Lady Lions defeat Lady Tigers
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — Building a 16-point scoring run in the second quarter, the Fairfield Lions fended off a third-quarter surge by the McClain Lady Tigers to gain a 68-43 non-conference win Wednesday night at Grandle Gymnasium.
In the process of the Lady Lions gaining their seventh win of the season, senior Grace Shope became the second all-time leading scorer in school history in either boys or girls basketball. Shope now has 1,372 points, moving past the second all-time boys leading scorer Chris Cox, who finished with 1,363 points when he graduated in 2011. The school’s all-time leading scorer is Nathan VanWinkle, who totaled 1,543 points upon his graduation in 1997. On Wednesday night against McClain, Shope totaled 26 points in the win as she also totaled six rebounds and shot 11-of-14 from the field.
“Offensively, we shot well, and we were a little more aggressive than usual,” FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said “We’ve been waiting on Grace to have a breakout game, and she had that tonight. They pushed her and shoved her, and she seems to thrive in that, so she kind of had the breakout game that we’ve been waiting for. That was huge for us.”
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As for the Lady Lions, they never trailed in the game and built a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, but it was the second frame where things really began to take shape for them.
Before the second frame, the first quarter saw Fairfield have points from Samara Cannon and Brianna Barnes to build a 6-1 lead over McClain. For the game, Cannon and Barnes each scored in double figures, with Cannon totaling 14 points, seven steals and six assists (7-of-11 from the field) and Barnes finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
The 6-1 advantage quickly turned into just two points with a 3-pointer from McClain’s Jaelyn Pitzer at the 5:35 mark, but the Lady Lions answered quickly with two free throws from Barnes and a 3-pointer from Shope for an 11-4 advantage with 3:41 left in the opening quarter.
Kyla Burchett answered for the Lady Tigers with a 3-pointer of her own at the 3:20 mark of the quarter, followed with a layup by Maddy Stegbauer — who led MHS with 12 points — for a score of 11-9 in favor of FHS.
From there, Shope added four more points, and at the buzzer Pitzer scored two more points for McClain, leaving the score at 15-11 with Fairfield in front. Pitzer finished the game with seven points.
McClain opened the second quarter with two free throws by Kelli Uhrig and a layup from Stegbauer, tying the score at 15 and forcing the Lady Lions to call a time out. Uhrig finished the game with six points.
Following the timeout with 7:06 still left in the second frame, Fairfield came back energized and played tough in the paint as they gave the ball to Barnes, and she took over at that moment.
Barnes scored the next eight points of the game off four inside baskets, beginning what was a 16-0 run as the first eight points by Barnes forced MHS to call a timeout at the 4:37 mark. Once back on the court, Shope, Cannon, Blake Adams and Shope again erased the tied score at 15, with FHS taking a 31-15 lead with 1:22 left in the quarter.
MHS came back with four straight points, but Adams — who finished with eight points — ended the scoring for both teams in the second with a put-back bucket, giving the Lady Lions a 33-19 advantage at halftime.
“A lot of that (the 16-0 run) was we pounded the ball down inside to Brianna Barnes,” Hamilton said. “The improvements she’s made from last year to this year is phenomenal. She’s got great hands, she’s finishing around the basket. The main thing is she’s a lot more confident. When we get the ball inside and she scores and finishes the easy ones, she kind of completes our team.”
Though Fairfield began the third frame with two baskets by Shope, they ended up losing the frame at 18-17 with McClain having eight points in the quarter from Stegbauer, along with three points by Emma Stegbauer (who scored seven points overall), one point by Hunter Scott from the free-throw line and two points each off baskets from Burchett, Bryn Karnes and Pitzer.
“They increased the pressure, and we had our third-quarter woes like we normally do,” Hamilton said of the third frame. “Luckily, we have the weapons offensively, inside and out, to weather the storm. We had to go defensively to some stuff that we usually don’t do. We wanted to give them a different look, something they wouldn’t expect, but all in all I was happy with our post play.
“Samara Cannon, the way she can open things up for us and the way she can pass the ball, she’s huge for us. I thought everybody we put in stepped up and did a good job. (Cannon) has had a pretty good year. I haven’t seen a freshman that can do some of the things she can do, especially passing the ball. She opens up the floor for us.”
In the third, Fairfield had 13 of their 17 points from Shope, including a 3-pointer, and four points from Cannon for a 50-37 lead.
“Whenever you dig yourself a hole like that and try to get back in it, it’s hard to get over the hill. We don’t quit, and you see that,” MHS head coach Jarrod Haines said. “We’re young. We didn’t really execute the game plan like I would have wanted to, especially in the second quarter. We just kind of went stagnant, stood a lot on offense, didn’t look to attack. That was the difference there in the third quarter when we started coming back – we were attacking more.
“We didn’t do a very good job on Shope. She’s a tremendous basketball player. We just didn’t execute the game plan. It’s our first game since December 28, and I think you could kind of tell, especially in the second quarter. We’re young, and we knew what we were getting into. We’ve just got to keep getting better, come back and bounce back.”
In the fourth frame, points from Ashley Sowards, Shope, Cannon, Carli Reiber, Lyndee Spargur, Kami Magee and Adams gave FHS their second 18-point quarter of the game.
In the fourth quarter, McClain was held to six points with three points by Stegbauer, two points from Uhrig and one point by Hannah Smith.
