Fairfield Lady Lions win in district semifinals over Adena
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
WAVERLY — The Fairfield Lady Lions are now three-for-three this postseason, and their reward is advancing to the district finals. Their latest win saw the Lady Lions lock down on defense and continue to turn that defense into offense, as they defeated the Adena Warriors, 50-38 in the Division III SE District Semifinals played at the Waverly Downtown Gym.
Adena entered the district semifinal game averaging 51.6 points per game (20 games), and they were allowing only 38.3 ppg. before Saturday.
This game was the 18th time this season Fairfield scored 50 or more points in a game, and it was the 10th time they held an opponent to 40 or fewer points in a game as this was the 23rd game of the season.
“I’m so proud of the kids, and I thought our defense was tremendous,” Fairfield head coach Jeremy McGraw said. “Any time you can hold a team to under 40 in the district semifinals, you played hard. Someone asked me what our identity was today, and I said it was half-court man-to-man defense, and let’s just get stops and see what happens, and that’s what we did.
“We got out, played aggressive and matched their physicality early and kind of got them out of their rhythm and out of their offense. I told the girls after the game that I’m proud of them because they trusted us and our scouting report and what we wanted to do to them defensively and executed it. I couldn’t more proud of them on that part of it.”
In a rough-and-tumble, physical game between the two sectional champions, it was No. 4 seeded Fairfield who gained the upper hand early as they fended off four lead changes within the first five minutes of action to eventually lead the Lady Warriors — the away team on the scoreboard — by a 12-6 score after the first frame, with FHS scoring the final seven points of the first quarter in a span of 2:53.
It was Emma Fouch scoring first in the game as the senior sank a 3-pointer 12 seconds into the contest. Fouch led the Lady Lions with 21 points in the game, as she’s the second all-time leading scorer in Fairfield girls basketball history with 1,273 points and counting.
“Emma came out and made a few early and that was confidence for her, and we ran some sets for her,” McGraw of the play by Fouch on Saturday. “She understands too that needs help, and we tell our kids we can’t just rely on (Emma) to score 30 a night and we balance across the board, but she came out and hit some big shots.
“Others came in as well, and that’s what we want night-in, night-out — eight, 10, 15 from several different kids — because that makes you hard to defend.”
This regular season (20 games), Fairfield had their top six scorers average from 6.3 ppg to 16 ppg.
No. 5 seeded Adena (18-2) took their first lead following two straight baskets, but Ella Newkirk put the Lady Lions back in front as the senior sank a jumper with 4:33 on the clock for the 5-4 lead. Newkirk finished with six points.
Again, Adena regained the lead, but it was Fouch answering and putting Fairfield back in the top spot with her second 3-pointer of the game. From there, she added two free throws in the first and with 11 seconds left in the first frame, senior Madison Bronner connected with a basket in the paint following a rebound for the six-point FHS lead after one quarter of action.
From the time Fouch made the aforementioned trifecta late in the first frame until the final buzzer sounded to end the game, the Lady Lions didn’t trail again in the district semifinal.
“We talked about it all week how this was going to be a physical game, but what we can’t do is Adena does a really nice job of drawing contact and getting to the foul line,” McGraw said. “I told them we can’t get into foul trouble, and we have to be smart on defense. We did a good job with that, and they let us play. It was a physical game, and I was proud of our kids for matching that physicality.”
The second quarter saw the Lady Lions lead the frame at 15-13 in quarter scoring, leading to a halftime lead of 27-19. Though Adena scored first in the second quarter, Fairfield didn’t budge in the physical battle where it was an amped up version of tournament basketball, as they went on a 7-0 run from the 6:39 mark to the 5:38 mark of the second frame, building their lead to 19-8.
That run of scoring included points in the paint off a put-back basket by Braylynn Haines, followed by Caitlyn Quickle stealing the basketball and taking it to the hoop with 6:20 on the clock.
From there, the run continued with a free throw from Fouch and a layup by Haines, who caught a pass from Quickle. Adena didn’t back down with four straight points following a timeout, only to see Fouch continue the hot streak with another 3-pointer — off a pass by Peyton Magee — for a 22-12 advantage.
