Lady Lions clawed by Blanchester
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — The young Fairfield Lady Lion squad continue to improve, but offensive miscues against pressure continue to hurt their chances of getting back in the win column. That trend happened again on Monday as they were unable to break the pressure of the Blanchester Lady Wildcats, falling 62-30 at Grandle Gymnasium.
Fairfield was held to four points in the opening quarter and 14 total in the first half, trailing 29-14 at the break. By the time the third frame had ended, though, the Lady Lions almost equaled their first-half output with a 12-point quarter, as they trailed by 19 points at 45-26.
In the final quarter, BHS outscored the Lady Lions 17-4, improving their overall record back to .500 at 9-9 overall. BHS is 5-3 in the Southern Buckeye Conference (SBAAC) this season. Entering the game, BHS was averaging 35.5 ppg as a team, as they have wins against Hillsboro, Felicity-Franklin (2), Batavia (2), East Clinton (2) and Clermont Northeastern before their win against the Lady Lions.
"It all goes back to the same story … teams press us, and we struggle," FHS head coach Matt Hodson said. "We practice against the press every day, and when we get to the right spots we break the pressure, but when we don't get to where we are supposed to be, we struggle."
FHS finished with 25 turnovers.
The loss drops FHS to 2-14 on the year, as they are 1-10 in the Southern Hills League.
Fairfield was led on Monday by Heather Cox with a team-high 12 points, with 10 of those points coming in the third frame. Cox added nine rebounds. For the game, FHS totaled 28 rebounds (13 offensive).
In the last three games, Cox, a sophomore, has totaled 43 points for an average of 14.3 ppg. For the season, Cox is averaging 11.6 ppg in 15 games played this season as she has scored 174 points this season.
Two Lady Lions finished with six points each in Kaitlin Evans and Shelby Smithson. Smithson collected eight rebounds. Smithson has scored 125 points (7.8 ppg) this season in 16 games.
Lydia Sowders, Haley Bobb and Justice Hattan each added two points. Sowders led FHS with three assists.
As for the Lady 'Cats, they were led in scoring by Kaitlin Watkins with a game-high 16 points. She was followed by Megan Brown with 15 and Hannah Polly with 10 points.
The opening quarter by Fairfield started off fine, as they tied the game at two and forced two consecutive turnovers following tying the score. BHS rallied back with a 9-0 run in a span of just under 3:00 to take a lead of 11-2. Hattan ended the run with a jumper at the 1:21 mark of the first, the final points scored in the quarter.
BHS increased their lead to nine points with a quarter opening basket by Polly, and eventually to a lead of 12 points with 5:24 on the clock after a 3-pointer by Brown.
By the time the second frame ended, BHS had taken a 15-point lead at 29-14.
The third frame was the most productive for FHS as Cox took control with the aforementioned 10 points in the quarter, making four field goals and going 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. Cynnamon Sova-Davy also scored two points in the quarter.
"We made a run in the third quarter," Hodson said. "Heather made some big shots and had some rebounds. We cut into their lead, but we let them get all those points back."
The problem was BHS added 16 points to their totals, with Brown, Polly, Bre Barnes (six points), Cassidy Jennett and Watkins all contributing to the third-quarter scoring.
[[In-content Ad]]For the FHS fourth quarter, Evans and Smithson scored the four points.
The Lady Lions finished 6-of-11 from the free-throw line, and BHS was 2-of-5.
"The girls are improving from when we started in November. They are working hard, and if we can just cut down our turnovers, we'll be in ballgames," Hodson said. "We've out-rebounded our opponents the last three games, so I'm happy with that."
FHS will play again on Tuesday, Jan. 31 when they host Adena in a non-league game. This will be the Lady Lions' annual Coaches vs. Cancer game, with varsity starting at 6 p.m., as there will be no JV game. All proceeds will go to the Highland County Relay for Life.
On Thursday, FHS will travel to Mowrystown for an SHL rematch with Whiteoak.
In JV play, BHS defeated FHS 37-20. Leading BHS was Morgan Rogers with 10 points. Leading the Lady Lions were Emily Teeters with six points and Jordan Anderson with five.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
BHS 11 18 16 17 — 62
FHS 04 10 12 04 — 30
INDIVIDUAL STATS
BHS (62)
M.Brown 3 (3) 0-0 15
H.Polly 5 (0) 0-0 10
B.Barnes 3 (0) 0-0 6
J.Cassidy 2 (1) 0-0 7
H.Boyd 1 (0) 0-2 2
K.Ziegelmeyer 1 (0) 0-0 2
B.Smithson 2 (0) 0-0 4
K.Watkins 7 (0) 2-3 16
TOTALS: 24 (4) 2-5 62
FHS (30)
K.Evans 3 (0) 0-2 6
L.Sowders 0 (0) 2-2 2
H.Bobb 1 (0) 0-0 2
J.Hattan 1 (0) 0-1 2
H.Cox 5 (0) 2-2 12
S.Smithson 2 (0) 2-4 6
TOTALS: 12 (0) 6-11 30
Fairfield was held to four points in the opening quarter and 14 total in the first half, trailing 29-14 at the break. By the time the third frame had ended, though, the Lady Lions almost equaled their first-half output with a 12-point quarter, as they trailed by 19 points at 45-26.
