3rd quarter sends Lady Lions to loss
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — At one point in the second quarter, the Fairfield Lady Lions were just one point away from tying the score, but once one thing went wrong, lots of things did, and with that, the Lady Lions fell to the visiting Peebles Lady Indians, 57-31 Thursday at Grandle Gymnasium.
The Southern Hills Athletic Conference loss was due to a combination of big 3-point conversions from the Lady Indians, along with PHS scoring points off turnovers committed by the host Lady Lion squad, who now stand at 2-15 overall.
"We came out trying to press full-court, and it's been our strategy to play zone and transition to press and man-to-man," FHS head coach Matt Hodson said. "This time, we lost our man, and they hit seven 3-pointers on us … with most of those with no one within 10 feet of them."
The opening of the game began with six consecutive points by Peebles (11-7), but that was cut in half with a 3-pointer by Kaitlin Evans, and later, a put-back bucket from Heather Cox and a free throw from Evans brought FHS to within two points of the lead at 8-6.
Peebles' first 3-pointer came with 1:34 left in the first with Sydney Pell connecting from beyond the arc. Cox ended the first with a jumper to make it a three-point deficit at 11-8.
Pell led all scorers with 23 points. Taylor Brown followed for Peebles with 10.
The second quarter was relatively kind to the Lady Lions with Evans sinking a jumper to start things off for an 11-10 score in favor of the visitors.
[[In-content Ad]]
After four straight points by the Lady Indians, Haley Bobb connected from three-point land, but it was equaled with a trey by Taylor Brown of PHS for an 18-13 score with 4:44 on the clock.
Justice Hattan and Cox scored four straight to bring FHS to within one point at 18-17 with 4:04 on the clock, but that was as close as the Lady Lions got to the lead for the remainder of the game.
Cox finished the game with a team-high 16 points (along with 16 rebounds for a double-double), followed by Evans with eight and Bobb with three. Also for FHS, Hattan and Heather Sanderson each totaled two points.
From there, PHS didn't allow FHS to score from the 1:36 mark of the second (two free throws by Cox) until the 3:53 mark of the third, a span of time in which PHS went on a 15-0 run, including three 3-pointers from Brooke Justice and two by Pell.
Entering the second half trailing 26-19, the Lady Lions' woes continued with turnovers as PHS led 43-29 after three quarters and added 14 more points in the final quarter, while holding FHS to two points in the final eight minutes.
"We rebounded better (Thursday)," Hodson said. "The girls played hard, but everything snowballed in the third quarter … there's something about the third quarter this season where we just struggle."
In JV play, PHS defeated FHS, 35-16. Leading PHS was Mariah Knauff with 21 points and for FHS, their leading scorer was Macie Pauley with 16.
The Lady Lions will play again on Monday as they travel to face the Blanchester Lady Wildcats in a non-conference matchup. BHS is 0-17 on the year.
The Southern Hills Athletic Conference loss was due to a combination of big 3-point conversions from the Lady Indians, along with PHS scoring points off turnovers committed by the host Lady Lion squad, who now stand at 2-15 overall.
"We came out trying to press full-court, and it's been our strategy to play zone and transition to press and man-to-man," FHS head coach Matt Hodson said. "This time, we lost our man, and they hit seven 3-pointers on us … with most of those with no one within 10 feet of them."
The opening of the game began with six consecutive points by Peebles (11-7), but that was cut in half with a 3-pointer by Kaitlin Evans, and later, a put-back bucket from Heather Cox and a free throw from Evans brought FHS to within two points of the lead at 8-6.
Peebles' first 3-pointer came with 1:34 left in the first with Sydney Pell connecting from beyond the arc. Cox ended the first with a jumper to make it a three-point deficit at 11-8.
Pell led all scorers with 23 points. Taylor Brown followed for Peebles with 10.
The second quarter was relatively kind to the Lady Lions with Evans sinking a jumper to start things off for an 11-10 score in favor of the visitors.
[[In-content Ad]]
After four straight points by the Lady Indians, Haley Bobb connected from three-point land, but it was equaled with a trey by Taylor Brown of PHS for an 18-13 score with 4:44 on the clock.
Justice Hattan and Cox scored four straight to bring FHS to within one point at 18-17 with 4:04 on the clock, but that was as close as the Lady Lions got to the lead for the remainder of the game.
Cox finished the game with a team-high 16 points (along with 16 rebounds for a double-double), followed by Evans with eight and Bobb with three. Also for FHS, Hattan and Heather Sanderson each totaled two points.
From there, PHS didn't allow FHS to score from the 1:36 mark of the second (two free throws by Cox) until the 3:53 mark of the third, a span of time in which PHS went on a 15-0 run, including three 3-pointers from Brooke Justice and two by Pell.
Entering the second half trailing 26-19, the Lady Lions' woes continued with turnovers as PHS led 43-29 after three quarters and added 14 more points in the final quarter, while holding FHS to two points in the final eight minutes.
"We rebounded better (Thursday)," Hodson said. "The girls played hard, but everything snowballed in the third quarter … there's something about the third quarter this season where we just struggle."
In JV play, PHS defeated FHS, 35-16. Leading PHS was Mariah Knauff with 21 points and for FHS, their leading scorer was Macie Pauley with 16.
The Lady Lions will play again on Monday as they travel to face the Blanchester Lady Wildcats in a non-conference matchup. BHS is 0-17 on the year.