2019-20 Fairfield Lady Lions Basketball Preview
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Though the Fairfield Lady Lions didn’t have a winning record one season ago, they return to the court for the 2019-20 season with optimism and six players who were letter winners.
With a 10-13 record a year ago, the season didn’t have all of the momentum needed to finish above the .500 mark, but this is a new year. The Lady Lions have experience to propel themselves to a better overall season, but they are a very young team with no seniors and only one junior.
Along with the one junior, Fairfield has seven sophomores and six freshmen on the roster. The lone junior is Jaden Smith, and the sophomore class includes Madison Bronner, Makenna Colwell, Shaleigh Duncan, Emma Fouch, Braylynn Haines, Ella Newkirk and Cadence Saunders. The freshmen on the team are Peyton Magee, Faith Miller, Paris Priest, Shelby Rice, Haley Shoemaker and Hailey Tolle.
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Entering his seventh season as Fairfield head coach, Chad Hamilton said his team will be young, but they do have experience gained from last year’s 23-game schedule.
“We graduated three seniors from last year and have six returning letter winners, but only 14 total players in the program,” Hamilton said. “Emma Fouch is our only returning starter. She not only scores for us, but she is a good rebounder for a guard.
“We are very young this season — we have no seniors and only one junior, so we are very young. I expect this group to be able to execute, play together and be able to compete in every game. We only have one returning starter, so this group is completely different and will have a different style from last year’s team. Right now we are focused on doing all the small things.”
The graduated seniors from last year are Trinity Huff, Brianna Barnes and Lauren Arnold. Last season, Barnes was the Lady Lions’ leading scorer with 13.1 points per game in 23 games played. She scored 302 points and totaled 175 rebounds (7.6 rebounds per game).
Also not returning to the Fairfield roster is Samara Cannon, who was the second-leading scorer for FHS last season as a sophomore. Cannon was an All-SHAC and All-District selection. Cannon averaged 12.4 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game for the 2018-19 season.
“Last season (2018-19), Fouch averaged 7.9 points per game and was a good rebounder for a guard (4.3 rebounds per game). Other sophomore guards are Cadence Saunders and Ella Newkirk, and both will be expected to provide excellent defense and help with the scoring load,” Hamilton said. “Braylynn Haines and Madison Bronner will need to provide rebounding and inside scoring.
“Jaden Smith is our only upperclassman, and she is expected to play different
positions and give us a spark with her energy. Peyton Magee is a freshman who will have the ball a lot and see lots of minutes, so we need her to take care of the ball and provide scoring.”
Also for the Lady Lions, a year ago Fouch made 27 three-pointers and had 100 rebounds and 40 assists. Bronner totaled 82 points last year, along with collecting 78 rebounds. Haines totaled 46 points and 71 rebounds for the 2018-19 season.
With all of the changes made on the roster by the Lady Lions as they enter the 2019-20 campaign, Hamilton spoke about the preseason and summer for the team and how it has helped them for the upcoming season.
“The preseason has gone well. I believe we are making progress, and the team chemistry has been very good,” Hamilton said. “I expect our execution to get better as the season progresses. We haven’t shot the ball well in our first couple scrimmages, so that certainly needs to improve.”
Looking ahead at the non-conference schedule of games, the games away from the Southern Hills Athletic Conference won’t be easy for Fairfield by any means.
The non-conference schedule for the Lady Lions begins with a game at the Manchester Tip-Off Classic on Friday, Nov. 23 against Portsmouth West to open the season, followed with non-conference games at Washington, vs. South Webster, at East Clinton, vs. Paint Valley, at Williamsburg, vs. McClain, at Huntington and vs. Cincinnati Northwest.
There is also the task of playing in the SHAC, as Fairfield is a member of Division II of the conference.
“I believe Peebles will be the team to beat in the small school division,” Hamilton said. “North Adams and Eastern Brown will be very tough in the big school division.”
This season for Hamilton and the Lady Lions is about building the program to improve over the next few seasons with such a young roster.
