Fairfield Lady Lions end season in district finals; fall to No. 1 seeded Wheelersburg
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
WAVERLY — In a season where the Fairfield Lady Lions earned 20 wins, gaining the 21st win wasn’t in the books on Friday night in the Division III SE District Finals. The No. 1 seeded Wheelersburg Lady Pirates fended off a final charge by the Lady Lions, ending Fairfield’s season by a 49-42 score as the game was played at the Waverly Downtown Gym.
Finishing as district runners-up for the first time in 14 seasons, the Lady Lions compiled an overall record of 20-4, and they were second place in Division I of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference with an SHAC mark of 10-3. Fairfield last won the lone district championship in girls basketball during the 1993-94 season. This is Fairfield’s first district runner-up honor since the 2007-08 season.
Though the Lady Lions fell by seven points, they led the game at the conclusion of the first and second quarters with a 13-11 lead after the first frame, and 20-18 at halftime. From there, Wheelersburg outscored FHS 20-7 in the third, and in the fourth quarter FHS scored 15 points, while WHS had 11 points.
The third quarter was the difference maker in the game, and FHS head coach Jeremy McGraw spoke about what happened in that eight minutes of game action.
“Maybe I didn’t go to our press soon enough, but we’ve lived and died by our half-court man-to-man defense all season. We held them to 48 and fouled late, and it’s hard to change that. We missed some rotations and gave up direct drives which caused some easy buckets. We missed some easy opportunities at times, and we just couldn’t get in the flow of things.
“I’m proud of our kids, they battled till the end.”
The first frame was a battle by both Fairfield and undefeated Wheelersburg (23-0) with the score being tied four times at 3-3, 5-5, 7-7 and 11-11 with the Lady Lions tying the score first at three points each as Emma Fouch answered a 3-pointer by Madison Whittaker with a trifecta of her own at the 5:34 mark of the first frame.
Fouch finished her final game as a Fairfield Lady Lion with 14 points, totaling three two-point baskets, two 3-pointers and she was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. For her career, she finished in second place on the Fairfield girls program all-time scoring list with 1,287 career points. This season, she averaged 15.7 points per game.
Fairfield took the lead for the first time with two points in the paint by Braylynn Haines with 3:54 on the clock, only to see Makenna Walker tie the score at 5-5 with two made shots from the free-throw line.
Haines put the Lady Lions back into the lead with two more points in the paint, but Wheelersburg’s Alaina Keeney made the score even again with a basket at the 2:51 mark of the opening frame for a 7-7 score.
Fairfield broke the tie for the third time in the quarter when Madison Bronner sank a free throw, but the home team on the scoreboard Wheelersburg went back in front when Lexi Rucker knocked down a big 3-pointer with 2:08 left in the frame for a 10-8 advantage. Fouch didn’t allow the Lady Lions to trail for long, as the senior made her second 3-pointer of the frame, with the long-range shot putting FHS in the lead by one point at 11-10.
Walker tied the score for WHS with a free-throw conversion, only to see Peyton Magee give the Lady Lions score the final points of the frame by knocking down a jumper with 50 seconds left in the first frame for a two-point advantage. Magee led the Lady Lions in the scoring column with 15 points as the junior finished with three two-point baskets and three 3-pointers.
Both teams scored seven points in the second frame for a 20-18 halftime score, with Fairfield scoring the first six points of the second frame off 3-pointers by Magee, putting Fairfield in the lead by a 19-11 score with 4:37 left in the first half.
After a 3-pointer by Wheelersburg’s Whittaker, Haines scored Fairfield’s final point of the quarter with a free throw, but the Lady Pirates scored the next four points, sending the score to 20-18 at halftime.
The third frame is where the game changed for the Lady Lions and the Lady Pirates, but unfortunately the No. 1 seeded Wheelersburg squad played their best quarter of basketball in the district final game, outscoring FHS 20-7 in the frame, as the Lady Lions trailed 38-27 when the quarter came to a close.
Wheelersburg opened the third with a 9-0 run with 4:33 left in the quarter building a 27-20 lead.
Fairfield scored their first points of the quarter with a basket from Magee at the 3:47 mark of the third, but those points were answered by seven straight points from Wheelersburg to put Fairfield down 34-22.
The Lady Lions came back with a basket by Fouch, but again the Lady Pirates scored the next four points to put the Lady Lions down by 14 points, their largest deficit of the game, with 1:45 left in the third frame by a 38-24 score.
FHS scored the final three points of the quarter with Faith Donley scoring a three-point play with 54.8 left in the frame, as WHS led by a 38-27 score.
