Fairfield Lady Lions win sectional championship
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — The Fairfield Lady Lions have advanced to the district round of the 2021-22 postseason and they did so by winning their first sectional championship since 2017 with a convincing 51-31 victory against the visiting No. 13 seeded Oak Hill Oaks in the Division III SE District Sectional Finals.
The state-ranked Lady Lions — who improved to 19-3 overall — never trailed in the sectional final contest and led by eight points when the first frame was complete. From there, their leads increased to 14 points at halftime, 17 points after three quarters and 20 points when the game came to a close.
The No. 4 seeded Lady Lions — who finished second place (10-3) in Div. I of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference this season — also had balanced scoring on their roster Monday night with eight players reaching the scoring column with Madison Bronner leading the way with 14 points in the win, while Peyton Magee totaled nine points for Fairfield.
The game also saw Emma Fouch net eight points for the Lady Lions, and finishing with six points each were Ella Newkirk and Braylynn Haines. The remainder of the FHS scoring included Faith Donley with three points, and with two points each were Caitlyn Quickle and Shaleigh Duncan.
In all, the Lady Lions totaled 17 two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and were 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. As for their counterpart, Oak Hill, they totaled 11 two-point baskets, two 3-pointers and they finished 3-of-6 with their free-throw attempts.
The sectional championship win by the Lady Lions was their 12th sectional title in program history.
“It is a great group of seniors we have here who have left their mark on this program. They are so deserving of this accomplishment today, and seeing the smiles on their faces and their excitement, I couldn’t be more proud of them right now,” Fairfield head coach Jeremy McGraw said. “We had balanced scoring, and that’s something we talk about because we need that.
“We need kids to step up and hit big shots. We know night-in and night-out that teams are really going to extend out and pressure our shooters, so it was big for us tonight to have the balanced scoring.”
Getting that championship began in the first quarter with Bronner scoring the first two points of the game with 6:47 left on the clock, and around a minute later it was Oak Hill’s Brooke Howard tying the score with a basket for the visitors.
Fairfield came back with six consecutive points with Fouch knocking down a 3-pointer, followed by two free throws made by Bronner and a free throw made by Donley for an 8-2 lead with 2:35 on the clock.
Oak Hill followed with a 3-pointer by Baylee Howell, but Fairfield was ready with a 3-pointer from Magee and two points at the buzzer from Quickle for a 13-5 lead at the end of the first frame, as five Fairfield players scored points in the opening quarter.
After Oak Hill scored the first points of the second quarter — cutting the FHS lead down to five points — the Lady Lions fought back with a put-back basket by Haines and a steal and layup by Newkirk, who took the ball the length of the court, for a 17-8 advantage with 5:10 left in the second frame.
On the defensive side of the court, Magee had a block for the Lady Lions, and after two points from the Oaks, FHS went on an 8-0 run from the 3:54 mark to the 2:36 mark for a 25-10 lead. That scoring run began with two points from Haines, while Bronner contributed with a layup.
After a quick timeout, Newkirk scored two points with an impressive play as the senior sent the ball through the hoop with a one-handed shot underneath the basket. Next was a bucket by Bronner, completing the run of points for a 15-point Fairfield advantage. The Oaks added three more points in the frame, while Fairfield had two made free throws by Haines for the 27-13 halftime lead.
“Our defense led the offense, and we got out in transition and we got after it,” McGraw said. “That was the key, and we put our defense on them and at times they (Oak Hill) struggled, and we got out in transition pretty well in the second quarter. We pushed the tempo, which is in our favor.”
Fairfield won the third frame at 13-10, leading by as many as 19 points and leading by no fewer than 10 points in the eight-minute span. In Fairfield’s third frame — after Oak Hill opened the frame with four consecutive points — Magee sank a 3-pointer with 4:08 on the clock, and Fouch equaled the feat of her teammate with a 3-pointer at the 3:15 mark of the quarter for a 16-point lead at 33-17.
For the rest of the third, the Lady Lions had a jumper from Donley, a basket by Bronner and another 3-pointer from Magee from the corner of the court with 1:02 on the clock, eventually leading to a 40-23 lead.
The final frame of the sectional championship game began with Bronner, Fouch and Newkirk combining for eight straight points for a 25-point lead with 4:18 left in the quarter for a 48-23 lead.
Oak Hill had a three-point play from Howell, but Duncan came back with a layup at the 3:40 mark for a 50-26 lead. Oak Hill added five points to their side of the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter, but Fairfield scored the final point of the game with a free throw by Quickle with 1:08 left in regulation.
Fairfield is now 2-0 this postseason, as they defeated Westfall, 49-18 on Feb. 10 in the sectional semifinals.
Next for Fairfield is a Division III SE District Semifinal game on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 3:30 p.m. at the Downtown Waverly Gym against the No. 5 seeded Adena Warriors of the SVC. Adena this season is 18-3 overall and were champions of the SVC with a 12-2 conference record.
The other part of the district bracket features No. 1 seeded Wheelersburg against No. 8 seed North Adams, also on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. at the Downtown Waverly Gym.
