Lady Lions unable to outlast Panthers in sectional loss
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
McDERMOTT — The Fairfield Lady Lions didn't let the Portsmouth Clay Lady Panthers end their season easily. In fact, the Lady Lions kept the game close until the last stages of the fourth frame but were unable to rally all the way back, falling 46-34 Thursday night at Northwest High School in McDermott.
The Division IV SE District Sectional semifinal was close over three quarters, as the Lady Lions proved that although being all freshmen and sophomores, they were able to compete come tournament time.
"We gave up a lot of easy inside baskets, had some breakdowns on defense inside, and that really hurt us," Fairfield head coach Matt Hodson said. "We were helping when we shouldn't be helping … just little things like that, when we worked every day on our drills in practice. We got away from being fundamentally sound on defense."
FHS (5-17) ended the first with a 9-9 tied score, followed by trailing at the half by 19-16.
The Lady Lions opened the first frame by taking a 3-0 lead with a free-throw by Haley Bobb and put-back points by Heather Cox, who was an All-Southern Hills League selection this season.
FHS also used their defense to their advantage, keeping Clay from scoring on their first six possessions, but once Clay started scoring, they took a 9-3 advantage in a span of over four minutes.
The run was broken up for what turned into a 6-0 run for FHS to end the first frame with points by Kaitlin Evans, Shelby Smithson and Cox.
Smithson led all scorers with a game-high 17 points. Cox followed with eight, and Evans totaled six. Also scoring for FHS were Cynnamon Sova-Davy with two points and Bobb with one.
[[In-content Ad]]At the start of the second frame, it was a travel for Clay (14-7) and a jump ball in favor of the Lady Lions, but Clay was first to score in the quarter with a free throw, extending their lead to 12-9 with 6:27 left in the quarter.
From that point, until the buzzer sounded to end the half, the Lady Lions had points by Smithson and Evans, with Smithson scoring five points in the second, cutting the Clay lead to 19-16 after 16 minutes.
"Everybody was fired up in the locker room at halftime," Hodson said. "The sophomores were really pumped up, they came in and said: 'we can do this,' and we made some adjustments at halftime. They seemed to work. We stayed in the ball game, and we just have a hard time making baskets.
"We've gotten better at not turning over the ball as much, but we still have trouble getting it in the basket. That came back to bite us here."
After a third quarter that saw Clay outscore the Lady Lions 15-12 in eight minutes, FHS still trailed by just six points.
In the third, Clay began with four straight points, capitalizing on two turnovers by FHS to start the frame.
Cox sank a jumper with 6:34 on the clock, but more turnovers, and points by Clay, the No. 2 seed, put FHS down 12 points with 3:46 left in the third.
The Lady Lions rallied back with consecutive points by Evans, Smithson and Cox, making it a six-point game (32-24) at the 2:40 mark.
Both teams continued to exchange points, as FHS trailed by six points (34-28) at the start of the fourth.
Smithson quickly turned the deficit into four points at the start of the quarter, but four straight points by Clay made it an eight-point lead at 38-30 with 5:25 left in regulation.
Again, Smithson added points to the FHS side of the scoreboard, making a layup with 5:10 on the clock.
Then the game slowed down … really slowed down, as Clay held the ball for nearly 2:00, working on their passing game, until an over-the-back call went in favor of FHS with 3:11 remaining.
As Clay continued to hold onto the basketball, fouls by the Lady Lions and points in transition by the Lady Panthers didn't allow FHS to get any closer than six points in the game's final 2:08.
Leading Clay were Katie Redding with 13 points and Jordan Jenkins with 12 points. Shannon Curley added nine points for the Lady Panthers.
FHS was 4-of-10 from the free-throw line.
"Our last five games, with the exception of the Paint Valley game, really gave these kids a boost," Hodson said. "We beat Whiteoak, Manchester and won our first sectional game against Green … that just gets the kids' morale up. If you lose the first tournament game, you walk out the door, and everybody's mad and won't want to come back next year.
"This was a positive year. From where the kids were when I walked in the door in November to where they are now, they are head and shoulders above where they were. Every one of them has gotten better, and that is a huge positive for next year. They know they can succeed at this level, and when they get another year older, it will be even better for them."
The loss ends the Lady Lions' season at 5-17 overall, including one tournament win against Green. LC also defeated Whiteoak (2), East Clinton and Manchester.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
FHS 09 07 12 06 — 34
CHS 09 10 15 12 — 46
INDIVIDUAL STATS
CHS (46)
J.Jenkins 5 (0) 2-3 12
T.Carter 0 (0) 1-2 1
S.Curley 2 (1) 2-2 9
E.Springs 1 (0) 0-2 2
C.Delotelle 2 (0) 1-4 5
M.Whitley 2 (0) 0-0 4
K.Redding 5 (0) 3-4 13
TOTALS: 17 (1) 9-15 46
FHS (34)
K.Evans 2 (0) 2-6 6
H.Bobb 0 (0) 1-2 1
H.Cox 4 (0) 0-0 8
C.Sova-Davy 1 (0) 0-0 2
S.Smithson 8 (0) 1-2 17
TOTALS: 15 (0) 4-10 34
The Division IV SE District Sectional semifinal was close over three quarters, as the Lady Lions proved that although being all freshmen and sophomores, they were able to compete come tournament time.
