McClain wins against Fairfield

GREENFIELD — Both the McClain Lady Tigers and Fairfield Lady Lions finished their 2023 portion of their basketball schedule with a Highland County rivalry game Friday night. The two teams battled at McClain Gym, where it was the home team Lady Tigers outlasting the Lady Lions, 29-16.

McClain led 6-5 at the conclusion of the first frame, where it was Fairfield scoring first with a 3-pointer from Kelsey Clark, which was followed by four McClain points off baskets by Lindsey Hutchinson and Paisley Pryor. 

Fairfield regained the lead with 1:00 on the first-quarter clock following a bucket by Rilee Quickle, but MHS finished the first frame with the lead following points from Pryor with 22 seconds left on the clock for a 6-5 advantage. 

MHS outscored Fairfield, 8-2 in the second quarter, as Fairfield’s two points came off free-throw conversions by Faith Donley with 48.7 left in the quarter. The McClain 8-0 run from the start of the second to the 1:04 mark saw points from Haylee Havens, Pryor and Anna Eikenberry as McClain held a 14-7 halftime lead. 

Both teams combined for eight points in the third frame, with MHS outscoring the Lady Lions, 6-2 in the eight-minute quarter with MHS scoring six consecutive points to start the frame with consecutive baskets by Kaitlyn Jett and Leah Lovett. Fairfield had two points scored by Isabelle Hale with 22 seconds left in the third, as McClain built their lead to 11 points at 20-9. 

In the fourth quarter, MHS won the frame 9-7 as they led by as many as 16 points and eventually won the non-conference game by 13 points. 

All seven of Fairfield’s points in the fourth quarter were scored by Clark off two two-point baskets and a 3-pointer. 

McClain had two points from Hutchinson, three points scored by Pryor, two points by Eikenberry and a basket for two points from Lovett in the fourth frame. 

MHS committed 17 turnovers, and Fairfield finished with 19 turnovers. 

The loss sends Fairfield to an overall record of 3-6 overall. McClain improves to 6-5 overall. 

Next for McClain is a non-conference game on Saturday, Jan. 6 at home vs. Blanchester at noon for the JV start, followed by varsity at around 1:30 p.m. 

FHS is scheduled to play next on Thursday, Jan. 4 on the road at Ripley in a Southern Hills Athletic Conference game with a 7:30 p.m. varsity start. 

BOX SCORE


FHS    05 02 02 07 — 16
MHS    06 08 06 09 — 29

MCCLAIN (29) — L.Hutchinson 2 (0) 0-0 4, L.Saunders 0 (0) 0-2 0, P.Pryor 4 (0) 2-7 10, H.Havens 1 (0) 1-2 3, K.Jett 2 (0) 0-0 4, A.Eikenberry 2 (0) 0-0 4, L.Lovett 2 (0) 0-1 4. TOTALS: 13 (0) 3-12 29. 

FAIRFIELD (16) — I.Hale 1 (0) 0-0 2, R.Quickle 1 (0) 0-0 2, F.Donley 0 (0) 2-3 2, K.Clark 2 (2) 0-1 10. TOTALS: 4 (2) 2-4 16.