Later in the frame, a put-back basket by Haines — who totaled nine points in the win — lifted Fairfield to a 10-point lead once again, and the final quarter scoring for Fairfield included a free throw and layup (off a steal) by Faith Donley for the eight-point halftime advantage at 29-17.
Fairfield won the third quarter at 8-7 with the Lady Lions leading by as many as 11 points and by no less than seven, taking a 35-26 lead into the fourth frame. Before the fourth quarter, Fairfield had points in the third by Newkirk off two layups, a jumper by Fouch and two points in the paint by Haines.
Again, the Lady Lions won a quarter in scoring, as the fourth quarter saw them lead Adena at 15-12 for the 12-point victory at 50-38.
Fairfield knocked down two 3-pointers in the first half of the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer by Bronner from the corner, with the assist by Newkirk who got the ball to Bronner — who finished with seven points — on a no-look pass. After Magee drew an offensive foul by Adena, it was Fouch sinking a 3-pointer with 4:04 left in regulation for a 41-28 lead.
With 2:42 left in the fourth, Magee made two free throws, and as the game winded down Fouch had a three-point play, Bronner made two free throws, and ending the game in scoring for Fairfield were free throws made by Haines and Fouch.
Kierra Williams, Sydney Ater and Cheyenne Ater led Adena with eight points each. AHS was 6-of-12 from the free-throw line (50-percent) in the loss. They made a total of 16 two-point baskets and no 3-pointers.
Fairfield finished with 12 two-point baskets, five 3-pointers (four by Fouch) and were 11-of-17 (65 percent) from the free-throw line.
Fairfield (20-3) now plays for a chance to win a district championship, as they last won a district championship in 1994. They are set to face the No. 1 seeded and No. 1 state-ranked Wheelersburg Lady Pirates (22-0) on Friday, Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in Waverly.
“One of our goals has been let’s get to the district championship and see what happens,” McGraw said. “The girls have responded well. As for Wheelersburg, knowing what type of game they are going to play after watching them today against North Adams, we’ll see what happens next Friday.”
This tournament, Fairfield has also defeated Westfall (49-18) and Oak Hill (51-31). Wheelersburg has tournament wins against Ironton (53-32) and North Adams (42-40).
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Adena entered the district semifinal game averaging 51.6 points per game (20 games), and they were allowing only 38.3 ppg. before Saturday.
This game was the 18th time this season Fairfield scored 50 or more points in a game, and it was the 10th time they held an opponent to 40 or fewer points in a game as this was the 23rd game of the season.
“I’m so proud of the kids, and I thought our defense was tremendous,” Fairfield head coach Jeremy McGraw said. “Any time you can hold a team to under 40 in the district semifinals, you played hard. Someone asked me what our identity was today, and I said it was half-court man-to-man defense, and let’s just get stops and see what happens, and that’s what we did.
“We got out, played aggressive and matched their physicality early and kind of got them out of their rhythm and out of their offense. I told the girls after the game that I’m proud of them because they trusted us and our scouting report and what we wanted to do to them defensively and executed it. I couldn’t more proud of them on that part of it.”
In a rough-and-tumble, physical game between the two sectional champions, it was No. 4 seeded Fairfield who gained the upper hand early as they fended off four lead changes within the first five minutes of action to eventually lead the Lady Warriors — the away team on the scoreboard — by a 12-6 score after the first frame, with FHS scoring the final seven points of the first quarter in a span of 2:53.
It was Emma Fouch scoring first in the game as the senior sank a 3-pointer 12 seconds into the contest. Fouch led the Lady Lions with 21 points in the game, as she’s the second all-time leading scorer in Fairfield girls basketball history with 1,273 points and counting.
“Emma came out and made a few early and that was confidence for her, and we ran some sets for her,” McGraw of the play by Fouch on Saturday. “She understands too that needs help, and we tell our kids we can’t just rely on (Emma) to score 30 a night and we balance across the board, but she came out and hit some big shots.
“Others came in as well, and that’s what we want night-in, night-out — eight, 10, 15 from several different kids — because that makes you hard to defend.”
