The Fayette boys walk into the Christmas break with some relief after earning their first win of the season Wednesday night in a hard-fought thriller over Lewis & Clark rival Paris, 52-43.

The win comes after a brutal start to the season, which included bouts against state-ranked New Franklin, Harrisburg (twice), and Glasgow.

Fayette can hold its head high after Wednesday night’s physical game. The win came on the Falcons’ home court before a rowdy home crowd. The Lady Falcons pumped up the atmosphere with a convincing 50-40 win to take an undefeated conference record into the break.

Now it’s the boys’ turn for some home recognition.

“I know we’ve had some really lopsided losses, and we’ve had a lot of negativity running around as far as our losses go and our scores,” said Fayette coach Jon Bishop. “But, these guys, they continue to play well. They continue to work hard in practice. They continue to do everything they’re supposed to do.”

Fayette won the tipoff and jumped out to a 4-0 lead on baskets by sophomore forward Payton Oeth and junior guard Kaleb Friebe.

By the end of a back-and-forth first quarter, Fayette held a 10-7 lead after Friebe banked a timely 3-pointer.

“We came out in our 1-3-1 defense due to Paris not really attempting the outside shot in other games they had played,” Bishop said. “I thought our guys did well playing with energy early in the game.”

The Falcons led by as much as six points early in the second quarter. But Paris always found a way to come back, and the two teams battled to a 21-21 tie with just over two minutes left in the half.

Paris made three of their total 3-point shots in the second quarter.

The Coyotes pulled ahead late in the second until Friebe scored a crucial layup off a steal with 8.7 seconds left to go into the break down just one point, 24-23.

The third quarter can be a make-or-break period for many teams. And Fayette hasn’t had the best third-quarter history over the past few years. But a quick 5-0 run to start the second half gave Fayette a crucial edge.

Paris clawed back and tied the game midway through the third. The stalemate would last another two minutes until a bucket by sophomore forward Carter Vroman sparked a 6-0 Fayette run through the rest of the third quarter.

Fayette posted 11 points in the third quarter. But, just as importantly, the Falcons held Paris to just four points in the period.

Oeth and Vroman combined eight of Fayette’s 11 third-quarter points. A 3-pointer by senior Tristan Swanson pushed Fayette’s lead to six points after 24 minutes.

“This was big going into the fourth being up for the first time all season,” Bishop said. “You could see a focus on our guys faces. They were competing hard and they had a look for sure. We needed to stay patient and attack the basket. We still had a couple guys take an outside shot in the fourth but we also saw our guys play solid defense.”

Leading 34-28 to start the final stanza, Fayette junior Micah Estes delivered a huge 3-point shot a minute into the period to give Fayette a nine-point lead.

But the feisty Coyotes answered with a 9-2 run to cut the lead to two points with 4:43 left to play.

The Falcons managed to pull ahead and stay in front by single digits as they gutted out their first win of the season.

“It was very nice,” said a relieved Coach Bishop. “I was very proud of the guys for playing the way they did. I thought we showed a lot of guts at the end, and I was glad we kept our cool.”

Paris didn’t make it easy for Fayette. Every shot was contested in a variety of ways in a physical matchup that saw four players foul out, and one issued a technical foul.

With all of the fouling on both ends, either team should have been able to make more of an impression on the scoreboard. But poor free-throw shooting meant the teams would have to do the work on the rest of the court.

Fayette made just 12 of 30 chances from the charity stripe, compared to 7-for-22 shooting for the Coyotes. Paris made just one of eight shots from the line in a third quarter that saw Fayette take the lead for good.

“Obviously, we need to work on free throws a little bit more,” Bishop said. “I think we would have spread that lead out a little bit more had we been able to knock some of those down.”

Fouling also meant that Paris was without two of its top players late in the game. Ball handler Colton Kendrick spent a significant period of time on the bench after he was whistled with the game’s only technical foul. And the Coyotes top scorer, Brad Skinner, fouled out with 1:22 left to play after scoring a game-high 23 points.

Fayette was led by Oeth and Friebe, who scored 16 and 14 points, respectively. Vroman added a hard-earned eight points.

Friebe and Oeth are consistent players for the Falcon lineup. Bishop said they had a strong supporting cast Wednesday as players emerged and leaned into their roles.

“Kevin De La Torre was one of them,” Bishop said. “He got back in the starting lineup. We sat Micah [Estes] tonight just because we really thought we probably needed an extra shooter in for tonight. Kevin provides that for us. But Micah came in and gave us quality minutes off the bench.”

Quality minutes, indeed. Estes sank a crucial 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter and give his team a five-point lead. He finished with five points on the night.

Another player is sophomore forward Carter Vroman, who got the starting nod Wednesday. Known for plowing through defenses as Fayette’s leading running back on the football field, the tall sophomore used his power to provide much-needed points in the paint.

“Carter, as much of a beast as he is and everything he does, he’s starting to really come of age down low and be able to finish shots,” Bishop said. “And he’s defending really well. And they had some bigs that we needed to contend with. And it’s nice having an athletic guy like that to be able to compete.”

Bishop added Charles Alexander to his list of players who made an impact off the bench for Wednesday night’s win. The lanky sophomore scored five points and finished 3-for-4 from the line.

“I think Charles Alexander grew up a little bit tonight, too. And I think that’s really big for us. It can only help us down the road.”

The Falcons now have a much-needed break. They will step back on the court after Christmas to prepare for another brutal showdown with sixth-ranked New Franklin in the first round of the New Franklin Tournament on Jan. 8. Fayette drew the eighth seed.

“That was a really nice game to kind of finish and go in into the break,” Bishop said. “It’s going to get tougher at the New Franklin tournament, but I like where we’re at. And I think we can feed off of that.

Tipoff against New Franklin is slated for 6 p.m. in the new gym.