Lady Lions force OT, but fall in sectional finals
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MCDERMOTT — The Fairfield Lady Lions showed they had a lot of fight in them by forcing overtime after trailing by double-digits. In the end, though, their postseason run in the Division IV SE District Sectional tournament came to a close on Saturday afternoon, falling to the No. 2 seeded Clay Lady Panthers, 53-49.
FHS trailed 32-20 at the half, but it was the final two quarters where they showed their fight as they cut their deficit down to nine points after three quarters by a 37-28 score. Then in the fourth the entire complexion of the game changed … in favor of the Lady Lions.
"In the second half, we applied a lot more pressure," FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. "I was a little bit hesitant in doing so because they (CHS) have a very good point guard and some girls inside that if they push the ball up the floor, you are in trouble.
"About halfway through the third we got into a situation where we couldn't hold off anymore, and we had to pressure them. It bothered them a little more than I thought it would, which was great for us. The problem was we were in foul trouble and forced us to foul."
The fourth frame saw FHS (8-13) outscore the Lady Panthers, 17-8 with Lydia Sowders beginning the quarter with a free-throw conversion, which started a 9-0 run that led to a 37-37 score with 5:39 left in regulation.
That run consisted of a layup from Carly Arnold, consecutive jumpers by Sowders and Kaitlin Evans powering her way to the hoop, uncontested for two points tying the score. Evans ended the game with 11 points.
"Lydia is one of our post players but is athletic enough where she can come out and apply pressure on the perimeter," Hamilton said. "She's also a good rebounder. She got in foul trouble in some games this season where her minutes were limited, but we know what she can bring and did a great job (Saturday)."
Clay (17-5) came back with five straight points for a 42-37 lead with 4:05 on the clock.
That didn't deter the Lady Lions with Heather Cox netting consecutive baskets, including one on a fast break with the assist from Evans with 2:14 remaining, as FHS trailed by one point.
Cox led FHS with 16 points and collected 20-plus rebounds in the loss. She scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half.
"I can't say enough about Heather," Hamilton said. "She rebounds so well, and when we can't get her the ball, she gets her numbers with her rebounding."
Clay took a two-point lead with a free-throw conversion at the 2:01 mark, and following multiple misses at the game-tying basket, the Lady Lions were able to finally tie the score.
The game-tying basket came when Cox stole the ball and scored points in the paint with 36.0 left in regulation for a 43-43 score.
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The Lady Panthers came back to take the lead, and with 13.2 left in the game, it was Evans who took the ball the length of the court and to the hoop for two points with the scoreboard reading 7.2 for the 45-45 score.
Overtime wasn't as kind to the Lady Lions as they were unable to regain the momentum of the fourth frame, as they were outscored 8-4 in the 4:00 period. FHS never led in OT.
"Down the stretch, we missed the easy shots and couldn't do the little things or make the adjustments we needed to make," Hamilton said. "I couldn't be any happier with our effort.
"The girls did what they needed to do effort-wise. We picked it up when we needed to and got key turnovers. It came down to on the offensive end, we just weren't able to capitalize on some easy shots."
Also for the Lady Lions, they had two players net nine points each in Sowders and Haley Bobb. Justice Hattan and Arnold each had two points.
"Haley stepped up on the offensive end and made some key shots," Hamilton said. "We know she can do that, but she's had some knee issues this year that have affected her game."
In the first two quarters, FHS began the game with a 9-0 run but trailed after the first quarter, 15-11. By halftime, the Lady Lions, after being outscored 17-10 in the second frame, were down by 12 points.
FHS has three regular-season games they are going to make up. FHS is at Whiteoak on Thursday, home vs. Ripley on Friday and may play at East Clinton on Tuesday.
FHS trailed 32-20 at the half, but it was the final two quarters where they showed their fight as they cut their deficit down to nine points after three quarters by a 37-28 score. Then in the fourth the entire complexion of the game changed … in favor of the Lady Lions.
"In the second half, we applied a lot more pressure," FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. "I was a little bit hesitant in doing so because they (CHS) have a very good point guard and some girls inside that if they push the ball up the floor, you are in trouble.
"About halfway through the third we got into a situation where we couldn't hold off anymore, and we had to pressure them. It bothered them a little more than I thought it would, which was great for us. The problem was we were in foul trouble and forced us to foul."
The fourth frame saw FHS (8-13) outscore the Lady Panthers, 17-8 with Lydia Sowders beginning the quarter with a free-throw conversion, which started a 9-0 run that led to a 37-37 score with 5:39 left in regulation.
That run consisted of a layup from Carly Arnold, consecutive jumpers by Sowders and Kaitlin Evans powering her way to the hoop, uncontested for two points tying the score. Evans ended the game with 11 points.
"Lydia is one of our post players but is athletic enough where she can come out and apply pressure on the perimeter," Hamilton said. "She's also a good rebounder. She got in foul trouble in some games this season where her minutes were limited, but we know what she can bring and did a great job (Saturday)."
Clay (17-5) came back with five straight points for a 42-37 lead with 4:05 on the clock.
That didn't deter the Lady Lions with Heather Cox netting consecutive baskets, including one on a fast break with the assist from Evans with 2:14 remaining, as FHS trailed by one point.
Cox led FHS with 16 points and collected 20-plus rebounds in the loss. She scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half.
"I can't say enough about Heather," Hamilton said. "She rebounds so well, and when we can't get her the ball, she gets her numbers with her rebounding."
Clay took a two-point lead with a free-throw conversion at the 2:01 mark, and following multiple misses at the game-tying basket, the Lady Lions were able to finally tie the score.
The game-tying basket came when Cox stole the ball and scored points in the paint with 36.0 left in regulation for a 43-43 score.
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The Lady Panthers came back to take the lead, and with 13.2 left in the game, it was Evans who took the ball the length of the court and to the hoop for two points with the scoreboard reading 7.2 for the 45-45 score.
Overtime wasn't as kind to the Lady Lions as they were unable to regain the momentum of the fourth frame, as they were outscored 8-4 in the 4:00 period. FHS never led in OT.
"Down the stretch, we missed the easy shots and couldn't do the little things or make the adjustments we needed to make," Hamilton said. "I couldn't be any happier with our effort.
"The girls did what they needed to do effort-wise. We picked it up when we needed to and got key turnovers. It came down to on the offensive end, we just weren't able to capitalize on some easy shots."
Also for the Lady Lions, they had two players net nine points each in Sowders and Haley Bobb. Justice Hattan and Arnold each had two points.
"Haley stepped up on the offensive end and made some key shots," Hamilton said. "We know she can do that, but she's had some knee issues this year that have affected her game."
In the first two quarters, FHS began the game with a 9-0 run but trailed after the first quarter, 15-11. By halftime, the Lady Lions, after being outscored 17-10 in the second frame, were down by 12 points.
FHS has three regular-season games they are going to make up. FHS is at Whiteoak on Thursday, home vs. Ripley on Friday and may play at East Clinton on Tuesday.