Lady Lions advance to districts with sectional crown

MCDERMOTT — The score got a little too close for the Fairfield Lady Lions as they once held a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter, only to see the Manchester Lady Greyhounds cut the lead to a single point during their Division IV SE District Sectional Final game Saturday.

Though the Lady Lions bent in the final eight minutes of play against their Southern Hills Athletic Conference rival, they didn’t break, as a clutch basket by Macie Pauley and two late free throws from Grace Shope put the game out of reach with just a few seconds left on the clock for what turned into a five-point win at 60-55 at McDermott High School.

Fairfield, the No. 3 seeded team in the sectional, began the fourth frame with a 12-point advantage at 48-36, but some missed shots, foul trouble and a Manchester team with their backs against the wall in what was their final quarter of the season made for an exciting final quarter.

Lady Lions post player Brianna Barnes, who was playing around her 10th varsity game of the season, came up big at the start of the fourth with a couple put-back baskets off offensive rebounds that kept the Lady Lions’ lead in double figures, including one put-back bucket with 5:53 left on the clock for a 52-39 advantage.

Manchester didn’t make life easy for the Lady Lions, as Shope was on the bench with her fourth foul, and other Lady Lions had some foul issues of their own. The Lady Greyhounds took advantage of the opportunity in front of them for the time being with timely 3-pointers in the final quarter (along with other baskets), connecting three times in a span of just over two minutes to take the Lady Lions’ lead from at its highest of 13 points to just two points with 1:25 left in regulation following a trey from McKenzie Smith.

Later, Smith sank a free throw to make it a one-point game with 48.1 seconds, but the momentum went back to the side of the Lady Lions with a clutch layup from Pauley with 24.2 on the clock to make it a 55-52 lead. Manchester missed on a 3-pointer opportunity and also on the ensuing put-back chance, forcing them to foul Shope, who added two points to the final Fairfield total and a five-point victory.

“We made some poor decisions down the stretch, but luckily we were able to get some big baskets from players coming off the bench,” FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. “Macie Pauley had a heck of a game, and Brianna Barnes came in and gave us some big points and big rebounds. We have a lot of nice pieces, and when we put them together and play hard for four quarters, we can play well.

“This is the highest seed we’ve had in a number of years, and none of these girls have experienced this. Hopefully getting to cut down the net and moving on to the districts … getting a taste of that, hopefully it will bode well for us in the future and show them when we can put it all together, we can have success.”

The Lady Lions, who also defeated Manchester twice during the regular season in SHAC play, were led in scoring by Pauley with 15 points (including two 3-pointers), followed by Shope with 11 points (7-of-12 from the free-throw line) and Barnes with 10 points. MHS was led by Morgan Johnson with a game-high 33 points, finishing 14-of-21 from the free-throw line.

In all, five Lady Lions scored points in the final frame, including Abigail Newkirk, Shope, Carly Arnold, Barnes and Pauley.

Even with the Lady Lions (12-11) having double-figure leads numerous times in the sectional final, the first frame saw them play a little off from their usual play, trailing 12-9 after eight minutes. Of the nine points scored by FHS in the first frame, three were by Carly Arnold off a 3-pointer, two came off free throws by Shope, Barnes scored two points in the paint and Blake Adams scored two points.

That changed in the second frame with FHS opening the quarter with the first eight points, beginning with two points from Adams, followed by consecutive 3-pointers by Pauley to put Fairfield back in the lead at 17-12 with 4:50 left in the first half.

Following those baskets by Pauley, the Lady Lions never trailed for the remainder of the game, as they outscored Manchester, 19-7 in the second quarter with Shope, Barnes and Trinity Huff also contributing to the Lady Lions’ second-frame scoring. Huff’s three points in the quarter came off a big-time 3-pointer at the buzzer, swishing through the hoop as time expired to give FHS what would be three important points as the game continued into the second half and a 28-19 lead at halftime.

FHS led 48-36 once the third frame came to a close, outscoring the Lady Greyhounds, 20-17. Six Fairfield players added to their lead in the third frame, including 3-pointers from Lauren Arnold and Carly Arnold, with Carly’s trey coming at the 6:53 mark of the quarter and Lauren’s trey coming with 1:58 left in the quarter, which at the time gave FHS a 15-point lead at 48-33.

In all, FHS made six 3-pointers and were 12-of-19 from the free-throw line. Manchester went 17-of-27 from the foul line (each team shot 63 percent), and they also made six 3-pointers.

Fairfield will play again on Saturday, Feb. 20 at Jackson High School in the district semifinals as they will face Reedsville Eastern, a No. 2 seed, at 1:45 p.m.

“We are looking forward to having a good week of practice and putting on a good performance at Jackson,” Hamilton said