Fairfield battles, fall to Adena
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Playing without two starters on Saturday afternoon at Grandle Gymnasium, the Fairfield Lady Lions had their struggles at times, and en route the Adena Lady Warriors left Leesburg with a 54-26 non-league win.
Being a young team with sophomores and freshmen, this is in fact a learning season, and the Lady Lions had to play without two starters due to injury, as they trailed 40-8 after the first half.
The second half was more productive for Fairfield, scoring 18 points and winning the the third and fourth quarters by scores of 9-6 and 9-8.
"We were slow starters in the first half," Fairfield head coach Matt Hodson said. "We got down a lot, but we played a lot better in the second half. We need that intensity we had in the first half to be there in the first."
It will be a season of improvement for the Lady Lions as they continue to learn and improve each time they take the court.
Five Lady Lions reached the scoreboard on Saturday with sophomore Shelby Smithsom leading FHS with 12 points. Smithson made five field goals and was 2-of-3 from the free-throw line. The sophomore finished with a double-double by adding 12 rebounds.
Sophomore Heather Cox, the team's leading scorer, finished with six points and 10 rebounds. This season, Cox has scoring games of 18 points (vs. East Clinton and Fayetteville), 16 points (vs. North Adams) and nine points vs. Ripley. Cox is averaging 13.4 ppg.
They were followed by Kaitlin Evans with four points, and the combination of Lydia Sowders and Cynnamon Sova-Davy each added two points. This was Sowders' first varsity start as she added seven rebounds to her overall totals.
The first half belonged to Adena as they forced multiple turnovers for a 16-4 lead after eight minutes. The Lady Warriors (4-1) opened with a 6-0 run on a three-point play by Autumn Smith to open the game, followed by a 3-pointer by Michelle Ackley. Ackley led AHS with 11 points.
The first Lady Lion points were from Sowders, but after that Adena finished the opening quarters on a 10-2 run with points by Allyssa Dawson, Ackley, Natalie Cooper and Smith. Cooper finished with nine points and Smith with seven.
Adena broke away in the second quarter with 24 points, while holding FHS to four points to take a 32-point lead at halftime.
The Lady Warriors opened the second with an 18-0 run, including a three-point play from Jenny Grisby (nine points in the 18-0 run), Ackley and Cooper, including a 3-pointer. Cooper had seven points in the same run. Grisby ended the game with nine points.
"We just didn't take care of the ball," Hodson said. "We had some girls who played well, but we have to take better care of the ball.
"It's been a problem all year, but the girls are getting better each game. Our schedule has been brutal, but Monday is a new week and the girls are playing hard."
At the start of the third, Smithson and Cox each forced a turnover to start the quarter as the Lady Warriors sent in multiple lineups for the remainder of the game. Scoring the nine points of the third for FHS were Evans, Cox and Smithson, who tallied five points in the frame.
In the fourth, scoring for the Lady Lions were Cox and Smithson, as Smithson added another five points.
For the game, AHS was 10-of-19 from the free-throw line, while FHS was 4-of-9.
FHS falls to 1-4 overall, as they are 0-2 in the Southern Hills League. They will play again on Monday as they travel to Manchester. On Thursday, they will host West Union.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
AHS 16 24 06 08 — 54
FHS 04 04 09 09 — 26
INDIVIDUAL STATS
AHS (54)
N.Cooper 3 (1) 0-0 9
K.Henness 0 (0) 2-3 2
K.Newberry 1 (0) 0-0 2
J.Grisby 3 (0) 3-6 9
K.Twaret 0 (0) 2-2 2
M.Ackley 4 (1) 0-0 11
A.Dawson 2 (0) 0-1 4
P.Wright 0 (0) 0-2 0
B.Delong 1 (0) 1-2 3
A.Kennedy 1 (0) 0-0 2
C.Shea 1 (0) 0-0 2
A.Foster 0 (0) 1-2 1
A.Smith 3 (0) 1-1 7
TOTALS: 19 (2) 10-19 54
FHS (26)
K.Evans 1 (0) 2-3 4
L.Sowders 1 (0) 0-0 2
H.Cox 3 (0) 0-3 6
C.Sova-Davy 1 (0) 0-0 2
S.Smithson 5 (0) 2-3 12
TOTALS: 11 (0) 4-9 26[[In-content Ad]]
Being a young team with sophomores and freshmen, this is in fact a learning season, and the Lady Lions had to play without two starters due to injury, as they trailed 40-8 after the first half.
