The Fayette boys basketball team looked to add another notch to the win column at the end of the first half of the season against Salisbury last Tuesday night at home, but that was not to be as the Panthers beat the Falcons 67-45 in the annual Pink-Out game.

With the 22-point loss, the Falcons fall to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in the conference. “I know these guys are fighters,” said Fayette head coach Jon Bishop. “We will get the chance to play better after we take Christmas break.”

Playing with a deficit of 12 turnovers in the first half, Fayette went into the locker room behind 40-21.

Undaunted by the score, the Falcons broke out in the third with an 8-0 run, cutting the lead to 40-29 before Salisbury was able to score.”We just couldn’t sustain that run,” said Bishop. “We knew the things we had to do to climb back into our game and started out on the 8-0 run.”

Salisbury was able to go on their own scoring run, putting up 12 points before the end of the third with Fayette being unable to score again.

In the fourth quarter, the Falcons came on strong, outscoring the Panthers 16-15. “I’m always proud of how our guys fight,” said Bishop. “We continue to play from the heart.”

Senior Dalton Collins led the Falcons with 25 points while classmate Theo Owings had the fourth career double-double and the third of the season as he poured in 11 points, grabbed 16 rebounds. and added three blocks. Junior Haden Kelly added seven points. Senior Tyler Bartholomew rounded out the scoring by adding two points.

Fayette will see it’s next action in the 93rd Annual New Franklin Tournament which begins January 3 and runs through January 8. The fourth-seeded Fayette boys will open play at 7 p.m. against fifth-seeded Pilot Grove on January 4.