Girls Tournament Preview: Fairfield set to face Whiteoak in sectional opener
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Editor's note: Fairfield vs. Whiteoak girls basketball sectional semifinals have been postponed to Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Northwest High School.
The Division IV SE District tournament will tip-off with the No. 8 seeded Fairfield Lady Lions squaring off against the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats (a No. 9 seed) at Northwest High School, in McDermott.
The all-Highland County battle with the Lady Lions against the Lady Wildcats (in the Northwest No. 1 bracket) will be the third meeting between the two teams this season, with Fairfield winning the first two meetings.
The first time these Southern Hills Athletic Conference foes faced each other this season was Jan. 12 at Fairfield's Grandle Gymnasium, where the Lady Lions won 58-40. In their next meeting on Jan. 26, the score was a little closer and the result came down to the final seconds, with FHS winning, 53-50 at Whiteoak High School.
[[In-content Ad]]A fun fact for this game: The first two meetings between the two county rivals were also on a Monday night, but this time the two schools will travel two counties over to settle the rivalry for this season.
FHS enters this contest having lost their past three games, with their last win coming against Jefferson Township on Tuesday, Feb. 3 by a 66-13 score.
Since that non-conference win, the Lady Lions have lost games to Eastern Brown (43-28), Cedarville (66-54) and Peebles (37-36).
WHS enters the postseason winning two of their past three games with wins over West Union (46-29) and Williamsburg (53-45). The loss was in their regular-season finale, as the Lady 'Cats lost to North Adams by a 76-34 score.
For the Lady Lions, their leading scorer is senior Kaitlin Evans, who is averaging 15.7 points per game this season.
Freshman Grace Shope is next in scoring for FHS with 13.5 ppg in her first season of high school basketball.
The Lady 'Cats are led in scoring by junior Emma Wardlow with 14.2 ppg, while teammates Sunnie Lehr (a senior) is averaging 7.4 ppg and Maggie Carr (a sophomore) is at 5.8 ppg for the 2014-15 season.
In looking back at their previous two meetings this season, the first game the final score didn't do the game justice, because at halftime FHS led 30-21. In the second half of that game at FHS, the Lady Lions outscored the visiting Lady 'Cats, 28-19.
Evans led all scorers in the FHS win with 24 points. Shope added 20 points in that game, and for WHS, Wardlow led with 15 points.
In their meeting at Whiteoak, the Lady 'Cats were led by Courtney Cummings with 12 points, and for the Lady Lions, Evans had 23 points and Shope totaled 19.
Wardlow scored seven points in the second meeting, while Lehr totaled eight and Emily Edingfield scored nine points.
As for that second meeting in Mowrystown, the halftime score was tied at 27, and WHS led 37-35 after three quarters. It was FHS who took the lead for good in the final eight minutes with an 18-13 fourth.
From the game article in that second game, here is what occurred in the final 30 seconds of the contest:
"Whiteoak's Emma Wardlow stole the basketball from the Lady Lions only to be ruled out of bounds while being heavily defended going down the court. Following the call with 27.7 left on the fourth-quarter clock, both teams were battling for possession of the ball near the WHS basket, when a jump ball was ruled with possession going to FHS with 6.2 remaining."
Those final moments pretty much sealed the fate of that game.
The winner of this game moves onto the sectional finals against No. 1 seeded and SHAC Division II champion North Adams (20-2) on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 6:15 p.m. at NWHS.
The Division IV SE District tournament will tip-off with the No. 8 seeded Fairfield Lady Lions squaring off against the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats (a No. 9 seed) at Northwest High School, in McDermott.
The all-Highland County battle with the Lady Lions against the Lady Wildcats (in the Northwest No. 1 bracket) will be the third meeting between the two teams this season, with Fairfield winning the first two meetings.
The first time these Southern Hills Athletic Conference foes faced each other this season was Jan. 12 at Fairfield's Grandle Gymnasium, where the Lady Lions won 58-40. In their next meeting on Jan. 26, the score was a little closer and the result came down to the final seconds, with FHS winning, 53-50 at Whiteoak High School.
[[In-content Ad]]A fun fact for this game: The first two meetings between the two county rivals were also on a Monday night, but this time the two schools will travel two counties over to settle the rivalry for this season.
FHS enters this contest having lost their past three games, with their last win coming against Jefferson Township on Tuesday, Feb. 3 by a 66-13 score.
Since that non-conference win, the Lady Lions have lost games to Eastern Brown (43-28), Cedarville (66-54) and Peebles (37-36).
WHS enters the postseason winning two of their past three games with wins over West Union (46-29) and Williamsburg (53-45). The loss was in their regular-season finale, as the Lady 'Cats lost to North Adams by a 76-34 score.
For the Lady Lions, their leading scorer is senior Kaitlin Evans, who is averaging 15.7 points per game this season.
Freshman Grace Shope is next in scoring for FHS with 13.5 ppg in her first season of high school basketball.
The Lady 'Cats are led in scoring by junior Emma Wardlow with 14.2 ppg, while teammates Sunnie Lehr (a senior) is averaging 7.4 ppg and Maggie Carr (a sophomore) is at 5.8 ppg for the 2014-15 season.
In looking back at their previous two meetings this season, the first game the final score didn't do the game justice, because at halftime FHS led 30-21. In the second half of that game at FHS, the Lady Lions outscored the visiting Lady 'Cats, 28-19.
Evans led all scorers in the FHS win with 24 points. Shope added 20 points in that game, and for WHS, Wardlow led with 15 points.
In their meeting at Whiteoak, the Lady 'Cats were led by Courtney Cummings with 12 points, and for the Lady Lions, Evans had 23 points and Shope totaled 19.
Wardlow scored seven points in the second meeting, while Lehr totaled eight and Emily Edingfield scored nine points.
As for that second meeting in Mowrystown, the halftime score was tied at 27, and WHS led 37-35 after three quarters. It was FHS who took the lead for good in the final eight minutes with an 18-13 fourth.
From the game article in that second game, here is what occurred in the final 30 seconds of the contest:
"Whiteoak's Emma Wardlow stole the basketball from the Lady Lions only to be ruled out of bounds while being heavily defended going down the court. Following the call with 27.7 left on the fourth-quarter clock, both teams were battling for possession of the ball near the WHS basket, when a jump ball was ruled with possession going to FHS with 6.2 remaining."
Those final moments pretty much sealed the fate of that game.
The winner of this game moves onto the sectional finals against No. 1 seeded and SHAC Division II champion North Adams (20-2) on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 6:15 p.m. at NWHS.