Lady Lions move on to sectional finals; sweep Whiteoak
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MCDERMOTT — For the third time this season, the Fairfield Lady Lions were able to defeat rival Whiteoak on the basketball court, gaining the season sweep in their Division IV SE District Sectional Semifinal game, 52-42 Thursday night at Northwest High School.
The win by the Lady Lions (8-15) moves them to the sectional finals on Saturday at NWHS, where they will face No. 1 seeded North Adams at 4:30 p.m.
At the completion of the third quarter, both teams were tied, causing the final eight minutes to be "win or go home" time for the two Highland County and Southern Hills Athletic Conference rivals.
"We knew they were going to play us tough, since we've played them twice already. We were tied going into the fourth quarter, and luckily I think we learned a lesson from our last game," FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. "We weren't very smart in terms of what we did with the ball when we had a lead, so (Thursday) we were going to make sure we took care of it.
"Down the stretch, we didn't foul, didn't put them on the line and we finally started getting some jump shots to fall in the fourth quarter."
How did that third quarter go down? Here's how.
Whiteoak's Emma Wardlow began the quarter with a free throw, followed by FHS answering with a jumper by Grace Shope.
Wardlow led all scorers with 20 points.
Wardlow and Lydia Sowders exchanged baskets, but Sunnie Lehr brought the Whiteoak faithful to their feet with a 3-pointer at the 5:51 mark of the frame, putting the Lady Wildcats to within one point of the FHS lead at 26-25.
Following the trey by Lehr, Kaitlin Evans answered with back-to-back baskets for the Lady Lions, only to see WHS not flinch, scoring the next five points for a 30-30 tied score with 2:49 left in the third.
Evans led FHS with 16 points, followed by Shope with 15. With tonight's points, Evans moved to third place all-time in Fairfield Lady Lions scoring history.
Each team finished the third with three points apiece for a 33-33 score entering the fourth frame.
Then came the fourth where the Lady Lions never relinquished the lead, taking the top spot with not only a jumper by Evans, but two free throws as well for a 37-33 advantage.
Emily Stratton brought the Lady 'Cats back to within a point of FHS by sinking a 3-pointer with 6:15 left in regulation. The Lady Lions came back with a jumper from Shope and a 3-pointer from Evans to move in front by eight points at 44-36 with 3:41 on the clock.
Later in the fourth, two free throws by Carly Arnold (who totaled eight points) pushed FHS ahead by 10 points at 48-38. Eventually, FHS built a 12-point lead, never relinquishing their double-digit advantage in the final 1:25 of the fourth.
Whiteoak ends the season at 5-18 overall, as this was also the final game for head coach John Kirschner, who resigned at the conclusion of the season.
Kirschner spoke about this week for the Lady 'Cats.
"We haven't been able to practice since Saturday. The weather's really hurt this team, and it showed. They played hard and they didn't quit," he said. "They kept it close for a while. We had some good contributions.
"It may not show up in the scoring contribution, but I thought Morgan Thompson did a really good job defensively and really kept Evans in check for a while. Lexie Jones, another sophomore, also played well ... it shows the promise of this team for a while with the younger girls stepping up in a tournament game and helping us keep it close."
In the first quarter, the Lady Lions led by a 10-9 score, but the quarter was closely contested with one tie very early in the eight-minute frame, along with six lead changes, including a jumper by Arnold to end the frame at 10-9 in favor of FHS.
Early in the first though, it was Lehr who began the scoring with a jumper, followed by Arnold tying the score with another jumper for the Lady Lions with 6:13 left in the first.
From there, FHS completed what was a 6-0 run with Justice Hattan and Shope knocking down buckets for a 6-2 Lady Lion advantage with just over five minutes left in the opening quarter.[[In-content Ad]]
WHS responded with four points by Wardlow to bring the Lady 'Cats to within one point of the "home team" Lady Lions.
Even with those points, Fairfield answered with an Olivia Bobb basket, and following two more points from Wardlow, the aforementioned jumper by Arnold pushed FHS ahead, 10-9 after the first frame.
The Lady Lions continued to add to their lead to start the second frame with Shope sinking consecutive buckets for a 14-9 Lady Lions advantage, with the second basket coming off a steal and pass by Arnold.
Points from Michaela Luman brought the Lady 'Cats to within three points of FHS, and the lead continued to belong to the Lady Lions through the end of the second frame, including Sowders pushing FHS ahead 18-13 with 4:52 on the second-quarter clock.
FHS built their lead to 22-15 with 1:35 on the clock, but the Lady 'Cats didn't back down, netting the final four points of the quarter, though the Lady Lions led at the half, 22-19.
"We had a lot of girls step up, even on the defensive end, getting some steals and some tipped balls," Hamilton said. "Arnold's last couple games, she's started shooting the ball well. I had a feeling she'd have a good night, and she came out strong offensively and defensively. She made a big impact."
As for WHS, their head coach looked back at this season.
"If I look back on the season and look at wins and losses, yeah, we had a better year, we were a better team, we were competitive in a majority of our ball games," Kirschner said. "If you can look at it like that, I think this team has taken a big step forward, and I think they're going to be even better next year.
"I wanted them to have a better year than what they did, and I have to take responsibility for that. Top to bottom, I think I had a special group of kids, and from day one, they came in to the gym every day and never complained. They were begging to get into the gym all week long.
