Lady Lions open season with win over Piketon

BAINBRIDGE — Fairfield freshman Grace Shope put the Lady Lions on her back in the fourth quarter and in the process, not only did she earn the team MVP award, but FHS opened the 2014-15 season with a win.

The Lady Lions (1-0) battled back from starting the fourth trailing by five points to defeat Piketon, 46-44 in the 2014 Lady 'Cats Classic at Paint Valley High School.

Fairfield's non-conference win on Friday evening came with a 14-point fourth quarter by Shope, who with the help of her teammates scored most of her points in fast break situations, with the Lady Lions overcoming the height differential by using their overall team speed to help in the victory.

"This was a great way to start the season," FHS head coach Chad Hamilton told The Highland County Press. "The girls battled back and showed great resiliency. I couldn't be more happy with our effort."

The freshman, Shope, opened the fourth to bring the Lady Lions within one point of Piketon with consecutive jumpers, making the shot from the right side of the court in nearly the same spot with 6:15 left in the contest.

For the game, Shope finished with a game-high 17 points and seven rebounds.

"To be able to finish the way she does, it is a big plus to have on the team," Hamilton said. "She's deceivingly fast. She's tall and gets up the floor in a hurry."

Shope then put FHS in the lead by gaining possession of the ball mid-court and scoring two points by using the aforementioned speed in a one-one-one fast break situation with 4:56 on the clock at PVHS.

PHS (0-1) regained the lead with two free throws from Ashlee Lawhorn, but there was Shope again with consecutive layups, including one where Haley Bobb passed to Kaitlin Evans, who in turn passed to Shope in transition to put the Lady Lions ahead, 40-37, leaving 3:17 left in regulation.

Lawhorn led PHS with a team-high 14 points.

In basically the same sequence of events, PHS made two free throws to get within a point of FHS, but it was Shope running past the defense of Piketon for more fast break points, regaining the three-point lead at 42-39.

After each team committed turnovers (unofficially FHS committed 30 turnovers in the regular-season opener), Shope scored her 14th point of the quarter as the clock read 1:54 on another layup in transition for a 44-39 Lady Lion lead.

PHS made two free throws in response to the layup, but Bobb answered with two points for FHS. A three-point play by Lawhorn of PHS (with 33.4 left in the game) made it a one-possession game at 46-44, and later, with the final shot of the game, PHS was unable to convert the shot at the buzzer.

"We wanted to push the ball the whole game, but in the first half, we were unable to do that," Hamilton said. "The second half, we were finally able to get it out. Grace Shope, when she gets the ball … once she goes, she's very hard to stop.

"For her first varsity game, she came through in the clutch, and she played very well."

As for the first three quarters, the Lady Lions struggled for the speed and consistency, they had in the fourth. After the first quarter, the Lady Lions trailed, 7-4, and at the half it was a 21-16 deficit for the Lady Lions.

In the first half, PHS scored the first points of the game with 5:19 on the first-quarter clock, and the first points by the Lady Lions for the 2014-15 season came from a layup from senior Justice Hattan with 2:55 remaining in the opening quarter.

In the first half, Evans tallied 11 points and 13 for the games. In the second quarter, Evans sank three 3-pointers. Evans also collected six assists and five rebounds for the game.

The third frame saw both teams score 14 points, with Shope, Carly Arnold, Evans, Lydia Sowders, Haley Bobb and Olivia Bobb contributing to the 14-points by FHS. In the third, Olivia Bobb sank a 3-pointer.

"Being down by five at the half, we just chipped away, but found ourselves down by five again at the end of the third, so we were in the same boat," Hamilton said. "We got into a little foul trouble, but I'm happy with the way we boxed out and battled.

"We didn't put them on the line as much as I thought we would once we were in the double bonus. In the end, it was about us converting on the break, and we were able to do that."

Sowders finished with five assists, while Hattan had five rebounds. For the game, PHS out-rebounded the Lady Lions, 35-28.

Next for the Lady Lions is a game on Dec. 4 at Thursday, North Adams in their Southern Hills Athletic Conference opener.