Fairfield Lady Lions play close to Huntington, but fall in sectional semifinals
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LUCASVILLE — Having a tied score at 55 with 3:51 left in the fourth quarter, the Division III SE District Sectional Semifinal contest between the Fairfield Lady Lions and the Huntington Lady Huntsmen could have tilted in either direction as both teams were able to gain momentum at varying times throughout the game.
On Thursday night, though, at Valley High School, the final 3:32 on the tournament matchup went to the Lady Hunstmen as they outscored Fairfield, 13-9 in those final moments of the fourth to take home a 68-64 victory over the Lady Lions, and with that, the Fairfield season came to a close.
Fairfield (6-7, 10-13) had a season with some excellent moments and games they wish they could have back, and Thursday night’s tournament game was one of those games as miscues here and there in the latter stages of the fourth frame ended up being the difference in what is the final game of the season.
These two teams also faced each other in the season opener, where Fairfield lost on the road by a 71-58 score.
“We played this team the first game of the year, and obviously a lot has changed since then. Our game plan was to limit their two best players, and that is a very hard to do, and to take away their transition game,” FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. “I thought we did a very good job with that, but that ended up being the difference of the game because we had a couple late turnovers around half-court, and we knew they would convert those.
“For the most part, we did a great job taking away their transition, and that is how we were able to get it closer than the first time we played them.”
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As the score was tied at 55 following the Lady Huntsmen tying the score in the fourth quarter, Fairfield took the lead back with a free throw from Brianna Barnes, only to see Huntington sink a 3-pointer off a basket by Allison Basye — who led all scorers with 31 points — and as the shot went though the hoop, she gave a fist pump in celebration as the bucket swayed all the momentum back to the Lady Huntsmen, for a lead they held onto for the rest of the game.
Fairfield tried to battle back with two made free throws by Lauren Arnold, and after a free throw from the Lady Huntsmen, HHS then stole the basketball and took it to the hoop for two points from Collins.
Barnes — who led FHS with her career-high 24 points — continued to battle for the Lady Lions in what was her final career game for Fairfield by scoring two points in the paint, but again, Huntington scored two points from the free-throw line. Trinity Huff (who totaled 13 points in the game) answered for FHS with three straight free-throw conversions, as she was fouled while shooting a three-point basket.
“Brianna had a career-high scoring, and that is one heck of a way to go out,” Hamilton said. “She does all the little things and runs the floor really well. Trinity had an excellent game as well. Having someone like Lauren (Arnold) who can throw the ball on a rope the length of the floor, we are tough to press.”
Fairfield then forced a turnover with a steal by Huff, and later Huntington sent the ball out of bounds. The Lady Lions had a chance to take what was a five-point deficit to two points, but with 23.2 on the clock, they had a sequence of events with a missed three-point attempt and they were forced to foul Huntington.
Eventually, time ran out, and Huntington held onto the lead for the win.
The first frame was full of scoring by the Lady Lions and Huntington as Fairfield led the first frame with a 17-13 lead. The quarter was tied twice at 2-2 and 11-11, as Huntington’s Basye tied the score on both occasions.
Fairfield’s Emma Fouch broke the 11-point tie with a jumper at the 3:17 mark, then Barnes added to the lead with two points for a 15-11 advantage with 2:09 left in the quarter. After two more points from Huntington, the quarter ended with two free throws by Fouch as she finished the game with 10 points.
The Lady Lions were outscored 14-7 in the second quarter with their points in the frame coming from Huff, Barnes and Madison Bronner, who scored three points in the quarter. FHS ended the frame trailing, 27-24.
In the third, Fairfield outscored the Lady Huntsmen, 20-19 with Huntington holding onto the lead for the entire frame, leading 46-44 after three frames.
The third saw Samara Cannon score her first points of the game, as she had a very strong scoring quarter with two 3-pointers and two two-point baskets. Also in the quarter, Fouch sank a 3-pointer, while Huff also scored three points in the third. Barnes also added points for Fairfield in the third with four points.
Fairfield added another 20 points in the fourth frame, but Huntington scored 22 points, which sent FHS to the tournament loss. Cannon added two points in the fourth, while Arnold sank two free throws in the fourth. Cannon totaled 12 points in the game.
Also for FHS in the fourth, Huff sank two two-point baskets and made three free throws. Barnes finished the fourth quarter with three two-point baskets and two made free throws.
The game also saw a milestone moment for Huntington’s Collins as she became their all-time leading scorer, as a two-point basket off a fast break with 3:38 on the scoreboard gave her 1,577 career points, She finished the game with 22 points.
Also scoring points for Huntington were Riley Black with seven points, Megan Steele with two points, Katie Hirsch with three points and Brodey Entler with three points as both Hirsch and Entler each made a 3-pointer.
For the game, Huntington totaled 17 two-point baskets, seven 3-pointers and they were 13-of-19 from the free-throw line. Fairfield totaled 20 two-point baskets, four 3-pointers, and they were 12-of-17 in their free-throw shooting.
Seniors for Fairfield are Brianna Barnes, Trinity Huff and Lauren Arnold as Hamilton spoke about them and about the season as a whole.
“Those seniors are all very solid players, and we are going to miss them tremendously,” Hamilton said. “Our goal was to be .500 or better, and we had a couple games where it could have gone either way, and that cost us our goals. We made some mental mistakes here and there tonight and throughout the season that cost us a little bit, so going forward I hope our girls can learn to make the easy pass and not dribble into traps, to eliminate the simple errors, and that can go a long way.”