This regular season (20 games), Fairfield had their top six scorers average from 6.3 ppg to 16 ppg.
No. 5 seeded Adena (18-2) took their first lead following two straight baskets, but Ella Newkirk put the Lady Lions back in front as the senior sank a jumper with 4:33 on the clock for the 5-4 lead. Newkirk finished with six points.
Again, Adena regained the lead, but it was Fouch answering and putting Fairfield back in the top spot with her second 3-pointer of the game. From there, she added two free throws in the first and with 11 seconds left in the first frame, senior Madison Bronner connected with a basket in the paint following a rebound for the six-point FHS lead after one quarter of action.
From the time Fouch made the aforementioned trifecta late in the first frame until the final buzzer sounded to end the game, the Lady Lions didn’t trail again in the district semifinal.
“We talked about it all week how this was going to be a physical game, but what we can’t do is Adena does a really nice job of drawing contact and getting to the foul line,” McGraw said. “I told them we can’t get into foul trouble, and we have to be smart on defense. We did a good job with that, and they let us play. It was a physical game, and I was proud of our kids for matching that physicality.”
The second quarter saw the Lady Lions lead the frame at 15-13 in quarter scoring, leading to a halftime lead of 27-19. Though Adena scored first in the second quarter, Fairfield didn’t budge in the physical battle where it was an amped up version of tournament basketball, as they went on a 7-0 run from the 6:39 mark to the 5:38 mark of the second frame, building their lead to 19-8.
That run of scoring included points in the paint off a put-back basket by Braylynn Haines, followed by Caitlyn Quickle stealing the basketball and taking it to the hoop with 6:20 on the clock.
From there, the run continued with a free throw from Fouch and a layup by Haines, who caught a pass from Quickle. Adena didn’t back down with four straight points following a timeout, only to see Fouch continue the hot streak with another 3-pointer — off a pass by Peyton Magee — for a 22-12 advantage.
Later in the frame, a put-back basket by Haines — who totaled nine points in the win — lifted Fairfield to a 10-point lead once again, and the final quarter scoring for Fairfield included a free throw and layup (off a steal) by Faith Donley for the eight-point halftime advantage at 29-17.
Fairfield won the third quarter at 8-7 with the Lady Lions leading by as many as 11 points and by no less than seven, taking a 35-26 lead into the fourth frame. Before the fourth quarter, Fairfield had points in the third by Newkirk off two layups, a jumper by Fouch and two points in the paint by Haines.
Again, the Lady Lions won a quarter in scoring, as the fourth quarter saw them lead Adena at 15-12 for the 12-point victory at 50-38.
Fairfield knocked down two 3-pointers in the first half of the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer by Bronner from the corner, with the assist by Newkirk who got the ball to Bronner — who finished with seven points — on a no-look pass. After Magee drew an offensive foul by Adena, it was Fouch sinking a 3-pointer with 4:04 left in regulation for a 41-28 lead.
With 2:42 left in the fourth, Magee made two free throws, and as the game winded down Fouch had a three-point play, Bronner made two free throws, and ending the game in scoring for Fairfield were free throws made by Haines and Fouch.
Kierra Williams, Sydney Ater and Cheyenne Ater led Adena with eight points each. AHS was 6-of-12 from the free-throw line (50-percent) in the loss. They made a total of 16 two-point baskets and no 3-pointers.
Fairfield finished with 12 two-point baskets, five 3-pointers (four by Fouch) and were 11-of-17 (65 percent) from the free-throw line.
Fairfield (20-3) now plays for a chance to win a district championship, as they last won a district championship in 1994. They are set to face the No. 1 seeded and No. 1 state-ranked Wheelersburg Lady Pirates (22-0) on Friday, Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in Waverly.
“One of our goals has been let’s get to the district championship and see what happens,” McGraw said. “The girls have responded well. As for Wheelersburg, knowing what type of game they are going to play after watching them today against North Adams, we’ll see what happens next Friday.”
This tournament, Fairfield has also defeated Westfall (49-18) and Oak Hill (51-31). Wheelersburg has tournament wins against Ironton (53-32) and North Adams (42-40).
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