"We gave up a lot of easy inside baskets, had some breakdowns on defense inside, and that really hurt us," Fairfield head coach Matt Hodson said. "We were helping when we shouldn't be helping … just little things like that, when we worked every day on our drills in practice. We got away from being fundamentally sound on defense."
FHS (5-17) ended the first with a 9-9 tied score, followed by trailing at the half by 19-16.
The Lady Lions opened the first frame by taking a 3-0 lead with a free-throw by Haley Bobb and put-back points by Heather Cox, who was an All-Southern Hills League selection this season.
FHS also used their defense to their advantage, keeping Clay from scoring on their first six possessions, but once Clay started scoring, they took a 9-3 advantage in a span of over four minutes.
The run was broken up for what turned into a 6-0 run for FHS to end the first frame with points by Kaitlin Evans, Shelby Smithson and Cox.
Smithson led all scorers with a game-high 17 points. Cox followed with eight, and Evans totaled six. Also scoring for FHS were Cynnamon Sova-Davy with two points and Bobb with one.
[[In-content Ad]]At the start of the second frame, it was a travel for Clay (14-7) and a jump ball in favor of the Lady Lions, but Clay was first to score in the quarter with a free throw, extending their lead to 12-9 with 6:27 left in the quarter.
From that point, until the buzzer sounded to end the half, the Lady Lions had points by Smithson and Evans, with Smithson scoring five points in the second, cutting the Clay lead to 19-16 after 16 minutes.
"Everybody was fired up in the locker room at halftime," Hodson said. "The sophomores were really pumped up, they came in and said: 'we can do this,' and we made some adjustments at halftime. They seemed to work. We stayed in the ball game, and we just have a hard time making baskets.
"We've gotten better at not turning over the ball as much, but we still have trouble getting it in the basket. That came back to bite us here."
After a third quarter that saw Clay outscore the Lady Lions 15-12 in eight minutes, FHS still trailed by just six points.
In the third, Clay began with four straight points, capitalizing on two turnovers by FHS to start the frame.
Cox sank a jumper with 6:34 on the clock, but more turnovers, and points by Clay, the No. 2 seed, put FHS down 12 points with 3:46 left in the third.
The Lady Lions rallied back with consecutive points by Evans, Smithson and Cox, making it a six-point game (32-24) at the 2:40 mark.
Both teams continued to exchange points, as FHS trailed by six points (34-28) at the start of the fourth.
Smithson quickly turned the deficit into four points at the start of the quarter, but four straight points by Clay made it an eight-point lead at 38-30 with 5:25 left in regulation.
Again, Smithson added points to the FHS side of the scoreboard, making a layup with 5:10 on the clock.
Then the game slowed down … really slowed down, as Clay held the ball for nearly 2:00, working on their passing game, until an over-the-back call went in favor of FHS with 3:11 remaining.
As Clay continued to hold onto the basketball, fouls by the Lady Lions and points in transition by the Lady Panthers didn't allow FHS to get any closer than six points in the game's final 2:08.
Leading Clay were Katie Redding with 13 points and Jordan Jenkins with 12 points. Shannon Curley added nine points for the Lady Panthers.
FHS was 4-of-10 from the free-throw line.
"Our last five games, with the exception of the Paint Valley game, really gave these kids a boost," Hodson said. "We beat Whiteoak, Manchester and won our first sectional game against Green … that just gets the kids' morale up. If you lose the first tournament game, you walk out the door, and everybody's mad and won't want to come back next year.
"This was a positive year. From where the kids were when I walked in the door in November to where they are now, they are head and shoulders above where they were. Every one of them has gotten better, and that is a huge positive for next year. They know they can succeed at this level, and when they get another year older, it will be even better for them."
The loss ends the Lady Lions' season at 5-17 overall, including one tournament win against Green. LC also defeated Whiteoak (2), East Clinton and Manchester.
BOX SCORE
SCORE BY QUARTERS
FHS 09 07 12 06 — 34
CHS 09 10 15 12 — 46
INDIVIDUAL STATS
CHS (46)
J.Jenkins 5 (0) 2-3 12
T.Carter 0 (0) 1-2 1
S.Curley 2 (1) 2-2 9
E.Springs 1 (0) 0-2 2
C.Delotelle 2 (0) 1-4 5
M.Whitley 2 (0) 0-0 4
K.Redding 5 (0) 3-4 13
TOTALS: 17 (1) 9-15 46
FHS (34)
K.Evans 2 (0) 2-6 6
H.Bobb 0 (0) 1-2 1
H.Cox 4 (0) 0-0 8
C.Sova-Davy 1 (0) 0-0 2
S.Smithson 8 (0) 1-2 17
TOTALS: 15 (0) 4-10 34