Lady Lions rally past Lynchburg-Clay on senior night
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — The Fairfield Lady Lions celebrated their seniors before the start of their game Thursday night, and after a tough battle, gained a Southern Hills Athletic Conference win over rival Lynchburg-Clay, 60-53.
“I can't be more proud of all of them,” Fairfield head coach Josh Stackhouse said. “You’re riding the emotion with senior night, you come out and you build that little bit of a deficit, and they had a little bit of panic in their face, but they dug in.
“Defense is what we preach, number one, and everything else falls into line. They really, that second quarter, dug in. We obviously lost the first quarter, but we won that second quarter, and going into halftime that's what we just preached is ‘hey, it's from here on out.’”
The Lady Mustangs of LCHS dominated the first quarter with a 21-8 lead, forcing the Lady Lions into eight first-quarter turnovers, leading to their 13-point lead over Fairfield.
That first quarter saw the Lady Mustangs have nine points from Addison West, as she sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first frame.
There were also five points from Jade Massey, five points from Bry Price and two points from Macy Etienne.
Fairfield’s first quarter saw Hailey Tolle score four points and Peyton Magee add two points, as they were the two seniors honored by Fairfield before the game on senior night.
Also with two points in the first quarter was Faith Donley.
The second quarter saw Lynchburg-Clay lead by as many as 18 points with a 27-9 lead with 4:42 left in the second quarter, but by the time the quarter ended, the Lady Lions cut down the lead of Lynchburg-Clay to eight points at 29-21.
“We came out with a great intensity, energy, effort, everything,” Lynchburg-Clay head coach Whitney Lewis said. “We got in a little bit of foul trouble in that second half and kind of took us out of that roll that we were going on.
“The second half, we just couldn’t hit some shots. They just couldn't fall for us. That first beginning of the third quarter just killed us when we weren't able to get anything to fall, and that really hurt us, and Fairfield was able to take advantage of it.”
The second frame began with Price sinking a basket nearly a minute into the quarter, then following a Fairfield free throw, Lynchburg-Clay scored the next four points off a layup by Ella Barry and two made free throws by Kalyn Rich for their 18-point lead (27-9) with 4:42 left on the clock.
LCHS scored just two more points in the quarter, while Fairfield rallied to outscore the Lady Mustangs 12-2 in the second half of the second quarter to get within eight points of the Lynchburg-Clay lead.
The run of points for FHS included a layup by Magee, two free throws from Donley, a 3-pointer by Tolle, two more free throws from Donley, and a 3-pointer also by Donley with 34 seconds left in the quarter.
At the start of the third, the Lady Lions continued their scoring run with a jumper by Magee, followed by a free throw by Ginny Trent and a put-back basket by Tolle with 5:47 left in the third for a three-point deficit.
The differential continued to stay between three points and one point with LCHS leading, but that was until the Lady Lions tied the score at 35 off a 3-pointer from Donley at the 3:51 mark of the third, then with 3:23 left in the third, a jumper by Tolle put FHS ahead 37-35.
That shot by Tolle allowed Fairfield to build a seven-point lead by the time the frame ended with two free throws by Donley, a 3-pointer from Magee, and following two points by LCHS, two points at the buzzer by Magee for a 44-37 Lady Lion lead.
Again, Fairfield opened the quarter with points, as this time Kassi Miller knocked down a 3-pointer off the glass with 7:21 left in the fourth frame for a 47-37 lead.
LCHS answered with six straight points off baskets by Massey and West, cutting Fairfield’s lead to four points with 3:59 left in regulation,
FHS increased their lead to six points with a basket by Tolle, and then on the other side of the court, Tolle put in a strong defensive effort.
Lynchburg-Clay was next to score points, this time being a 3-pointer from West, but on the ensuing Fairfield possession, Magee equaled the feat of West with a 3-pointer for the Lady Lions, putting FHS ahead by six points with 2:18 left in the final quarter.
FHS increased their lead to 10 points with a layup by Tolle and two made free throws by Magee, as the senior duo helped build a 56-46 lead with 1:22 on the clock.
Fairfield made it an 11-point lead by answering a LCHS shot with two more free throws by Magee, leaving the score 58-47 with 49.9 left in regulation. LCHS kept the game close with a 3-pointer from West to make it an eight-point game.
The Lady Lions eventually fended off the Lady Mustangs and won by seven points as time expired.
For the game, LCHS was led by West with 23 points, followed by Price with 13 points. Massey followed with nine points, Barry totaled four points, and with two points each were Etienne and Rich.
“[West] just had that mentality that she's going to get to that basket, really kind of opened up for us and got some points on the board,” Lewis said. “That aggressiveness helps our team when we push the ball and have her attack the rim. She did a really good job for us tonight.
“I’m really proud of our kids for how they came out and fought. Like I said, we lost to a really good team.”
The Lady Lions were led by Magee with 22 points, while Tolle and Donley each scored 17 points. Miller added three points and with one point was Trent.
“Hailey Tolle got a season high tonight with 17 points on senior night, and I think you could really see Peyton and Hailey wanted it,” Stackhouse said. “They stayed persistent, and the rest of the girls followed in line.”
