Fairfield 2021-22 Girls Basketball Preview: Fairfield returns veteran roster; new coach leading program
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Coming off a season where the Fairfield Lady Lions shared the Division II Southern Hills Athletic Conference title last season, a lot has changed in the ensuing months, though the one constant is the team lost no players to graduation.
What has changed is the Lady Lions have a new head coach, that being Jeremy McGraw. He replaces longtime head coach Chad Hamilton, who stepped down this offseason as he left the program after winning two conference championships in eight seasons, those being the only two SHAC titles in program history.
McGraw has previously been the Whiteoak boys varsity basketball head coach, and he was most recently the Fairfield baseball head coach.
“It was tough giving up baseball because I have built great relationships with these young men the past four years,” McGraw said. “I look forward to watching them succeed on the field and grow as players.
“As for the girls, it’s been a great start to the season. I am very fortunate to be the head girls’ basketball coach at Fairfield. We have great kids here throughout the whole building. I would like to thank the administration and the Board of Education for this opportunity.”
Another big change to the Fairfield program is they have jumped up to Division I of the SHAC, and that also meant the Ripley Lady Blue Jays moved down to Division II of the conference. Fairfield is now in the same part of the SHAC as Eastern, Lynchburg-Clay, North Adams and West Union, as they will face those four teams twice a season.
During Fairfield’s successful 17-5 season of 2020-21, they also defeated the Peebles Lady Indians at Grandle Gymnasium, which helped them clinch a share of the SHAC championship, as the win was even more impressive because Peebles reached the Elite Eight in Division IV last season. It was also the lone regular-season loss for the strong PHS team last season.
Moving forward to this upcoming season, Fairfield has the same high expectations, and McGraw says his team is hungry.
“The expectations are high this year,” McGraw said. “This is a hungry group. They come in and compete and work hard in practice. The girls are not content with an average season, and it shows in practice. Our goals are to compete for a league title and make a tournament run.”
The roster for the Lady Lions includes seniors Madison Bronner, Shaleigh Duncan, Emma Fouch, Braylynn Haines and Ella Newkirk. The lone junior is Peyton Magee, and sophomores are Faith Donley and Caitlyn Quickle. Freshmen include Kelsey Clark, McKinley Cox, Hannah Hamilton, Jobey Hattan, Kassi Miller and Ginny Trent.
“We are blessed to have a lot of returning varsity experience, and I hope to have great leadership from all of our upperclassmen. We have one of the best shooters in the area with Emma Fouch, while Ella (Newkirk) and Peyton (Magee) can both provide great guard play and leadership,” McGraw said. “Madison (Bronner), Braylynn (Haines) and Shaleigh (Duncan) give us a great presence inside, as well as their ability to put the ball on the floor.
“Faith Donley and Caitlyn Quickle both got varsity experience as freshmen that will be valuable for us. Additionally, we have six freshmen in our program that add great depth to our team. We are excited about the potential we have.”
Fouch led the Lady Lions last season with 17.5 points per game, while she also had 4.8 rebounds per game, 3.3 steals per game and 1.9 assists per game. Fouch was an All-Ohio, All-District and All-SHAC selection last season. She scored 384 points last season and made 50 3-pointers. She also shot 80-percent from the free-throw line (72-90).
Newkirk averaged 10.3 ppg. in the 20-21 season, while also collecting 2.6 rpg., 2.6 apg. and 2.3 spg. Haines averaged 10.1 ppg., with 6.7 rpg., 1.3 apg. and 1.1 spg. Bronner finished last season with 8.8 ppg., a team-high 8.8 rpg. (181 rebounds), 1.4 apg. and 2.0 spg. Magee led FHS with 5.2 apg., while also garnering 8.5 ppg., 5.9 rpg., 5.2 apg. and 3.5 spg.
This offseason was successful, and McGraw was glad to see his players compete at high level in other sport this past fall season.
“It was a good offseason for us,” McGraw said. “The girls showed up, worked hard and bought in. They had great fall seasons in volleyball, cross-country and soccer. I really enjoy when our athletes play multiple sports and gain those experiences. I was proud of them.”
The SHAC Division I will be a bit different for the Lady Lions this season as it has some very strong competition, with teams that have veteran leadership and teams that made solid tournament runs last season. That said, Fairfield is a strong team as well and will fit in nicely with the high level of competition in Division I of the SHAC.
“The conference is going to be tough this year,” McGraw said. “Eastern Brown was picked to win our side. North Adams and Lynchburg-Clay both will be tough on our side. West Union will be coached very well, so there are going to be some battles within our conference this year.”
The non-conference slate of games for FHS includes strong competition as well.
“Our non-conference schedule is tough this year with East Clinton, McClain, Paint Valley, Huntington and Fairland (at the Hoosier Gym),” McGraw said. “It will be no easy task for us. We will have to be prepared and focused night-in and night-out.”
Playing such a tough schedule, the Lady Lions will have to be able to respond to some adversity that comes with any basketball season, and McGraw said that’s what he wants to see from his team this season.
“We are fortunate that we didn’t lose anyone from the previous season,” McGraw said. “With that said, I feel we will need to improve on how we respond to adversity. When things are not going our way, how are we going to handle the situation? Are we going to point fingers and place the blame, or are we going to be a great teammate and fight through things?”