Fairfield wasn’t finished with one final frame left in the district final game in Waverly. Though Wheelersburg scored the first points of the fourth quarter, Fouch went on a tear by scoring the ensuing six points off two baskets and two free throws, cutting the Lady Pirates’ lead to seven points with 6:05 left in regulation.
After a timeout and a turnover by Wheelersburg, Magee scored two points on a layup for a 40-35 deficit for Fairfield with 3:59 on the clock.
Wheelersburg increased their lead back to nine points, but two converted free throws by Bronner and a 3-pointer from Magee with 1:53 left on the clock made it a 44-40 deficit for Fairfield.
That was as close as the Lady Lions got to regaining the lead against the No. 1 state-ranked Wheelersburg squad, as they scored five of the final seven points scored in the game for the seven-point victory. Fairfield’s final points of the season were scored by Donley with two made free throws with 25.1 left in the game.
“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to win the district championship, and I feel like I failed these kids because that’s what they wanted to do. They’ve come in every day — and with me being a first-year coach — and with a senior-led team they could have gone one of two ways, and they bought into what we were trying to do and tried extremely hard to meet that, but I just feel like I let them down,” McGraw said. “We’ve had a tremendous season, and they’ve taken our program on a ride that our community and our program that no one is going to forget, and I’m proud of them.”
Wheelersburg was led in the scoring column by Keeney with 13 points, followed by Rucker with 11 points. Walker and Whittaker each totaled nine points for the Lady Pirates, while Macee Eaton scored four points. Rounding out the scoring for the district champion Lady Pirates were Annie Coriell with two points and Kiera Kennard with one point.
As for the remainder of the final scoring for Fairfield in the district final game, Donley totaled five points, Haines scored five points and Bronner finished with three points.
The game also marked the end of five seniors’ career with Fairfield as the senior class included: Emma Fouch, Braylynn Haines, Ella Newkirk, Madison Bronner and Shaleigh Duncan.
“They are five great kids, and not only are they great basketball players, but at the end of the day I’ve enjoyed being around them, and they are going to do great things beyond basketball,” McGraw said. “There is no doubt … you couldn’t ask for five better kids to be a part of the Fairfield Lady Lions.”
McGraw also spoke about the junior through freshman classes as they will be returning next season.
“Our JV went 17-2, and we have six freshmen, two sophomores and a junior, so I told them after the game I hope they have the feeling this isn’t going to be the last time we are going to be here,” McGraw said. “With that said, it takes a lot of hard work to get here. To the kids coming back, I’m proud of them. Night-in, night-out, our bench brought great energy and cheered their teammates on, and that’s what it takes for a successful program.”
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Finishing as district runners-up for the first time in 14 seasons, the Lady Lions compiled an overall record of 20-4, and they were second place in Division I of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference with an SHAC mark of 10-3. Fairfield last won the lone district championship in girls basketball during the 1993-94 season. This is Fairfield’s first district runner-up honor since the 2007-08 season.
Though the Lady Lions fell by seven points, they led the game at the conclusion of the first and second quarters with a 13-11 lead after the first frame, and 20-18 at halftime. From there, Wheelersburg outscored FHS 20-7 in the third, and in the fourth quarter FHS scored 15 points, while WHS had 11 points.
The third quarter was the difference maker in the game, and FHS head coach Jeremy McGraw spoke about what happened in that eight minutes of game action.
“Maybe I didn’t go to our press soon enough, but we’ve lived and died by our half-court man-to-man defense all season. We held them to 48 and fouled late, and it’s hard to change that. We missed some rotations and gave up direct drives which caused some easy buckets. We missed some easy opportunities at times, and we just couldn’t get in the flow of things.
“I’m proud of our kids, they battled till the end.”
The first frame was a battle by both Fairfield and undefeated Wheelersburg (23-0) with the score being tied four times at 3-3, 5-5, 7-7 and 11-11 with the Lady Lions tying the score first at three points each as Emma Fouch answered a 3-pointer by Madison Whittaker with a trifecta of her own at the 5:34 mark of the first frame.
Fouch finished her final game as a Fairfield Lady Lion with 14 points, totaling three two-point baskets, two 3-pointers and she was 2-of-2 from the free-throw line. For her career, she finished in second place on the Fairfield girls program all-time scoring list with 1,287 career points. This season, she averaged 15.7 points per game.
Fairfield took the lead for the first time with two points in the paint by Braylynn Haines with 3:54 on the clock, only to see Makenna Walker tie the score at 5-5 with two made shots from the free-throw line.
Haines put the Lady Lions back into the lead with two more points in the paint, but Wheelersburg’s Alaina Keeney made the score even again with a basket at the 2:51 mark of the opening frame for a 7-7 score.