The second half was more productive for Fairfield, scoring 18 points and winning the the third and fourth quarters by scores of 9-6 and 9-8.
"We were slow starters in the first half," Fairfield head coach Matt Hodson said. "We got down a lot, but we played a lot better in the second half. We need that intensity we had in the first half to be there in the first."
It will be a season of improvement for the Lady Lions as they continue to learn and improve each time they take the court.
Five Lady Lions reached the scoreboard on Saturday with sophomore Shelby Smithsom leading FHS with 12 points. Smithson made five field goals and was 2-of-3 from the free-throw line. The sophomore finished with a double-double by adding 12 rebounds.
Sophomore Heather Cox, the team's leading scorer, finished with six points and 10 rebounds. This season, Cox has scoring games of 18 points (vs. East Clinton and Fayetteville), 16 points (vs. North Adams) and nine points vs. Ripley. Cox is averaging 13.4 ppg.
They were followed by Kaitlin Evans with four points, and the combination of Lydia Sowders and Cynnamon Sova-Davy each added two points. This was Sowders' first varsity start as she added seven rebounds to her overall totals.
The first half belonged to Adena as they forced multiple turnovers for a 16-4 lead after eight minutes. The Lady Warriors (4-1) opened with a 6-0 run on a three-point play by Autumn Smith to open the game, followed by a 3-pointer by Michelle Ackley. Ackley led AHS with 11 points.
The first Lady Lion points were from Sowders, but after that Adena finished the opening quarters on a 10-2 run with points by Allyssa Dawson, Ackley, Natalie Cooper and Smith. Cooper finished with nine points and Smith with seven.
Adena broke away in the second quarter with 24 points, while holding FHS to four points to take a 32-point lead at halftime.
The Lady Warriors opened the second with an 18-0 run, including a three-point play from Jenny Grisby (nine points in the 18-0 run), Ackley and Cooper, including a 3-pointer. Cooper had seven points in the same run. Grisby ended the game with nine points.
"We just didn't take care of the ball," Hodson said. "We had some girls who played well, but we have to take better care of the ball.
"It's been a problem all year, but the girls are getting better each game. Our schedule has been brutal, but Monday is a new week and the girls are playing hard."
At the start of the third, Smithson and Cox each forced a turnover to start the quarter as the Lady Warriors sent in multiple lineups for the remainder of the game. Scoring the nine points of the third for FHS were Evans, Cox and Smithson, who tallied five points in the frame.
In the fourth, scoring for the Lady Lions were Cox and Smithson, as Smithson added another five points.
For the game, AHS was 10-of-19 from the free-throw line, while FHS was 4-of-9.
FHS falls to 1-4 overall, as they are 0-2 in the Southern Hills League. They will play again on Monday as they travel to Manchester. On Thursday, they will host West Union.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
AHS 16 24 06 08 — 54
FHS 04 04 09 09 — 26
INDIVIDUAL STATS
AHS (54)
N.Cooper 3 (1) 0-0 9
K.Henness 0 (0) 2-3 2
K.Newberry 1 (0) 0-0 2
J.Grisby 3 (0) 3-6 9
K.Twaret 0 (0) 2-2 2
M.Ackley 4 (1) 0-0 11
A.Dawson 2 (0) 0-1 4
P.Wright 0 (0) 0-2 0
B.Delong 1 (0) 1-2 3
A.Kennedy 1 (0) 0-0 2
C.Shea 1 (0) 0-0 2
A.Foster 0 (0) 1-2 1
A.Smith 3 (0) 1-1 7
TOTALS: 19 (2) 10-19 54
FHS (26)
K.Evans 1 (0) 2-3 4
L.Sowders 1 (0) 0-0 2
H.Cox 3 (0) 0-3 6
C.Sova-Davy 1 (0) 0-0 2
S.Smithson 5 (0) 2-3 12
TOTALS: 11 (0) 4-9 26[[In-content Ad]]