Lady Lions unable to keep lead in 4th; lose to Peebles

LEESBURG — A nearly 10-point lead in the fourth quarter turned out not to be enough for the Fairfield Lady Lions to hold onto in their final home game of the season, wrapping up the regular season with a 37-36 loss to the visiting Peebles Lady Indians, Thursday.

The Southern Hills Athletic Conference loss by FHS saw the Lady Lions (3-10, 7-15) build a 35-26 lead with 6:28 left in the fourth after two points by Grace Shope.

But from there, Peebles answered with a 11-2 run in the final 5:36 of the game to not only tie the game with a 3-pointer from Mariah Knauff with 2:01 on the clock, but take the lead for good on a free throw by Aubrey McFarland with 40.6 seconds remaining.

Knauff led the Lady Indians with 14 points, while teammate McKinlee Ryan scored nine points.

The Lady Lions had opportunities to take the lead but missed two final shot opportunities in the final five seconds of the game.

For the fourth frame, PHS outscored the Lady Lions, 11-3.

"We fouled way too much and put them (PHS) on the line at the end," FHS head coach Chad Hamilton said. "Peebles played their game plan well, and we played too aggressive … it was a very poor performance by us."

In the first frame, Fairfield led by a 9-8 score with Carly Arnold (who totaled five points), Kaitlin Evans and Haley Bobb contributing to the lead, with Evans scoring five of those nine points. Evans led all scorers with a game-high 15 points, including a 3-pointer in the first quarter.

PHS won the second frame at 9-4 for a 17-13 halftime lead.

In the third, the Lady Lions broke out for a 20-9 quarter, beginning with Evans and Lydia Sowders opening the quarter with two points each, including Sowders tying the score at 17 with 6:52 on the scoreboard.

Peebles answered with four straight points to take a 21-17 lead. Shope stopped the scoring by PHS with two free throws at the 5:49 mark of the quarter. Shope finished with eight points.

Ryan came back with put-back points, but from there, the Lady Lions answered with an 8-0 run with Arnold sinking a jumper, followed by a jumper by Evans to tie the score at 23 all with 4:28 in the third.

Later, Evans tossed the ball off the back of a PHS player on an inbounds pass, grabbed the bounce and scored two points on a layup for a 25-23 lead at the 3:46 mark.

Sowders followed with a layup to put FHS ahead by four points, but PHS fought back with a 3-pointer from Matti Nichols. After that basket made it a one-point deficit for the Lady Indians, FHS ended the third with six straight points from Evans, Shope and Bobb. Bobb and teammate Sowders each finished with four points.

"We were able to get the ball out and run a little bit, that's where we want to be and it's no secret," Hamilton said. "If we get stuck in a half court game and shoot jump shots the way we did (Thursday), it won't be a good night for us."

Each team finished with 20-plus turnovers.

Seniors honored before the game were Kaitlin Evans, Haley Bobb, Lydia Sowders, Katie Runyon, Justice Hattan and Emily Teeters.

"Those seniors show up every day and work hard," Hamilton said. "Everyone had a role to fill, and they will be missed."

FHS will play again on Monday night at Northwest High School (McDermott) in the first round of the Division IV SE District Sectional Tournament. No. 8 FHS will be facing the No. 9 seeded Whiteoak Lady Wildcats with a start time of 7 p.m.