Fairfield broke the tie for the third time in the quarter when Madison Bronner sank a free throw, but the home team on the scoreboard Wheelersburg went back in front when Lexi Rucker knocked down a big 3-pointer with 2:08 left in the frame for a 10-8 advantage. Fouch didn’t allow the Lady Lions to trail for long, as the senior made her second 3-pointer of the frame, with the long-range shot putting FHS in the lead by one point at 11-10.
Walker tied the score for WHS with a free-throw conversion, only to see Peyton Magee give the Lady Lions score the final points of the frame by knocking down a jumper with 50 seconds left in the first frame for a two-point advantage. Magee led the Lady Lions in the scoring column with 15 points as the junior finished with three two-point baskets and three 3-pointers.
Both teams scored seven points in the second frame for a 20-18 halftime score, with Fairfield scoring the first six points of the second frame off 3-pointers by Magee, putting Fairfield in the lead by a 19-11 score with 4:37 left in the first half.
After a 3-pointer by Wheelersburg’s Whittaker, Haines scored Fairfield’s final point of the quarter with a free throw, but the Lady Pirates scored the next four points, sending the score to 20-18 at halftime.
The third frame is where the game changed for the Lady Lions and the Lady Pirates, but unfortunately the No. 1 seeded Wheelersburg squad played their best quarter of basketball in the district final game, outscoring FHS 20-7 in the frame, as the Lady Lions trailed 38-27 when the quarter came to a close.
Wheelersburg opened the third with a 9-0 run with 4:33 left in the quarter building a 27-20 lead.
Fairfield scored their first points of the quarter with a basket from Magee at the 3:47 mark of the third, but those points were answered by seven straight points from Wheelersburg to put Fairfield down 34-22.
The Lady Lions came back with a basket by Fouch, but again the Lady Pirates scored the next four points to put the Lady Lions down by 14 points, their largest deficit of the game, with 1:45 left in the third frame by a 38-24 score.
FHS scored the final three points of the quarter with Faith Donley scoring a three-point play with 54.8 left in the frame, as WHS led by a 38-27 score.
Fairfield wasn’t finished with one final frame left in the district final game in Waverly. Though Wheelersburg scored the first points of the fourth quarter, Fouch went on a tear by scoring the ensuing six points off two baskets and two free throws, cutting the Lady Pirates’ lead to seven points with 6:05 left in regulation.
After a timeout and a turnover by Wheelersburg, Magee scored two points on a layup for a 40-35 deficit for Fairfield with 3:59 on the clock.
Wheelersburg increased their lead back to nine points, but two converted free throws by Bronner and a 3-pointer from Magee with 1:53 left on the clock made it a 44-40 deficit for Fairfield.
That was as close as the Lady Lions got to regaining the lead against the No. 1 state-ranked Wheelersburg squad, as they scored five of the final seven points scored in the game for the seven-point victory. Fairfield’s final points of the season were scored by Donley with two made free throws with 25.1 left in the game.
“Our goal at the beginning of the season was to win the district championship, and I feel like I failed these kids because that’s what they wanted to do. They’ve come in every day — and with me being a first-year coach — and with a senior-led team they could have gone one of two ways, and they bought into what we were trying to do and tried extremely hard to meet that, but I just feel like I let them down,” McGraw said. “We’ve had a tremendous season, and they’ve taken our program on a ride that our community and our program that no one is going to forget, and I’m proud of them.”
Wheelersburg was led in the scoring column by Keeney with 13 points, followed by Rucker with 11 points. Walker and Whittaker each totaled nine points for the Lady Pirates, while Macee Eaton scored four points. Rounding out the scoring for the district champion Lady Pirates were Annie Coriell with two points and Kiera Kennard with one point.
As for the remainder of the final scoring for Fairfield in the district final game, Donley totaled five points, Haines scored five points and Bronner finished with three points.
The game also marked the end of five seniors’ career with Fairfield as the senior class included: Emma Fouch, Braylynn Haines, Ella Newkirk, Madison Bronner and Shaleigh Duncan.
“They are five great kids, and not only are they great basketball players, but at the end of the day I’ve enjoyed being around them, and they are going to do great things beyond basketball,” McGraw said. “There is no doubt … you couldn’t ask for five better kids to be a part of the Fairfield Lady Lions.”
McGraw also spoke about the junior through freshman classes as they will be returning next season.
“Our JV went 17-2, and we have six freshmen, two sophomores and a junior, so I told them after the game I hope they have the feeling this isn’t going to be the last time we are going to be here,” McGraw said. “With that said, it takes a lot of hard work to get here. To the kids coming back, I’m proud of them. Night-in, night-out, our bench brought great energy and cheered their teammates on, and that’s what it takes for a successful program.”
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