In the JV game, McClain won over Fairfield by a 35-30 score.
In the process of the Lady Lions gaining their seventh win of the season, senior Grace Shope became the second all-time leading scorer in school history in either boys or girls basketball. Shope now has 1,372 points, moving past the second all-time boys leading scorer Chris Cox, who finished with 1,363 points when he graduated in 2011. The school’s all-time leading scorer is Nathan VanWinkle, who totaled 1,543 points upon his graduation in 1997. On Wednesday night against McClain, Shope totaled 26 points in the win as she also totaled six rebounds and shot 11-of-14 from the field.
“Offensively, we shot well, and we were a little more aggressive than usual,” FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said “We’ve been waiting on Grace to have a breakout game, and she had that tonight. They pushed her and shoved her, and she seems to thrive in that, so she kind of had the breakout game that we’ve been waiting for. That was huge for us.”
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As for the Lady Lions, they never trailed in the game and built a 15-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, but it was the second frame where things really began to take shape for them.
Before the second frame, the first quarter saw Fairfield have points from Samara Cannon and Brianna Barnes to build a 6-1 lead over McClain. For the game, Cannon and Barnes each scored in double figures, with Cannon totaling 14 points, seven steals and six assists (7-of-11 from the field) and Barnes finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
The 6-1 advantage quickly turned into just two points with a 3-pointer from McClain’s Jaelyn Pitzer at the 5:35 mark, but the Lady Lions answered quickly with two free throws from Barnes and a 3-pointer from Shope for an 11-4 advantage with 3:41 left in the opening quarter.
Kyla Burchett answered for the Lady Tigers with a 3-pointer of her own at the 3:20 mark of the quarter, followed with a layup by Maddy Stegbauer — who led MHS with 12 points — for a score of 11-9 in favor of FHS.
From there, Shope added four more points, and at the buzzer Pitzer scored two more points for McClain, leaving the score at 15-11 with Fairfield in front. Pitzer finished the game with seven points.
McClain opened the second quarter with two free throws by Kelli Uhrig and a layup from Stegbauer, tying the score at 15 and forcing the Lady Lions to call a time out. Uhrig finished the game with six points.
Following the timeout with 7:06 still left in the second frame, Fairfield came back energized and played tough in the paint as they gave the ball to Barnes, and she took over at that moment.
Barnes scored the next eight points of the game off four inside baskets, beginning what was a 16-0 run as the first eight points by Barnes forced MHS to call a timeout at the 4:37 mark. Once back on the court, Shope, Cannon, Blake Adams and Shope again erased the tied score at 15, with FHS taking a 31-15 lead with 1:22 left in the quarter.
MHS came back with four straight points, but Adams — who finished with eight points — ended the scoring for both teams in the second with a put-back bucket, giving the Lady Lions a 33-19 advantage at halftime.
“A lot of that (the 16-0 run) was we pounded the ball down inside to Brianna Barnes,” Hamilton said. “The improvements she’s made from last year to this year is phenomenal. She’s got great hands, she’s finishing around the basket. The main thing is she’s a lot more confident. When we get the ball inside and she scores and finishes the easy ones, she kind of completes our team.”
Though Fairfield began the third frame with two baskets by Shope, they ended up losing the frame at 18-17 with McClain having eight points in the quarter from Stegbauer, along with three points by Emma Stegbauer (who scored seven points overall), one point by Hunter Scott from the free-throw line and two points each off baskets from Burchett, Bryn Karnes and Pitzer.
“They increased the pressure, and we had our third-quarter woes like we normally do,” Hamilton said of the third frame. “Luckily, we have the weapons offensively, inside and out, to weather the storm. We had to go defensively to some stuff that we usually don’t do. We wanted to give them a different look, something they wouldn’t expect, but all in all I was happy with our post play.
“Samara Cannon, the way she can open things up for us and the way she can pass the ball, she’s huge for us. I thought everybody we put in stepped up and did a good job. (Cannon) has had a pretty good year. I haven’t seen a freshman that can do some of the things she can do, especially passing the ball. She opens up the floor for us.”
In the third, Fairfield had 13 of their 17 points from Shope, including a 3-pointer, and four points from Cannon for a 50-37 lead.
“Whenever you dig yourself a hole like that and try to get back in it, it’s hard to get over the hill. We don’t quit, and you see that,” MHS head coach Jarrod Haines said. “We’re young. We didn’t really execute the game plan like I would have wanted to, especially in the second quarter. We just kind of went stagnant, stood a lot on offense, didn’t look to attack. That was the difference there in the third quarter when we started coming back – we were attacking more.
“We didn’t do a very good job on Shope. She’s a tremendous basketball player. We just didn’t execute the game plan. It’s our first game since December 28, and I think you could kind of tell, especially in the second quarter. We’re young, and we knew what we were getting into. We’ve just got to keep getting better, come back and bounce back.”
In the fourth frame, points from Ashley Sowards, Shope, Cannon, Carli Reiber, Lyndee Spargur, Kami Magee and Adams gave FHS their second 18-point quarter of the game.
In the fourth quarter, McClain was held to six points with three points by Stegbauer, two points from Uhrig and one point by Hannah Smith.
In the JV game, McClain won over Fairfield by a 35-30 score.