Fairfield drops SHAC game to host Eastern Lady Warriors
MACON – Thursday night was a battle between two Top 10 state-ranked teams in Division III, but when the final buzzer sounded, it was the host Eastern Lady Warriors winning the important Southern Hills Athletic Conference game, defeating the visiting Fairfield Lady Lions, 56-38.
Fairfield, who entered the game ranked 10th in the state, never held the lead against their SHAC counterpart, but they kept the game close in the first quarter as the seventh-ranked Lady Warriors led 13-9 after the opening frame.
Eastern scored first with a 3-pointer by Emma Prine with 4:54 on the clock, and Fairfield answered with a bucket from Madison Bronner at the 4:41 mark of the opening frame. Eastern came back with 3:30 left in the first quarter with a basket by Mackenzie Gloff.
Fairfield came back, tying the score at 5-5 with a 3-pointer by Ella Newkirk with 2:01 left in the first quarter of action, only to see Eastern regain the lead with two made free throws by Gloff. The Lady Lions tied the score for a second time with points in the paint from Braylynn Haines for a 7-7 score with 1:10 on the clock.
The remainder of the first quarter included 3-pointers from Eastern’s Mya Hamilton and Torrie Utter, and a jumper by Faith Donley of Fairfield, for a four-point Lady Warrior advantage.
Eastern struck first in the second quarter as Hamilton drained another 3-pointer, and eventually the Lady Warriors led 19-11 after a trey by Utter, her second of the game, with 6:17 remaining in the first half.
Fairfield reached the scoreboard in the second quarter following a fast-break layup by Peyton Magee with the assist by Newkirk. Eastern answered with free throws by Hamilton and Gloff for a 21-13 score. FHS scored the final points of the second quarter with a basket by Bronner with 1:14 on the clock, leaving the halftime score at 21-15 in favor of EHS as they outscored Fairfield 8-6 in the frame.
In the opening stages of the third frame, FHS scored first with a basket by Bronner, only to see Hamilton and Utter knock down baskets, including a third 3-pointer by Utter for a nine-point EHS lead at 26-17 with 6:23 on the clock.
The Lady Lions battled back with three combined made free throws from Magee and Emma Fouch for a 26-20 Fairfield deficit, but a quick trey by Rylee Leonard of Eastern put the home team ahead by nine points again at 29-20.
FHS answered with a 3-pointer from Haines, but four straight points from Hamilton and Utter pushed Eastern ahead by 10 points at 33-23 with 2:36 left in the quarter. Eastern eventually kept an 11-point lead when the third frame came to a close with buckets from Utter and Hamilton (including another 3-pointer) for a lead of 40-29.
In the final quarter, Eastern pulled away from the Lady Lions, winning the frame at 16-9 and the game by 18 points.
For FHS in the fourth, they had their nine points off a 3-pointer by Newkirk, a jumper from Fouch, a layup by Bronner and a final layup from Newkirk.
Fairfield was led in scoring by Bronner and Newkirk with 12 points each, followed with five points by Haines. The rest of the FHS scoring included Magee with four points, Fouch with three points and Donley with two points.
For the game, Eastern was led by Hamilton with 19 points, as she made four 3-pointers, two two-point baskets and she was 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.
Utter finished with 17 points, and Gloff totaled nine points for EHS. The rest of the Eastern scoring included eight points from Leonard, and three points by Prine. EHS totaled eight 3-pointers in the win, along with 12 two-point baskets, and they were 8-of-14 from the free-throw line.
The win moves Eastern two wins ahead of Fairfield in the SHAC Division I standings with a conference mark of 10-0, while Fairfield is 7-2 in the SHAC standings.
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