Fourth quarter sends Fairfield to SHAC loss against Eastern
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — The atmosphere was second to none on Thursday night at Grandle Gymnasium, as a packed house saw the Fairfield Lady Lions welcome the visiting Eastern Lady Warriors in a game that had first place on the line in the conference early in the season.
Defense by both squads was on hand as the main course for the game, as both the Lady Lions and Lady Warriors kept the score low and close for the first three frames. Then in the final eight minutes of play, the Lady Warriors — the reigning champion of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Division I — broke away from Fairfield to seal a 54-42 victory over the host team.
The first frame saw the Lady Warriors lead 7-6 after eight minutes were in the books, with all seven points of Eastern being scored by Mackenzie Gloff as she scored two of her three basket in the paint, while also sinking a 3-pointer.
Fairfield had four points in the first frame from Braylynn Haines, as she also sank a big-time 3-pointer, plus FHS had a two-point basket from Madison Bronner.
The score was tied at the end of the second quarter with FHS winning the frame at 14-13, and they did so by having five players reach the scoreboard, while on the other side of the court the Lady Warriors scored 13 points, with four players contributing to the scoring column.
Fairfield built a three-point lead to start the second frame with Bronner spinning around the defender for two points, and a free throw was made by Ella Newkirk for the 9-7 advantage. FHS added to their lead with two points by Peyton Magee, only to see Eastern regain the lead with six straight points by Rylee Leonard for a 13-11 EHS lead with 4:56 left in the second frame.
The Lady Lions answered with a jumper and layup by Faith Donley for a 15-13 Fairfield advantage, but Eastern was able to answer, this time from a 3-pointer by freshman Mya Hamilton, who played her middle school basketball at Fairfield.
The trey by Hamilton was equaled with a 3-pointer from Magee with 2:58 left in the quarter, but EHS tied the score at 18 following two points by Gloff. FHS made it 20-20 score with a basket by Caitlyn Quickle as halftime arrived.
Though there were nine lead changes in the first half, and four tied scores, the game full of defense continued into the third frame with Fairfield breaking the tie with a 3-pointer by Magee, but seven straight points by Eastern put them ahead 27-23 with 4:45 left in the third.
The Lady Lions battled back with another 3-pointer by Magee, followed by a basket by Donley, who picked up the loose basketball and took it to the hoop. FHS built their lead to three points with a jumper by Quickle, only to see Eastern score the next eight of 11 points for a 35-33 lead after three quarters. Fairfield’s points in that span were by Donley, scoring a 3-pointer with 58 seconds left in the frame.
The defense of Eastern led them to being successful on offense in the fourth and final quarter, as they kept top players from Fairfield scoreless, including having multiple players on Fairfield’s leading scorer for this season Emma Fouch, though she excelled on the defensive side for Fairfield on Thursday.
In the fourth quarter, Eastern outscored the Lady Lions 19-9, leading to the 12-point loss for Fairfield. In the fourth for the Lady Warriors, they took the lead at the 6:40 mark of the quarter and never relinquished it.
Eastern had six points from Torrie Utter in the fourth, while Emma Prine scored her four points in the game in the fourth frame. Leonard added five points in the fourth quarter, and Gloff scored four points in final frame.
Gloff led Eastern in scoring for the game with 20 points, while Leonard totaled 11 points and Utter added 10 points for the game, giving Eastern three players in double-figure scoring.
Fairfield in the fourth quarter had three points by Newkirk (a 3-pointer), two points from Magee and four points by Haines.
For the game Magee, led Fairfield with 13 points, while Donley had nine points and Haines followed with eight points. The rest of the FHS scoring included Newkirk, Quickle and Bronner with four points each.
Fairfield went 2-of-8 from the free-throw line in the SHAC loss with 11 two-point baskets and six 3-pointers. Eastern finished 6-of-11 in their free-throw attempts, with 18 two-point baskets and four 3-pointers.
The loss sends Fairfield to 5-1 in the SHAC and 8-1 overall. The Lady Warriors improve to 8-1 overall and 6-0 in the SHAC, as they take sole possession of first place in Division I of the SHAC.