Fairfield’s win improves them to 13-5 overall and 10-2 in the SHAC. Lynchburg-Clay moves to 11-8 overall and 6-6 in the SHAC.
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“I can't be more proud of all of them,” Fairfield head coach Josh Stackhouse said. “You’re riding the emotion with senior night, you come out and you build that little bit of a deficit, and they had a little bit of panic in their face, but they dug in.
“Defense is what we preach, number one, and everything else falls into line. They really, that second quarter, dug in. We obviously lost the first quarter, but we won that second quarter, and going into halftime that's what we just preached is ‘hey, it's from here on out.’”
The Lady Mustangs of LCHS dominated the first quarter with a 21-8 lead, forcing the Lady Lions into eight first-quarter turnovers, leading to their 13-point lead over Fairfield.
That first quarter saw the Lady Mustangs have nine points from Addison West, as she sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the first frame.
There were also five points from Jade Massey, five points from Bry Price and two points from Macy Etienne.
Fairfield’s first quarter saw Hailey Tolle score four points and Peyton Magee add two points, as they were the two seniors honored by Fairfield before the game on senior night.
Also with two points in the first quarter was Faith Donley.
The second quarter saw Lynchburg-Clay lead by as many as 18 points with a 27-9 lead with 4:42 left in the second quarter, but by the time the quarter ended, the Lady Lions cut down the lead of Lynchburg-Clay to eight points at 29-21.
“We came out with a great intensity, energy, effort, everything,” Lynchburg-Clay head coach Whitney Lewis said. “We got in a little bit of foul trouble in that second half and kind of took us out of that roll that we were going on.
“The second half, we just couldn’t hit some shots. They just couldn't fall for us. That first beginning of the third quarter just killed us when we weren't able to get anything to fall, and that really hurt us, and Fairfield was able to take advantage of it.”
The second frame began with Price sinking a basket nearly a minute into the quarter, then following a Fairfield free throw, Lynchburg-Clay scored the next four points off a layup by Ella Barry and two made free throws by Kalyn Rich for their 18-point lead (27-9) with 4:42 left on the clock.
LCHS scored just two more points in the quarter, while Fairfield rallied to outscore the Lady Mustangs 12-2 in the second half of the second quarter to get within eight points of the Lynchburg-Clay lead.
The run of points for FHS included a layup by Magee, two free throws from Donley, a 3-pointer by Tolle, two more free throws from Donley, and a 3-pointer also by Donley with 34 seconds left in the quarter.
At the start of the third, the Lady Lions continued their scoring run with a jumper by Magee, followed by a free throw by Ginny Trent and a put-back basket by Tolle with 5:47 left in the third for a three-point deficit.
The differential continued to stay between three points and one point with LCHS leading, but that was until the Lady Lions tied the score at 35 off a 3-pointer from Donley at the 3:51 mark of the third, then with 3:23 left in the third, a jumper by Tolle put FHS ahead 37-35.
That shot by Tolle allowed Fairfield to build a seven-point lead by the time the frame ended with two free throws by Donley, a 3-pointer from Magee, and following two points by LCHS, two points at the buzzer by Magee for a 44-37 Lady Lion lead.
Again, Fairfield opened the quarter with points, as this time Kassi Miller knocked down a 3-pointer off the glass with 7:21 left in the fourth frame for a 47-37 lead.
LCHS answered with six straight points off baskets by Massey and West, cutting Fairfield’s lead to four points with 3:59 left in regulation,
FHS increased their lead to six points with a basket by Tolle, and then on the other side of the court, Tolle put in a strong defensive effort.
Lynchburg-Clay was next to score points, this time being a 3-pointer from West, but on the ensuing Fairfield possession, Magee equaled the feat of West with a 3-pointer for the Lady Lions, putting FHS ahead by six points with 2:18 left in the final quarter.
FHS increased their lead to 10 points with a layup by Tolle and two made free throws by Magee, as the senior duo helped build a 56-46 lead with 1:22 on the clock.
Fairfield made it an 11-point lead by answering a LCHS shot with two more free throws by Magee, leaving the score 58-47 with 49.9 left in regulation. LCHS kept the game close with a 3-pointer from West to make it an eight-point game.
The Lady Lions eventually fended off the Lady Mustangs and won by seven points as time expired.
For the game, LCHS was led by West with 23 points, followed by Price with 13 points. Massey followed with nine points, Barry totaled four points, and with two points each were Etienne and Rich.
“[West] just had that mentality that she's going to get to that basket, really kind of opened up for us and got some points on the board,” Lewis said. “That aggressiveness helps our team when we push the ball and have her attack the rim. She did a really good job for us tonight.
“I’m really proud of our kids for how they came out and fought. Like I said, we lost to a really good team.”
The Lady Lions were led by Magee with 22 points, while Tolle and Donley each scored 17 points. Miller added three points and with one point was Trent.
“Hailey Tolle got a season high tonight with 17 points on senior night, and I think you could really see Peyton and Hailey wanted it,” Stackhouse said. “They stayed persistent, and the rest of the girls followed in line.”
Fairfield’s win improves them to 13-5 overall and 10-2 in the SHAC. Lynchburg-Clay moves to 11-8 overall and 6-6 in the SHAC.
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