"I can't say enough about the effort. That's the groundwork that's been laid for the past three years. I hope it continues for the next guy."
The win by the Lady Lions (8-15) moves them to the sectional finals on Saturday at NWHS, where they will face No. 1 seeded North Adams at 4:30 p.m.
At the completion of the third quarter, both teams were tied, causing the final eight minutes to be "win or go home" time for the two Highland County and Southern Hills Athletic Conference rivals.
"We knew they were going to play us tough, since we've played them twice already. We were tied going into the fourth quarter, and luckily I think we learned a lesson from our last game," FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. "We weren't very smart in terms of what we did with the ball when we had a lead, so (Thursday) we were going to make sure we took care of it.
"Down the stretch, we didn't foul, didn't put them on the line and we finally started getting some jump shots to fall in the fourth quarter."
How did that third quarter go down? Here's how.
Whiteoak's Emma Wardlow began the quarter with a free throw, followed by FHS answering with a jumper by Grace Shope.
Wardlow led all scorers with 20 points.
Wardlow and Lydia Sowders exchanged baskets, but Sunnie Lehr brought the Whiteoak faithful to their feet with a 3-pointer at the 5:51 mark of the frame, putting the Lady Wildcats to within one point of the FHS lead at 26-25.
Following the trey by Lehr, Kaitlin Evans answered with back-to-back baskets for the Lady Lions, only to see WHS not flinch, scoring the next five points for a 30-30 tied score with 2:49 left in the third.
Evans led FHS with 16 points, followed by Shope with 15. With tonight's points, Evans moved to third place all-time in Fairfield Lady Lions scoring history.
Each team finished the third with three points apiece for a 33-33 score entering the fourth frame.
Then came the fourth where the Lady Lions never relinquished the lead, taking the top spot with not only a jumper by Evans, but two free throws as well for a 37-33 advantage.
Emily Stratton brought the Lady 'Cats back to within a point of FHS by sinking a 3-pointer with 6:15 left in regulation. The Lady Lions came back with a jumper from Shope and a 3-pointer from Evans to move in front by eight points at 44-36 with 3:41 on the clock.
Later in the fourth, two free throws by Carly Arnold (who totaled eight points) pushed FHS ahead by 10 points at 48-38. Eventually, FHS built a 12-point lead, never relinquishing their double-digit advantage in the final 1:25 of the fourth.
Whiteoak ends the season at 5-18 overall, as this was also the final game for head coach John Kirschner, who resigned at the conclusion of the season.
Kirschner spoke about this week for the Lady 'Cats.
"We haven't been able to practice since Saturday. The weather's really hurt this team, and it showed. They played hard and they didn't quit," he said. "They kept it close for a while. We had some good contributions.
"It may not show up in the scoring contribution, but I thought Morgan Thompson did a really good job defensively and really kept Evans in check for a while. Lexie Jones, another sophomore, also played well ... it shows the promise of this team for a while with the younger girls stepping up in a tournament game and helping us keep it close."
In the first quarter, the Lady Lions led by a 10-9 score, but the quarter was closely contested with one tie very early in the eight-minute frame, along with six lead changes, including a jumper by Arnold to end the frame at 10-9 in favor of FHS.
Early in the first though, it was Lehr who began the scoring with a jumper, followed by Arnold tying the score with another jumper for the Lady Lions with 6:13 left in the first.
From there, FHS completed what was a 6-0 run with Justice Hattan and Shope knocking down buckets for a 6-2 Lady Lion advantage with just over five minutes left in the opening quarter.[[In-content Ad]]
WHS responded with four points by Wardlow to bring the Lady 'Cats to within one point of the "home team" Lady Lions.
Even with those points, Fairfield answered with an Olivia Bobb basket, and following two more points from Wardlow, the aforementioned jumper by Arnold pushed FHS ahead, 10-9 after the first frame.
The Lady Lions continued to add to their lead to start the second frame with Shope sinking consecutive buckets for a 14-9 Lady Lions advantage, with the second basket coming off a steal and pass by Arnold.
Points from Michaela Luman brought the Lady 'Cats to within three points of FHS, and the lead continued to belong to the Lady Lions through the end of the second frame, including Sowders pushing FHS ahead 18-13 with 4:52 on the second-quarter clock.
FHS built their lead to 22-15 with 1:35 on the clock, but the Lady 'Cats didn't back down, netting the final four points of the quarter, though the Lady Lions led at the half, 22-19.
"We had a lot of girls step up, even on the defensive end, getting some steals and some tipped balls," Hamilton said. "Arnold's last couple games, she's started shooting the ball well. I had a feeling she'd have a good night, and she came out strong offensively and defensively. She made a big impact."
As for WHS, their head coach looked back at this season.
"If I look back on the season and look at wins and losses, yeah, we had a better year, we were a better team, we were competitive in a majority of our ball games," Kirschner said. "If you can look at it like that, I think this team has taken a big step forward, and I think they're going to be even better next year.
"I wanted them to have a better year than what they did, and I have to take responsibility for that. Top to bottom, I think I had a special group of kids, and from day one, they came in to the gym every day and never complained. They were begging to get into the gym all week long.
"I can't say enough about the effort. That's the groundwork that's been laid for the past three years. I hope it continues for the next guy."