Lady Lions defeat rival Whiteoak
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — The Fairfield Lady Lions and the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats were the big game in Highland County on Monday night, and the night and the Southern Hills Athletic Conference win belonged to the host Lady Lions.
The game was close, and each time when it looked like the Lady Lions would run away with a win, the Lady 'Cats were there to strike back with a run of points, but eventually the final quarter proved too much for WHS and the Lady Lions won by a 58-40 score.
In a game where the final score doesn't do the game justice, it was a lot of Fairfield as they led 17-10 after the first quarter, but it was WHS who led early on with the first points of the game by Sunnie Lehr, but those were answered with a jumper by Fairfield's Carly Arnold. Lehr ended the game with 13 points.
Kaitlin Evans, who led all scorers with a career night of 24 points, scored her first two points of the game with a put-back opportunity to push FHS ahead, 4-2. That lead soon turned into a tied score with Jaycie Parr gaining a put-back basket of her own for a 4-4 score with 3:29 left on the first-quarter clock.
Next was a 3-pointer by Evans at the 3:04 mark, and from there the Lady Lions didn't trail for the remainder of the game … but it didn't come easy by any means.
"It wasn't pretty, but we played pretty good defense," FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. "We gave up too many offensive rebounds and weren't able to capitalize on a lot of easy baskets.
"Both teams missed a lot of easy baskets, and luckily for us, Kaitlin (Evans) had a career night and we certainly needed every one of them."
That 3-pointer was followed with points in the paint by Justice Hattan and a jumper by Grace Shope to push the FHS lead to 11-4 with just under two minutes left in the quarter. Shope finished with 20 points, scoring points in all four quarters.
WHS did answer with four straight points by the combination of Emma Wardlow from the free-throw line and Emily Edingfield with a rebound and layup, cutting the home team's lead to three points.
Wardlow led WHS with 15 points in the loss.
"It seemed like every time we would make a run, they had an answer for it," WHS head coach John Kirschner said. "I don't know how many times they went up double digits and we'd get to within two or three points, they would just go on a run.
"We did have a couple outstanding performances with Emma and Sunnie, and I thought Emily (Stratton) came off the bench and played well for us. I thought I saw our team grow up some (Monday), and it is a process that is going to take some time."
[[In-content Ad]]
Evans again was there to come back with a 3-pointer in the opening quarter, and following two WHS free throws by Wardlow, she made her third 3-pointer of the first, this one wide open, for a 17-10 Lady Lions lead.
By the end of the second half, a quarter where FHS led, 13-11, the Lady Lions had built a 30-21 advantage. By the end of the first half, Evans had totaled 18 of her 24 points scored in the game.
Evans made her fourth and final 3-pointer of the game in the second with 4:11 on the clock and at that time put FHS in front by six points at 24-18.
The scoring was scarce in the third with FHS leading the eight minutes of basketball with eight points, while the visiting Lady 'Cats had six points in the same time frame for a 38-27 FHS lead.
In the final eight minutes, FHS managed to break away for good, as Shope scored nine points in the quarter, and Evans scored her final six points. Also adding to the FHS lead in the fourth were Hattan and Emily Teeters, who connected with a jumper for the final FHS points of the game.
"We knew their pressure was coming, and luckily we were able to get some long passes down the floor and finish in transition, which everyone knows that is where we want to be," Hamilton said.
WHS was 9-of-14 from the free-throw line in the final eight minutes, with Wardlow going 3-of-3 in the quarter.
"Playing in games like this is what we need to do," Kirschner said. "Playing in games like this, and it is going to take situations like (Monday) for them to see the circumstances and the negatives.
"I thought we came together in the second half. At one point, we were down single digits, and then you blink your eyes and you are down 16 … things didn't snowball, it was an avalanche. Again, credit the girls, they come to the gym every day and they work hard."
The game was close, and each time when it looked like the Lady Lions would run away with a win, the Lady 'Cats were there to strike back with a run of points, but eventually the final quarter proved too much for WHS and the Lady Lions won by a 58-40 score.
In a game where the final score doesn't do the game justice, it was a lot of Fairfield as they led 17-10 after the first quarter, but it was WHS who led early on with the first points of the game by Sunnie Lehr, but those were answered with a jumper by Fairfield's Carly Arnold. Lehr ended the game with 13 points.
Kaitlin Evans, who led all scorers with a career night of 24 points, scored her first two points of the game with a put-back opportunity to push FHS ahead, 4-2. That lead soon turned into a tied score with Jaycie Parr gaining a put-back basket of her own for a 4-4 score with 3:29 left on the first-quarter clock.
Next was a 3-pointer by Evans at the 3:04 mark, and from there the Lady Lions didn't trail for the remainder of the game … but it didn't come easy by any means.
"It wasn't pretty, but we played pretty good defense," FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. "We gave up too many offensive rebounds and weren't able to capitalize on a lot of easy baskets.
"Both teams missed a lot of easy baskets, and luckily for us, Kaitlin (Evans) had a career night and we certainly needed every one of them."
That 3-pointer was followed with points in the paint by Justice Hattan and a jumper by Grace Shope to push the FHS lead to 11-4 with just under two minutes left in the quarter. Shope finished with 20 points, scoring points in all four quarters.
WHS did answer with four straight points by the combination of Emma Wardlow from the free-throw line and Emily Edingfield with a rebound and layup, cutting the home team's lead to three points.
Wardlow led WHS with 15 points in the loss.
"It seemed like every time we would make a run, they had an answer for it," WHS head coach John Kirschner said. "I don't know how many times they went up double digits and we'd get to within two or three points, they would just go on a run.
"We did have a couple outstanding performances with Emma and Sunnie, and I thought Emily (Stratton) came off the bench and played well for us. I thought I saw our team grow up some (Monday), and it is a process that is going to take some time."
[[In-content Ad]]
Evans again was there to come back with a 3-pointer in the opening quarter, and following two WHS free throws by Wardlow, she made her third 3-pointer of the first, this one wide open, for a 17-10 Lady Lions lead.
By the end of the second half, a quarter where FHS led, 13-11, the Lady Lions had built a 30-21 advantage. By the end of the first half, Evans had totaled 18 of her 24 points scored in the game.
Evans made her fourth and final 3-pointer of the game in the second with 4:11 on the clock and at that time put FHS in front by six points at 24-18.
The scoring was scarce in the third with FHS leading the eight minutes of basketball with eight points, while the visiting Lady 'Cats had six points in the same time frame for a 38-27 FHS lead.
In the final eight minutes, FHS managed to break away for good, as Shope scored nine points in the quarter, and Evans scored her final six points. Also adding to the FHS lead in the fourth were Hattan and Emily Teeters, who connected with a jumper for the final FHS points of the game.
"We knew their pressure was coming, and luckily we were able to get some long passes down the floor and finish in transition, which everyone knows that is where we want to be," Hamilton said.
WHS was 9-of-14 from the free-throw line in the final eight minutes, with Wardlow going 3-of-3 in the quarter.
"Playing in games like this is what we need to do," Kirschner said. "Playing in games like this, and it is going to take situations like (Monday) for them to see the circumstances and the negatives.
"I thought we came together in the second half. At one point, we were down single digits, and then you blink your eyes and you are down 16 … things didn't snowball, it was an avalanche. Again, credit the girls, they come to the gym every day and they work hard."