“I have scouted Adena, and they are a good team,” McGraw said. “Anytime you make districts, you know you have to prepare and be ready to play on the road. We like our team going forward, and I think it is going to be a great matchup between us and Adena.”
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The state-ranked Lady Lions — who improved to 19-3 overall — never trailed in the sectional final contest and led by eight points when the first frame was complete. From there, their leads increased to 14 points at halftime, 17 points after three quarters and 20 points when the game came to a close.
The No. 4 seeded Lady Lions — who finished second place (10-3) in Div. I of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference this season — also had balanced scoring on their roster Monday night with eight players reaching the scoring column with Madison Bronner leading the way with 14 points in the win, while Peyton Magee totaled nine points for Fairfield.
The game also saw Emma Fouch net eight points for the Lady Lions, and finishing with six points each were Ella Newkirk and Braylynn Haines. The remainder of the FHS scoring included Faith Donley with three points, and with two points each were Caitlyn Quickle and Shaleigh Duncan.
In all, the Lady Lions totaled 17 two-point baskets, four 3-pointers and were 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. As for their counterpart, Oak Hill, they totaled 11 two-point baskets, two 3-pointers and they finished 3-of-6 with their free-throw attempts.
The sectional championship win by the Lady Lions was their 12th sectional title in program history.
“It is a great group of seniors we have here who have left their mark on this program. They are so deserving of this accomplishment today, and seeing the smiles on their faces and their excitement, I couldn’t be more proud of them right now,” Fairfield head coach Jeremy McGraw said. “We had balanced scoring, and that’s something we talk about because we need that.
“We need kids to step up and hit big shots. We know night-in and night-out that teams are really going to extend out and pressure our shooters, so it was big for us tonight to have the balanced scoring.”
Getting that championship began in the first quarter with Bronner scoring the first two points of the game with 6:47 left on the clock, and around a minute later it was Oak Hill’s Brooke Howard tying the score with a basket for the visitors.
Fairfield came back with six consecutive points with Fouch knocking down a 3-pointer, followed by two free throws made by Bronner and a free throw made by Donley for an 8-2 lead with 2:35 on the clock.
Oak Hill followed with a 3-pointer by Baylee Howell, but Fairfield was ready with a 3-pointer from Magee and two points at the buzzer from Quickle for a 13-5 lead at the end of the first frame, as five Fairfield players scored points in the opening quarter.
After Oak Hill scored the first points of the second quarter — cutting the FHS lead down to five points — the Lady Lions fought back with a put-back basket by Haines and a steal and layup by Newkirk, who took the ball the length of the court, for a 17-8 advantage with 5:10 left in the second frame.
On the defensive side of the court, Magee had a block for the Lady Lions, and after two points from the Oaks, FHS went on an 8-0 run from the 3:54 mark to the 2:36 mark for a 25-10 lead. That scoring run began with two points from Haines, while Bronner contributed with a layup.
After a quick timeout, Newkirk scored two points with an impressive play as the senior sent the ball through the hoop with a one-handed shot underneath the basket. Next was a bucket by Bronner, completing the run of points for a 15-point Fairfield advantage. The Oaks added three more points in the frame, while Fairfield had two made free throws by Haines for the 27-13 halftime lead.
“Our defense led the offense, and we got out in transition and we got after it,” McGraw said. “That was the key, and we put our defense on them and at times they (Oak Hill) struggled, and we got out in transition pretty well in the second quarter. We pushed the tempo, which is in our favor.”
Fairfield won the third frame at 13-10, leading by as many as 19 points and leading by no fewer than 10 points in the eight-minute span. In Fairfield’s third frame — after Oak Hill opened the frame with four consecutive points — Magee sank a 3-pointer with 4:08 on the clock, and Fouch equaled the feat of her teammate with a 3-pointer at the 3:15 mark of the quarter for a 16-point lead at 33-17.
For the rest of the third, the Lady Lions had a jumper from Donley, a basket by Bronner and another 3-pointer from Magee from the corner of the court with 1:02 on the clock, eventually leading to a 40-23 lead.
The final frame of the sectional championship game began with Bronner, Fouch and Newkirk combining for eight straight points for a 25-point lead with 4:18 left in the quarter for a 48-23 lead.
Oak Hill had a three-point play from Howell, but Duncan came back with a layup at the 3:40 mark for a 50-26 lead. Oak Hill added five points to their side of the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter, but Fairfield scored the final point of the game with a free throw by Quickle with 1:08 left in regulation.
Fairfield is now 2-0 this postseason, as they defeated Westfall, 49-18 on Feb. 10 in the sectional semifinals.
Next for Fairfield is a Division III SE District Semifinal game on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 3:30 p.m. at the Downtown Waverly Gym against the No. 5 seeded Adena Warriors of the SVC. Adena this season is 18-3 overall and were champions of the SVC with a 12-2 conference record.
The other part of the district bracket features No. 1 seeded Wheelersburg against No. 8 seed North Adams, also on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. at the Downtown Waverly Gym.
“I have scouted Adena, and they are a good team,” McGraw said. “Anytime you make districts, you know you have to prepare and be ready to play on the road. We like our team going forward, and I think it is going to be a great matchup between us and Adena.”
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