2024-25 Fairfield Lady Lions Basketball Preview

The 2024-25 Fairfield Lady Lions are getting ready to take the court for another season of competing in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference, as they look to build on the progress they had last season.

FHS is coached by Jennifer Blue, who is in her second season as the Lady Lions’ head coach, as she’s also entering her 11th overall season as a varsity head coach.

In 2023-24, the Lady Lions finished with an overall record of 9-15 with a 5-8 record in the Division II standings of the SHAC.

This season, FHS had three seniors, two juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen on their roster.

The seniors for Fairfield are Kassi Miller, Kelsey Clark and McKinley Cox.

Clark is injured for the season but was a big part of the Fairfield team a year ago, with 287 points scored with 127 rebounds, 32 assists, 50 steals and 14 blocks. Clark averaged 12.5 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game in 23 games played, as she was an All-SHAC, Honorable Mention Coaches All-District and Third-Team OPSWA All-District selection.

Miller — a returning starter —  last season as a junior totaled 128 points, 65 rebounds, 43 assists, 47 steals and four blocks. Miller averaged 5.3 ppg and 2.7 rpg in ’23-24.

Juniors for FHS are Jaeden Drury and Rilee Quickle, and the sophomore class consists of Isabelle Hale, Vivian Henninger (injured) and Meri Jackson. Freshmen this season are Paisley Stahlhut, Kelsie Crowder and Addison Cannon.

Quickle — a returning starter —  last season scored 121 points, 88 rebounds, 27 assists, 51 steals and had four blocks. Hale — a returning starter — last season totaled 78 points, 74 rebounds, 12 assists, 21 steals and three blocks. Jackson finished last season with 45 points, 53 rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks.

“Rilee has improved greatly over the past year. She is a quick guard who needs to trust her instinct on the offensive end,” Blue said. “Isabelle Hale has had a good preseason, and we look for her to take a big step up this year, as well as her fellow classmates Vivian Henninger and Meri Jackson. We are waiting for Vivian to come back from a broken leg but expect big things from her and Meri on the inside."

Looking back at last season, Fairfield will have to replace the 15.1 ppg contributed by Faith Donley, who graduated. Donley was All-SHAC, Third-Team Coaches All-District, Second-Team OPSWA All-District and Honorable Mention Div. III All-Ohio her senior year.

As for this offseason, FHS had worked hard at preparing for the upcoming regular season.

“We have had a pretty good offseason as the girls went to a couple of camps and shootouts in June and have been working hard on shooting and dribbling,” Blue said. “The team is growing, and we are building on all aspects of the game. We are still a very young team and trying to mesh it all together. They like to have fun and enjoy being in the gym. They listen and want to learn. We are progressing in the right direction.
 
“The main thing we need to improve on is just the consistency of the team. Our communication and rebounding on the court needs to be worked on as well, and of course the girls just need to have confidence in their abilities.”

Blue’s expectations are for the team to work hard and to be better than the previous day.

“I always say our expectations are to be better today than what we were yesterday and to just keep building as a team,” Blue said. “We will go out and compete every night, and giving 110 percent on the court is all I want from them. Our motto is ‘Brick By Brick We Build,’ and we are working on that.”

The SHAC schedule will be competitive for the Lady Lions, as they are in Division II of the conference. Last season in Division II of the SHAC, Fayetteville won the conference with a 10-3 record, followed by Whiteoak (8-5), Fairfield (5-8), Ripley (4-9) and Manchester (0-13). Division I was won by North Adams at 12-1.

“The conference favorites are North Adams for the large school and Fayetteville for the smaller school division,” Blue said. “The conference is going to be a battle every night, and there is a lot of balance in the league.”

The non-conference slate of games for the Lady Lions on the ’24-25 schedule includes: vs. McClain, at Adena, vs. Georgetown, at Wheelersburg, vs. Hillsboro, vs. Portsmouth-Clay (Chad Hodson Classic), vs. Miami Trace, at Westfall and at Paint Valley.

“Our non-conference schedule is tough. We have scheduled most schools that are one to two divisions ahead of us and much larger,” Blue said. “I tell the girls all the time it's to make us better. We need to play better competition to push us.

“We travel to Wheelersburg and have a tough matchup at home with Georgetown, as well as playing Miami Trace and the other Highland County schools. It's going to be a grind.”

Assistant coaches for the Lady Lions are Paige Greiner, Codey Juillerat and Jennifer Zins.

“The coaching staff is looking forward to the growth these girls can accomplish in the next couple of months. We just want them to have fun and enjoy the game of basketball,” Blue said.

Fairfield opens the 2024-25 season Monday, Nov. 25 on the road for a SHAC game against West Union.

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