, Glen Manning, Harold Conner and Antonio Downs at halftime.
Fair hit three 3-pointers and finished with a lefty layup following a steal to push the margin to 30-8 in the second quarter. Fair made three straight baskets and Wyatt got jumpers from Erynn Wilburn and Jacobi Lewis to take a 43-14 lead in the third quarter.
Fair reached 30 by the third quarter and then added eight straight points in the fourth. A long 3-pointer from well over NBA range helped him over the 50-point platform in the final period.
“Kendall is a special scorer and we knew that coming into his freshman year. As a sophomore, he had four or five 30 or 40-point games and it was just a matter of time when he would kind of explode,” Wyatt coach DeMarqus James said. “He had 20 in the first quarter and I told my assistant he may go for 50 tonight. I played so I know when someone’s feeling it and got it going so we let it ride. The basket was as big as the ocean.”
Eastern Hills 61, Dunbar 58
In the second game of the night at WGAC, the Highlanders edged out the Wildcats in a District 8-4A showdown to clinch a playoff berth for the second straight season.
Trailing 58-57 with under 20 seconds left in the game, Dunbar fouled the Highlanders, sending them to the line. The first attempt was good to tie it at 58 then Nathan Collins rebounded the second attempt, put it back up and made it and was fouled. He completed the 3-point play and Dunbar missed at the buzzer.
“When I got that rebound, I was just praying it would go in,” said Collins, who is a senior and played in his first game of the season. He finished with a team-high 14 points.
“It’s a big win and we needed it to get third place,” Collins added. “We just wanted to come out here and have fun. On the court, I stayed strong for my team and gave everything I had.”
Eastern Hills improved to 7-5 in district.
“If we would have lost, it would’ve been a three-way tie for third and fourth and we would’ve had to play a play-in game, which we had already planned for. I took that a little personal that we had to prematurely schedule for something I wasn’t apart of,” EHHS coach Melvin Miller said. “Guys came out, took care of the ball and made free throws. We came away with the close victory.”
Daniell Tate converted a 4-point play and Dunbar led 12-8 after the opening period. Jacob Keys drove inside the paint and was fouled while making a floater and the game was tied at 28 during halftime.
Xavier Lloyd, who scored 12 points for Eastern Hills, scored five straight to help the Highlanders pull within 35-33 in the third quarter. A Collins’ layup pulled EHHS within 46-44 at the end of the period.
Caylon Jones gave Dunbar a 2-point lead with 2:16 left, but a Jordan Miles finish tied it at 57 with 70 seconds left.
This story was originally published February 12, 2021 at 11:55 AM.