On Thursday night, though, at Valley High School, the final 3:32 on the tournament matchup went to the Lady Hunstmen as they outscored Fairfield, 13-9 in those final moments of the fourth to take home a 68-64 victory over the Lady Lions, and with that, the Fairfield season came to a close.
Fairfield (6-7, 10-13) had a season with some excellent moments and games they wish they could have back, and Thursday night’s tournament game was one of those games as miscues here and there in the latter stages of the fourth frame ended up being the difference in what is the final game of the season.
These two teams also faced each other in the season opener, where Fairfield lost on the road by a 71-58 score.
“We played this team the first game of the year, and obviously a lot has changed since then. Our game plan was to limit their two best players, and that is a very hard to do, and to take away their transition game,” FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. “I thought we did a very good job with that, but that ended up being the difference of the game because we had a couple late turnovers around half-court, and we knew they would convert those.
“For the most part, we did a great job taking away their transition, and that is how we were able to get it closer than the first time we played them.”
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As the score was tied at 55 following the Lady Huntsmen tying the score in the fourth quarter, Fairfield took the lead back with a free throw from Brianna Barnes, only to see Huntington sink a 3-pointer off a basket by Allison Basye — who led all scorers with 31 points — and as the shot went though the hoop, she gave a fist pump in celebration as the bucket swayed all the momentum back to the Lady Huntsmen, for a lead they held onto for the rest of the game.
Fairfield tried to battle back with two made free throws by Lauren Arnold, and after a free throw from the Lady Huntsmen, HHS then stole the basketball and took it to the hoop for two points from Collins.
Barnes — who led FHS with her career-high 24 points — continued to battle for the Lady Lions in what was her final career game for Fairfield by scoring two points in the paint, but again, Huntington scored two points from the free-throw line. Trinity Huff (who totaled 13 points in the game) answered for FHS with three straight free-throw conversions, as she was fouled while shooting a three-point basket.
“Brianna had a career-high scoring, and that is one heck of a way to go out,” Hamilton said. “She does all the little things and runs the floor really well. Trinity had an excellent game as well. Having someone like Lauren (Arnold) who can throw the ball on a rope the length of the floor, we are tough to press.”
Fairfield then forced a turnover with a steal by Huff, and later Huntington sent the ball out of bounds. The Lady Lions had a chance to take what was a five-point deficit to two points, but with 23.2 on the clock, they had a sequence of events with a missed three-point attempt and they were forced to foul Huntington.
Eventually, time ran out, and Huntington held onto the lead for the win.
The first frame was full of scoring by the Lady Lions and Huntington as Fairfield led the first frame with a 17-13 lead. The quarter was tied twice at 2-2 and 11-11, as Huntington’s Basye tied the score on both occasions.
Fairfield’s Emma Fouch broke the 11-point tie with a jumper at the 3:17 mark, then Barnes added to the lead with two points for a 15-11 advantage with 2:09 left in the quarter. After two more points from Huntington, the quarter ended with two free throws by Fouch as she finished the game with 10 points.
The Lady Lions were outscored 14-7 in the second quarter with their points in the frame coming from Huff, Barnes and Madison Bronner, who scored three points in the quarter. FHS ended the frame trailing, 27-24.
In the third, Fairfield outscored the Lady Huntsmen, 20-19 with Huntington holding onto the lead for the entire frame, leading 46-44 after three frames.
The third saw Samara Cannon score her first points of the game, as she had a very strong scoring quarter with two 3-pointers and two two-point baskets. Also in the quarter, Fouch sank a 3-pointer, while Huff also scored three points in the third. Barnes also added points for Fairfield in the third with four points.
Fairfield added another 20 points in the fourth frame, but Huntington scored 22 points, which sent FHS to the tournament loss. Cannon added two points in the fourth, while Arnold sank two free throws in the fourth. Cannon totaled 12 points in the game.
Also for FHS in the fourth, Huff sank two two-point baskets and made three free throws. Barnes finished the fourth quarter with three two-point baskets and two made free throws.
The game also saw a milestone moment for Huntington’s Collins as she became their all-time leading scorer, as a two-point basket off a fast break with 3:38 on the scoreboard gave her 1,577 career points, She finished the game with 22 points.
Also scoring points for Huntington were Riley Black with seven points, Megan Steele with two points, Katie Hirsch with three points and Brodey Entler with three points as both Hirsch and Entler each made a 3-pointer.
For the game, Huntington totaled 17 two-point baskets, seven 3-pointers and they were 13-of-19 from the free-throw line. Fairfield totaled 20 two-point baskets, four 3-pointers, and they were 12-of-17 in their free-throw shooting.
Seniors for Fairfield are Brianna Barnes, Trinity Huff and Lauren Arnold as Hamilton spoke about them and about the season as a whole.
“Those seniors are all very solid players, and we are going to miss them tremendously,” Hamilton said. “Our goal was to be .500 or better, and we had a couple games where it could have gone either way, and that cost us our goals. We made some mental mistakes here and there tonight and throughout the season that cost us a little bit, so going forward I hope our girls can learn to make the easy pass and not dribble into traps, to eliminate the simple errors, and that can go a long way.”