“The team chemistry has been great so far,” Hamilton said. “The girls get along and want to work, so I’m excited to see what they can do this year because we have the vast majority of these girls for the next three seasons, and I think they will only get better.”
With a 10-13 record a year ago, the season didn’t have all of the momentum needed to finish above the .500 mark, but this is a new year. The Lady Lions have experience to propel themselves to a better overall season, but they are a very young team with no seniors and only one junior.
Along with the one junior, Fairfield has seven sophomores and six freshmen on the roster. The lone junior is Jaden Smith, and the sophomore class includes Madison Bronner, Makenna Colwell, Shaleigh Duncan, Emma Fouch, Braylynn Haines, Ella Newkirk and Cadence Saunders. The freshmen on the team are Peyton Magee, Faith Miller, Paris Priest, Shelby Rice, Haley Shoemaker and Hailey Tolle.
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Entering his seventh season as Fairfield head coach, Chad Hamilton said his team will be young, but they do have experience gained from last year’s 23-game schedule.
“We graduated three seniors from last year and have six returning letter winners, but only 14 total players in the program,” Hamilton said. “Emma Fouch is our only returning starter. She not only scores for us, but she is a good rebounder for a guard.
“We are very young this season — we have no seniors and only one junior, so we are very young. I expect this group to be able to execute, play together and be able to compete in every game. We only have one returning starter, so this group is completely different and will have a different style from last year’s team. Right now we are focused on doing all the small things.”
The graduated seniors from last year are Trinity Huff, Brianna Barnes and Lauren Arnold. Last season, Barnes was the Lady Lions’ leading scorer with 13.1 points per game in 23 games played. She scored 302 points and totaled 175 rebounds (7.6 rebounds per game).
Also not returning to the Fairfield roster is Samara Cannon, who was the second-leading scorer for FHS last season as a sophomore. Cannon was an All-SHAC and All-District selection. Cannon averaged 12.4 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game for the 2018-19 season.
“Last season (2018-19), Fouch averaged 7.9 points per game and was a good rebounder for a guard (4.3 rebounds per game). Other sophomore guards are Cadence Saunders and Ella Newkirk, and both will be expected to provide excellent defense and help with the scoring load,” Hamilton said. “Braylynn Haines and Madison Bronner will need to provide rebounding and inside scoring.
“Jaden Smith is our only upperclassman, and she is expected to play different
positions and give us a spark with her energy. Peyton Magee is a freshman who will have the ball a lot and see lots of minutes, so we need her to take care of the ball and provide scoring.”
Also for the Lady Lions, a year ago Fouch made 27 three-pointers and had 100 rebounds and 40 assists. Bronner totaled 82 points last year, along with collecting 78 rebounds. Haines totaled 46 points and 71 rebounds for the 2018-19 season.
With all of the changes made on the roster by the Lady Lions as they enter the 2019-20 campaign, Hamilton spoke about the preseason and summer for the team and how it has helped them for the upcoming season.
“The preseason has gone well. I believe we are making progress, and the team chemistry has been very good,” Hamilton said. “I expect our execution to get better as the season progresses. We haven’t shot the ball well in our first couple scrimmages, so that certainly needs to improve.”
Looking ahead at the non-conference schedule of games, the games away from the Southern Hills Athletic Conference won’t be easy for Fairfield by any means.
The non-conference schedule for the Lady Lions begins with a game at the Manchester Tip-Off Classic on Friday, Nov. 23 against Portsmouth West to open the season, followed with non-conference games at Washington, vs. South Webster, at East Clinton, vs. Paint Valley, at Williamsburg, vs. McClain, at Huntington and vs. Cincinnati Northwest.
There is also the task of playing in the SHAC, as Fairfield is a member of Division II of the conference.
“I believe Peebles will be the team to beat in the small school division,” Hamilton said. “North Adams and Eastern Brown will be very tough in the big school division.”
This season for Hamilton and the Lady Lions is about building the program to improve over the next few seasons with such a young roster.
“The team chemistry has been great so far,” Hamilton said. “The girls get along and want to work, so I’m excited to see what they can do this year because we have the vast majority of these girls for the next three seasons, and I think they will only get better.”