GENEVA – In their first home games of the 2024-25 season, the Fillmore Central basketball teams pulled off a varsity sweep of Fairbury. Despite facing serious foul trouble all game and allowing a fourth quarter rally, the Panther girls held on to win in the opener; and the Panther boys, less than 24 hours after a record performance on offense, leaned on their defense to complete the Saturday sweep of the Jeffs.  

 

GIRLS BASKETBALL: Fillmore Central (1-1) defeats Fairbury (1-1) 46-43 

With Fairbury coming in off a lopsided win on Thursday night and Fillmore Central coming in off a lopsided loss the night after, Saturday’s matchup ended up coming right down to the wire. The game was extremely tight throughout, with neither team ever leading by double digits, but the Panthers had the edge, albeit a slim one, for almost the entire game.  

Fillmore Central led by two after one quarter, by four at halftime, and by six, 35-29, going into the fourth quarter, steadily increasing their lead throughout the evening. But finally, Fairbury, which struggled to generate consistent offense throughout the game, came alive in the early stages of the fourth: Micah Friesen and Izzy Ohlde helped the Jeffs score 11 of the first 15 points of the final frame to grab a lead, 40-39, for the first time since the very start of the game.  

But the Panthers, in the face of serious adversity, managed to hold strong. Winners of only three games a season ago, Fillmore Central committed two dozen fouls in game two of this season, and three different Panthers fouled out with two more on the brink early in the fourth. Needing a major effort from their depth players, the Panthers got a great all-around game from freshman forward Hailey Frey and sophomore Jayden Stofer hit a three – her only made field goal of the game – to put FC back in front 45-43, and Fairbury could not fire back.  

The Jeffs were simply unable to take advantage of their opportunities, especially from the foul line. Friesen led all players with 13 points and Ohlde, after a cold start, scored 12. Fillmore Central got the balanced scoring it was used to, but scored a dozen more points that it averaged in the three-win season last year to earn the win. Frey’s eight points off the bench were tied with MaKenna McCoy, a rare starter that didn’t foul out, for the team lead, and four other players scored either five, six or seven points.  

 

BOYS BASKETBALL: Fillmore Central (2-0) defeats Fairbury (1-1) 47-30 

Great teams have more than one way to win games. Many expect Fillmore Central to be one of the better teams in Class C1 boys basketball this season, and, through two games, the Panthers proved they can succeed in many different phases, and they have some more cavalry ready to arrive. In their season opener against Milford on Friday night, Fillmore Central made a program record 17 three-pointers, according to head coach Derek Reinsch. The Panthers were nowhere near that bombastic in game two on Saturday, instead relying on their defense to post their second win.  

Fairbury entered the game off a defensive slugfest win over Heartland in which neither team cracked 40 points, and the Jeffs knew they would need to find some more offense to keep pace with the Panthers. And that proved to be the storyline on Saturday: Fairbury defended fairly well and had some success in general, but almost all of the Jeffs’ offense came from Brodie Prellwitz and Drew Watson, and FC was simply too strong in all phases for Fairbury to push back against.  

A steal and score from Prellwitz in the final seconds of the first half helped Fairbury get within single digits, but Fillmore Central took command after halftime, outscoring Fairbury 16-4 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. The Panthers needed only six threes to win this time, but for a team that didn’t lose in the month of December last year, Fillmore is certainly off to a solid start once again.  

Prellwitz paced the Jeffs in scoring for the second straight game, scoring 11 points on four made field goals, while Watson scored eight; the pair combined for all 13 points of the first half and 19 of their final total of 30. Daniel Stoner had a fantastic all-around game for Fillmore Central, scoring a game-high 18 points – the key difference in a 17-point win – and affecting the game in many different ways. Eli Conway knocked down a pair of important threes to score eight off the bench, and three other players scored at least five.  

 

UP NEXT: Fillmore Central @ Freeman on Friday, December 13 / @ Centura on Saturday, December 14 

                Fairbury vs. Superior, 6/7:30 PM, on Tuesday, December 10 

 

NEXT ON OL RED: Deshler @ Southern, 3/4:30 PM on Saturday, December 14