In the final quarter, BHS outscored the Lady Lions 17-4, improving their overall record back to .500 at 9-9 overall. BHS is 5-3 in the Southern Buckeye Conference (SBAAC) this season. Entering the game, BHS was averaging 35.5 ppg as a team, as they have wins against Hillsboro, Felicity-Franklin (2), Batavia (2), East Clinton (2) and Clermont Northeastern before their win against the Lady Lions.
"It all goes back to the same story … teams press us, and we struggle," FHS head coach Matt Hodson said. "We practice against the press every day, and when we get to the right spots we break the pressure, but when we don't get to where we are supposed to be, we struggle."
FHS finished with 25 turnovers.
The loss drops FHS to 2-14 on the year, as they are 1-10 in the Southern Hills League.
Fairfield was led on Monday by Heather Cox with a team-high 12 points, with 10 of those points coming in the third frame. Cox added nine rebounds. For the game, FHS totaled 28 rebounds (13 offensive).
In the last three games, Cox, a sophomore, has totaled 43 points for an average of 14.3 ppg. For the season, Cox is averaging 11.6 ppg in 15 games played this season as she has scored 174 points this season.
Two Lady Lions finished with six points each in Kaitlin Evans and Shelby Smithson. Smithson collected eight rebounds. Smithson has scored 125 points (7.8 ppg) this season in 16 games.
Lydia Sowders, Haley Bobb and Justice Hattan each added two points. Sowders led FHS with three assists.
As for the Lady 'Cats, they were led in scoring by Kaitlin Watkins with a game-high 16 points. She was followed by Megan Brown with 15 and Hannah Polly with 10 points.
The opening quarter by Fairfield started off fine, as they tied the game at two and forced two consecutive turnovers following tying the score. BHS rallied back with a 9-0 run in a span of just under 3:00 to take a lead of 11-2. Hattan ended the run with a jumper at the 1:21 mark of the first, the final points scored in the quarter.
BHS increased their lead to nine points with a quarter opening basket by Polly, and eventually to a lead of 12 points with 5:24 on the clock after a 3-pointer by Brown.
By the time the second frame ended, BHS had taken a 15-point lead at 29-14.
The third frame was the most productive for FHS as Cox took control with the aforementioned 10 points in the quarter, making four field goals and going 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. Cynnamon Sova-Davy also scored two points in the quarter.
"We made a run in the third quarter," Hodson said. "Heather made some big shots and had some rebounds. We cut into their lead, but we let them get all those points back."
The problem was BHS added 16 points to their totals, with Brown, Polly, Bre Barnes (six points), Cassidy Jennett and Watkins all contributing to the third-quarter scoring.
[[In-content Ad]]For the FHS fourth quarter, Evans and Smithson scored the four points.
The Lady Lions finished 6-of-11 from the free-throw line, and BHS was 2-of-5.
"The girls are improving from when we started in November. They are working hard, and if we can just cut down our turnovers, we'll be in ballgames," Hodson said. "We've out-rebounded our opponents the last three games, so I'm happy with that."
FHS will play again on Tuesday, Jan. 31 when they host Adena in a non-league game. This will be the Lady Lions' annual Coaches vs. Cancer game, with varsity starting at 6 p.m., as there will be no JV game. All proceeds will go to the Highland County Relay for Life.
On Thursday, FHS will travel to Mowrystown for an SHL rematch with Whiteoak.
In JV play, BHS defeated FHS 37-20. Leading BHS was Morgan Rogers with 10 points. Leading the Lady Lions were Emily Teeters with six points and Jordan Anderson with five.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
BHS 11 18 16 17 — 62
FHS 04 10 12 04 — 30
INDIVIDUAL STATS
BHS (62)
M.Brown 3 (3) 0-0 15
H.Polly 5 (0) 0-0 10
B.Barnes 3 (0) 0-0 6
J.Cassidy 2 (1) 0-0 7
H.Boyd 1 (0) 0-2 2
K.Ziegelmeyer 1 (0) 0-0 2
B.Smithson 2 (0) 0-0 4
K.Watkins 7 (0) 2-3 16
TOTALS: 24 (4) 2-5 62
FHS (30)
K.Evans 3 (0) 0-2 6
L.Sowders 0 (0) 2-2 2
H.Bobb 1 (0) 0-0 2
J.Hattan 1 (0) 0-1 2
H.Cox 5 (0) 2-2 12
S.Smithson 2 (0) 2-4 6
TOTALS: 12 (0) 6-11 30