The fifth-seeded Fayette boys turned a 19-4 run over the second quarter against eighth-seeded Community into their first win of the season, 51-39, in the consolation semifinal game of the New Franklin Tournament on Thursday night.

The win provided a major relief for the Falcons, who lost the first seven games of the season in the second year of a rebuilding process. Fayette nearly broke into the win column three times before, including a five-point loss to ninth-ranked Westran at home in December and a first-round loss to fourth-seeded Christian Fellowship on Tuesday.

Coach Brandon Friebe said it felt great to get that first win. “It feels good to get it off our backs. We played sloppy in the third quarter. But I’ll be honest, I think that’s because these guys haven’t been in that position a lot. I’m proud of them for overcoming. They did such a great job today of being able to execute coming out of timeouts and dead balls. They were so much more locked in than they have been.”

Friebe said coming into the game, his team had to do three things: value the basketball, rebound better, and stop wasting possessions. “We didn’t do it perfectly tonight, but we did it better. So it was a step in the right direction,” he said.

Despite Community’s seeding at the bottom of the bracket, the Trojans entered the tournament with a 3-6 record and were determined not to be Fayette’s first victim of the year. They opened Thursday’s game with a 3-pointer right off the tip and sank another a minute later to jump out to an early six-point lead, which forced Friebe to call a timeout.

The break must have worked. Sophomore Blake Braden responded with a three, and the Falcons later went on a seven-point run to pull ahead 10-8. The Trojans scored once more, but Fayette had the final say in the opening period when junior Colten Cross made a putback at the buzzer to give his team the momentum heading into the second quarter.

That’s when Fayette took off, with Braden scoring three transition layups in the first 90 seconds to spark a 19-1 run over seven minutes. Community netted their only field goal of the second quarter on a triple by junior Brett Beamer with 28 seconds left in the half. But the Falcons took a 31-14 lead into the break.

“We game planned a little bit for that. We wanted to slow things down a little bit and let our guys get into the rhythm of the game and look for our moments to step on the gas,” Friebe explained. “We came out [in the second quarter] and really pushed the tempo offensively and got some great transition points out of that.”

Friebe has always been a coach who preaches that offense comes from defense. And while man-to-man is a hill he is often willing to die on, he made the decision to switch to a zone defense.

“I hate zone. But we worked on it yesterday at practice,” Friebe said. “As a coaching staff, we realized we needed to do some different things, if nothing else, just to shake things up. We played a ton of zone tonight, which is outside my natural desire as a coach.”

Their defense and full-court pressure led the Falcons to score a string of transition buckets during their second-quarter surge.

“That was huge. We needed to make that run to get some momentum,” Friebe said. “We felt like if we could create some momentum and force some turnovers, and that we would be able to defensively stay steady and let them make some mistakes we could take advantage of. A prime example of that was Charles Alexander. We’re better with him on the floor. We just needed him to stay out of foul trouble, and he did that for the most part tonight.”

Fayette’s 17-point margin at halftime proved crucial as the Trojans slowly worked their way back into the game in the second half. Community outscored Fayette 15-8 in the third quarter to open the final period behind by 10.

Community eventually came within seven points twice in the fourth quarter. A three by Cross midway through the period cushioned Fayette’s lead back to 10.

During a timeout with three minutes left in the game, Friebe challenged his players to play their “best defense they’ve played all year” in the final minutes.

“I feel like for those last three minutes we got exactly what we needed with the exception of one possession,” Friebe said.

Cross knocked down two free throws in the final 1:45, and Braden put the finishing touches on the game with a steal and layup with 17 seconds left to hold on for the coveted first win.

Cross led all scorers with 17, netting a 3-pointer and seven fourth-quarter points. Friebe credits his starting point guard with setting the tone for the Falcons as the team’s leader.

“I think people who watched him play football saw his leadership develop,” Friebe said. “We go as he goes. From a leadership standpoint, he is our catalyst. When he stays levelheaded and calm, we do as a team.”

Braden posted 15 on the night and sank Fayette’s first basket of the night, a 3-point shot to spur the Falcons in the opening minutes.

“I thought Blake played his best game of the year tonight,” Friebe said.

Senior Charles Alexander finished with nine points to round out the top three scorers.

Junior Thad Quint finished with four points on the night and sank a three amid Fayette’s second-quarter run. Senior Jaron Cross added two points and was a menace on defense.

Senior big man Payton Oeth finished with just three points, but was a commanding presence in the defensive paint, pulling down double-digit rebounds.

“We knew offensively it probably would not be a big night for him because Community is a big team,” Friebe said about Oeth’s role on Thursday. “We knew we needed to establish some inside presence in the way of dribble penetration and kicking out or post feeds. Payton did a great job of taking care of the ball and distributing the ball from the post.”

The Falcons struggled from the line, sinking just 11 of 28 free-throw chances. They will most certainly have to shore up that part of their game before playing for the consolation trophy Saturday afternoon.

Thursday’s win gives Fayette the opportunity to escape the tournament with two wins and a trophy. The Falcons play for the consolation prize at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday against sixth-seeded Sturgeon (4-4). The Bulldogs lost a lopsided opener 72-31 to third-seeded Brunswick but rebounded against seventh-seeded Jamestown on Thursday, 43-29, after a dominant opening half.

“I don’t know when the last time these guys ever won a trophy. To have the opportunity to come home with any hardware is a plus,” Friebe said.