Next for Fairfield is a game against county rival Whiteoak on Monday, Dec. 20 at home.
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Defense by both squads was on hand as the main course for the game, as both the Lady Lions and Lady Warriors kept the score low and close for the first three frames. Then in the final eight minutes of play, the Lady Warriors — the reigning champion of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Division I — broke away from Fairfield to seal a 54-42 victory over the host team.
The first frame saw the Lady Warriors lead 7-6 after eight minutes were in the books, with all seven points of Eastern being scored by Mackenzie Gloff as she scored two of her three basket in the paint, while also sinking a 3-pointer.
Fairfield had four points in the first frame from Braylynn Haines, as she also sank a big-time 3-pointer, plus FHS had a two-point basket from Madison Bronner.
The score was tied at the end of the second quarter with FHS winning the frame at 14-13, and they did so by having five players reach the scoreboard, while on the other side of the court the Lady Warriors scored 13 points, with four players contributing to the scoring column.
Fairfield built a three-point lead to start the second frame with Bronner spinning around the defender for two points, and a free throw was made by Ella Newkirk for the 9-7 advantage. FHS added to their lead with two points by Peyton Magee, only to see Eastern regain the lead with six straight points by Rylee Leonard for a 13-11 EHS lead with 4:56 left in the second frame.
The Lady Lions answered with a jumper and layup by Faith Donley for a 15-13 Fairfield advantage, but Eastern was able to answer, this time from a 3-pointer by freshman Mya Hamilton, who played her middle school basketball at Fairfield.
The trey by Hamilton was equaled with a 3-pointer from Magee with 2:58 left in the quarter, but EHS tied the score at 18 following two points by Gloff. FHS made it 20-20 score with a basket by Caitlyn Quickle as halftime arrived.
Though there were nine lead changes in the first half, and four tied scores, the game full of defense continued into the third frame with Fairfield breaking the tie with a 3-pointer by Magee, but seven straight points by Eastern put them ahead 27-23 with 4:45 left in the third.
The Lady Lions battled back with another 3-pointer by Magee, followed by a basket by Donley, who picked up the loose basketball and took it to the hoop. FHS built their lead to three points with a jumper by Quickle, only to see Eastern score the next eight of 11 points for a 35-33 lead after three quarters. Fairfield’s points in that span were by Donley, scoring a 3-pointer with 58 seconds left in the frame.
The defense of Eastern led them to being successful on offense in the fourth and final quarter, as they kept top players from Fairfield scoreless, including having multiple players on Fairfield’s leading scorer for this season Emma Fouch, though she excelled on the defensive side for Fairfield on Thursday.
In the fourth quarter, Eastern outscored the Lady Lions 19-9, leading to the 12-point loss for Fairfield. In the fourth for the Lady Warriors, they took the lead at the 6:40 mark of the quarter and never relinquished it.
Eastern had six points from Torrie Utter in the fourth, while Emma Prine scored her four points in the game in the fourth frame. Leonard added five points in the fourth quarter, and Gloff scored four points in final frame.
Gloff led Eastern in scoring for the game with 20 points, while Leonard totaled 11 points and Utter added 10 points for the game, giving Eastern three players in double-figure scoring.
Fairfield in the fourth quarter had three points by Newkirk (a 3-pointer), two points from Magee and four points by Haines.
For the game Magee, led Fairfield with 13 points, while Donley had nine points and Haines followed with eight points. The rest of the FHS scoring included Newkirk, Quickle and Bronner with four points each.
Fairfield went 2-of-8 from the free-throw line in the SHAC loss with 11 two-point baskets and six 3-pointers. Eastern finished 6-of-11 in their free-throw attempts, with 18 two-point baskets and four 3-pointers.
The loss sends Fairfield to 5-1 in the SHAC and 8-1 overall. The Lady Warriors improve to 8-1 overall and 6-0 in the SHAC, as they take sole possession of first place in Division I of the SHAC.
Next for Fairfield is a game against county rival Whiteoak on Monday, Dec. 20 at home.
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