Fairfield opens the season on Monday, Nov. 22 at home against Ripley.
[[In-content Ad]]
What has changed is the Lady Lions have a new head coach, that being Jeremy McGraw. He replaces longtime head coach Chad Hamilton, who stepped down this offseason as he left the program after winning two conference championships in eight seasons, those being the only two SHAC titles in program history.
McGraw has previously been the Whiteoak boys varsity basketball head coach, and he was most recently the Fairfield baseball head coach.
“It was tough giving up baseball because I have built great relationships with these young men the past four years,” McGraw said. “I look forward to watching them succeed on the field and grow as players.
“As for the girls, it’s been a great start to the season. I am very fortunate to be the head girls’ basketball coach at Fairfield. We have great kids here throughout the whole building. I would like to thank the administration and the Board of Education for this opportunity.”
Another big change to the Fairfield program is they have jumped up to Division I of the SHAC, and that also meant the Ripley Lady Blue Jays moved down to Division II of the conference. Fairfield is now in the same part of the SHAC as Eastern, Lynchburg-Clay, North Adams and West Union, as they will face those four teams twice a season.
During Fairfield’s successful 17-5 season of 2020-21, they also defeated the Peebles Lady Indians at Grandle Gymnasium, which helped them clinch a share of the SHAC championship, as the win was even more impressive because Peebles reached the Elite Eight in Division IV last season. It was also the lone regular-season loss for the strong PHS team last season.
Moving forward to this upcoming season, Fairfield has the same high expectations, and McGraw says his team is hungry.
“The expectations are high this year,” McGraw said. “This is a hungry group. They come in and compete and work hard in practice. The girls are not content with an average season, and it shows in practice. Our goals are to compete for a league title and make a tournament run.”
The roster for the Lady Lions includes seniors Madison Bronner, Shaleigh Duncan, Emma Fouch, Braylynn Haines and Ella Newkirk. The lone junior is Peyton Magee, and sophomores are Faith Donley and Caitlyn Quickle. Freshmen include Kelsey Clark, McKinley Cox, Hannah Hamilton, Jobey Hattan, Kassi Miller and Ginny Trent.
“We are blessed to have a lot of returning varsity experience, and I hope to have great leadership from all of our upperclassmen. We have one of the best shooters in the area with Emma Fouch, while Ella (Newkirk) and Peyton (Magee) can both provide great guard play and leadership,” McGraw said. “Madison (Bronner), Braylynn (Haines) and Shaleigh (Duncan) give us a great presence inside, as well as their ability to put the ball on the floor.
“Faith Donley and Caitlyn Quickle both got varsity experience as freshmen that will be valuable for us. Additionally, we have six freshmen in our program that add great depth to our team. We are excited about the potential we have.”
Fouch led the Lady Lions last season with 17.5 points per game, while she also had 4.8 rebounds per game, 3.3 steals per game and 1.9 assists per game. Fouch was an All-Ohio, All-District and All-SHAC selection last season. She scored 384 points last season and made 50 3-pointers. She also shot 80-percent from the free-throw line (72-90).
Newkirk averaged 10.3 ppg. in the 20-21 season, while also collecting 2.6 rpg., 2.6 apg. and 2.3 spg. Haines averaged 10.1 ppg., with 6.7 rpg., 1.3 apg. and 1.1 spg. Bronner finished last season with 8.8 ppg., a team-high 8.8 rpg. (181 rebounds), 1.4 apg. and 2.0 spg. Magee led FHS with 5.2 apg., while also garnering 8.5 ppg., 5.9 rpg., 5.2 apg. and 3.5 spg.
This offseason was successful, and McGraw was glad to see his players compete at high level in other sport this past fall season.
“It was a good offseason for us,” McGraw said. “The girls showed up, worked hard and bought in. They had great fall seasons in volleyball, cross-country and soccer. I really enjoy when our athletes play multiple sports and gain those experiences. I was proud of them.”
The SHAC Division I will be a bit different for the Lady Lions this season as it has some very strong competition, with teams that have veteran leadership and teams that made solid tournament runs last season. That said, Fairfield is a strong team as well and will fit in nicely with the high level of competition in Division I of the SHAC.
“The conference is going to be tough this year,” McGraw said. “Eastern Brown was picked to win our side. North Adams and Lynchburg-Clay both will be tough on our side. West Union will be coached very well, so there are going to be some battles within our conference this year.”
The non-conference slate of games for FHS includes strong competition as well.
“Our non-conference schedule is tough this year with East Clinton, McClain, Paint Valley, Huntington and Fairland (at the Hoosier Gym),” McGraw said. “It will be no easy task for us. We will have to be prepared and focused night-in and night-out.”
Playing such a tough schedule, the Lady Lions will have to be able to respond to some adversity that comes with any basketball season, and McGraw said that’s what he wants to see from his team this season.
“We are fortunate that we didn’t lose anyone from the previous season,” McGraw said. “With that said, I feel we will need to improve on how we respond to adversity. When things are not going our way, how are we going to handle the situation? Are we going to point fingers and place the blame, or are we going to be a great teammate and fight through things?”
Fairfield opens the season on Monday, Nov. 22 at home against Ripley.
[[In-content Ad]]