Lady Mustangs hold on for 1-point win over Fairfield in OT

LEESBURG — Though the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs began their Southern Hills Athletic Conference game against Fairfield with a 14-0 run, the home team Lady Lions were able to overcome their slow start and see the game go into overtime. 

In the OT period, it was the Lady Mustangs who fended off Fairfield by one point at 54-53, as FHS had possession of the ball with 0.01 left in overtime, but the shot that was made was waved off as they had possession of the ball too long before they took their final shot of the game. 

In the 14-0 run in the first frame, LCHS ended up with a 19-8 lead when the time ran out on the opening frame. That first quarter saw the Lady Mustangs’ Addy Carraher sink three 3-pointers, while Madison McMullen made two baskets for four points, Lily Ferguson also had four points off two baskets, and Savannah Bell made two free throws. 

“I was super proud of how we came out. We were super aggressive to the basketball. We got after every single loose ball and made things happen with our defense,” LCHS head coach Whitney Lewis said. “Our defense created our offense, and that sparked us, and I really loved how we came out with that aggressive mentality. 

“The second quarter, Fairfield is a good team. We were trading blows for blows from there on out, and we got kind

of lucky with the buzzer beater at halftime to finish out the first half with a shot at the end. We just battled in the second half, blow for blow.”

Fairfield, in the first quarter, had one two-point basket each from Rilee Quickle, Landyn Hodson, Vivian Henninger and Meri Jackson for their eight-point total. In the first frame alone, the Lady Lions had 12 turnovers. 

“The first quarter we didn’t play well, and after that we had decent effort, but we can’t have 12 turnovers in the first quarter like we did and miss six bunnies. That was inexcusable in the first quarter,” FHS head coach Jennifer Blue said. “Our defense picked it up after the first. We went straight guard rotation, and they did really good on that, and we had some freshmen who came in and picked it up. Shoutout to the freshmen who came in — Brya and Landyn — they played good for us defensively, but we just can’t put ourselves in that big of a hole.”

The second quarter was much more competitive, starting with Jackson and Quickle bringing FHS to within six points of LC’s lead with a two-pointer by Jackson and a 3-pointer off a shot by Quickle. 

After two points from Ferguson of LCHS, FHS scored the next four points, including a basket by Addison Cannon. The two teams continued to battle with FHS making it a one-point deficit, as Quickle and Henninger added points to the Fairfield side of the scoreboard at Grandle Gymnasium for a 23-22 score. 

Two made free throws by Ava McLaughlin of LCHS, and later two free throws by Joslyn Rockey, plus a 3-pointer by McMullen with 2.3 on the clock, left LCHS with a 7-2 run to end the quarter and a 30-24 lead at halftime. 

LCHS increased their lead to seven points after the third quarter at 42-35, though it was Quickle starting the quarter with a basket for Fairfield and a 30-27 score. Ferguson increased LC’s lead to 34-27 with consecutive baskets, but two baskets from Fairfield’s Cannon, then a bucket with 3:00 left in the third by Jackson (a 6-0 Fairfield run), left the hosts down by just a single point at 34-33.

Later, Jackson brought FHS back to within a point of tying the score again, but FHS ended the third with a basket by Bell and two baskets from McMullem, including two points scored at the buzzer for the 42-35 advantage. 

FHS battled back to tie the score at 50 points each, forcing overtime with FHS winning the fourth quarter at 15-8. 

FHS in the fourth quarter had a 3-pointer by Quickle, six points by Isabelle Hale and a basket each from Henninger and Jackson, and it was Hodson making a free throw with 44.0 left in the fourth that forced overtime, leaving the score tied at 50-50. 

In the 4:00 overtime, LCHS regained the lead with a jumper by McLaughlin and free throws from McMullen and Carraher. Quickle made it a one-point game with a 3-pointer, leaving 33.6 on the clock. 

FHS had possession with 0.01, but they were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded, leaving Lynchburg-Clay with the one-point win. 

FHS was led in scoring by Quickle with 19 points, making two 2-pointers, four 3-pointers and she was 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. 

Jackson finished with 10 points (five two-pointers), and Cannon totaled seven points (three two-pointers, 1-of-2 FT line). The rest of Fairfield’s final scoring was Hodson (3), Brya Fauber (3) and Henninger (5).

Ferguson led LCHS with 16 points by making seven two-pointers, and she ended the game at 2-of-4 from the free-throw line. 

McMullen totaled 12 points off four two-point buckets, one 3-pointer and she was 1-of-2 from the free-throw line. Carraher totaled 10 points off three 3-pointers, and she went 1-of-2 in her free-throw attempts. 

McLaughlin totaled eight points from three baskets, and she was 2-of-2 in her free throw shooting. The rest of LC’s scoring totals were Bell (4) and Rockey (4).

“We can get some confidence out of this and just taking care of the basketball in pivotal moments, and valuing each possession, getting good possession each time we touch the ball,” Lewis said. “We did turn over the ball some at the end, and every team is going to to that to us, especially if they are trying to come back and claw back, but I’m just proud of how we handled that pressure tonight and hit some free throws when we needed to and we able to come out on top.

“Everybody contributed tonight, and we had several kids in double digits, and Ava McLaughlin came off the bench for us and hit some pivotal shots for us in the fourth quarter. We had some big buckets in big moments, and it was a good job by everybody.” 

It was also Military Night at Fairfield. 

“It was Military Night, and we appreciate everything for that, and shoutout to Sgt. Book for doing our boot camp this fall, and thank you to all the men and women who serve,” Blue said.  

The win moves Lynchburg-Clay to 4-9 overall and 3-5 in the SHAC Division I standings. Fairfield is now 8-5 overall and 3-4 in Division II of the SHAC. 

Next for FHS is a home SHAC game Thursday, Jan. 15 against the Fayetteville Lady Rockets (7-0, 10-0) with a varsity-only night and game time of 7 p.m. 

Lynchburg-Clay is scheduled to play next Thursday, Jan. 15 on the road in a SHAC game against the Eastern Lady Warriors (6-2, 10-3). 

BOX SCORE
LCHS    19 11 12 08 (04) — 54
FHS      08 16 11 15 (03) — 53

LYNCHBURG-CLAY (54) — L.Ferguson 7 (0) 2-4 16, S.Bell 1 (0) 2-2 4, J.Rockey 1 (0) 2-2 4, A.McLaughlin 3 (0) 2-2 8, M.Mullen 4 (1) 1-2 12, A.Carraher 0 (3) 1-2 10. TOTALS: 16 (4) 10-14 54. 

FAIRFIELD (53) — I.Hale 2 (0) 2-4 6, R.Quickle 2 (4) 3-3 19, L.Hodson 1 (0) 1-2 3, B.Fauber 1 (0) 1-2 3, V.Henninger 2 (0) 1-2 5, A.Cannon 3 (0) 1-2 7, M.Jackson 5 (0) 0-0 10. TOTALS: 16 (4) 9-15 53.