Fairfield Lady Lions fall to New Lexington in sectional tournament
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
LEESBURG — The Fairfield Lady Lions held an eight-point lead going into the fourth quarter of their Division III SE District Sectional Final game against the New Lexington Lady Panthers on Wednesday night.
That lead proved to not be enough, as Fairfield was outscored 16-4 in the final eight minutes, a quarter where turnovers caused the Lady Lions to unravel and lose their lead for good, as they lost by a 51-47 score.
The Lady Lions totaled 35 turnovers in the loss, including 12 in the fourth frame, as that was the quarter where New Lexington’s defense caused much frustration for the Lady Lions.
Leading by a 43-35 score at the start of the fourth quarter, Fairfield allowed New Lexington to go on a run of 9-2 in a span of less than three minutes, as the Lady Lions went from leading by eight points to leading by one point at 45-44, forcing Fairfield to call a timeout with 5:53 on the clock.
Following the timeout, New Lexington took the lead with two points from Aubri Spicer at the 4:49 mark of the frame, but the Lady Lions were able to regain the top spot with two points by Peyton Magee at the 4:38 mark of the fourth for a 47-46 advantage in favor of Fairfield.
The Lady Panthers — the champions of the Muskingum Valley Conference — responded with two free throws by Spicer, followed later with a 3-pointer by Emma Abrams at the top of the key for a 51-47 score. Spicer led New Lexington with 23 points, including 18 in the second half, with eight points in the fourth frame and 10 points in the third quarter.
Turnovers followed for Fairfield, and eventually time ran out on the Lady Lions and their postseason run, as they lost by four points at Grandle Gymnasium.
Fairfield (17-5) had two players reach double figure scoring with Emma Fouch leading the way with 12 points and Madison Bronner with 10 points.
Other final scoring for FHS included Ella Newkirk with seven points, Magee with eight points, Faith Donley with four points and Braylynn Haines with six points.
FHS totaled three 3-pointers, with Newkirk making one trey and Fouch sinking two 3-pointers. FHS totaled 32 rebounds in the loss with Fouch leading with eight, while Magee and Bronner each grabbed seven rebounds. Magee led FHS with four assists, and Fouch led the Lady Lions with five steals.
The first frame saw Fairfield outscore the Lady Panthers, 13-10, where Fouch scored five points, Magee totaled two points and Bronner scored six points in the frame.
In the second quarter, FHS scored 14 points, while New Lexington added 10 points to their total for a Fairfield halftime lead of 27-20.
The second-quarter scoring for FHS included five points from Newkirk, five points by Fouch and two points each by Donley and Haines.
Fairfield scored 16 points in the third frame, while New Lexington added 15 points to their overall total. For the Lady Lions, their scoring in the third frame saw two points from Nerwkirk, two from Fouch, four points by Magee, four points from Bronner and four points off two baskets by Haines.
FHS was held to just four points in the final frame, with those being scored by Magee and Donley.
From the free-throw line, as a team the Lady Lions were 8-of-10.
Fairfield still has one regular-season makeup game left, with first place of the Division II Southern Hills League championship at stake. That game is scheduled to be played Tuesday, Feb. 23 against the Peebles Lady Indians at 7 p.m. at PHS. A win by FHS would give them a share of the SHAC title with Peebles.
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That lead proved to not be enough, as Fairfield was outscored 16-4 in the final eight minutes, a quarter where turnovers caused the Lady Lions to unravel and lose their lead for good, as they lost by a 51-47 score.
The Lady Lions totaled 35 turnovers in the loss, including 12 in the fourth frame, as that was the quarter where New Lexington’s defense caused much frustration for the Lady Lions.
Leading by a 43-35 score at the start of the fourth quarter, Fairfield allowed New Lexington to go on a run of 9-2 in a span of less than three minutes, as the Lady Lions went from leading by eight points to leading by one point at 45-44, forcing Fairfield to call a timeout with 5:53 on the clock.
Following the timeout, New Lexington took the lead with two points from Aubri Spicer at the 4:49 mark of the frame, but the Lady Lions were able to regain the top spot with two points by Peyton Magee at the 4:38 mark of the fourth for a 47-46 advantage in favor of Fairfield.
The Lady Panthers — the champions of the Muskingum Valley Conference — responded with two free throws by Spicer, followed later with a 3-pointer by Emma Abrams at the top of the key for a 51-47 score. Spicer led New Lexington with 23 points, including 18 in the second half, with eight points in the fourth frame and 10 points in the third quarter.
Turnovers followed for Fairfield, and eventually time ran out on the Lady Lions and their postseason run, as they lost by four points at Grandle Gymnasium.
Fairfield (17-5) had two players reach double figure scoring with Emma Fouch leading the way with 12 points and Madison Bronner with 10 points.
Other final scoring for FHS included Ella Newkirk with seven points, Magee with eight points, Faith Donley with four points and Braylynn Haines with six points.
FHS totaled three 3-pointers, with Newkirk making one trey and Fouch sinking two 3-pointers. FHS totaled 32 rebounds in the loss with Fouch leading with eight, while Magee and Bronner each grabbed seven rebounds. Magee led FHS with four assists, and Fouch led the Lady Lions with five steals.
The first frame saw Fairfield outscore the Lady Panthers, 13-10, where Fouch scored five points, Magee totaled two points and Bronner scored six points in the frame.
In the second quarter, FHS scored 14 points, while New Lexington added 10 points to their total for a Fairfield halftime lead of 27-20.
The second-quarter scoring for FHS included five points from Newkirk, five points by Fouch and two points each by Donley and Haines.
Fairfield scored 16 points in the third frame, while New Lexington added 15 points to their overall total. For the Lady Lions, their scoring in the third frame saw two points from Nerwkirk, two from Fouch, four points by Magee, four points from Bronner and four points off two baskets by Haines.
FHS was held to just four points in the final frame, with those being scored by Magee and Donley.
From the free-throw line, as a team the Lady Lions were 8-of-10.
Fairfield still has one regular-season makeup game left, with first place of the Division II Southern Hills League championship at stake. That game is scheduled to be played Tuesday, Feb. 23 against the Peebles Lady Indians at 7 p.m. at PHS. A win by FHS would give them a share of the SHAC title with Peebles.
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