Riddle scores 30 in Fairfield win over Lady 'Cats

     LEESBURG – Scoring 30 points and her fifth-straight double-double, Monday night’s game belonged to Fairfield’s Chelsey Riddle, as the Lady Lions controlled the pace of the game to their style en route to defeating cross-county rival Whiteoak 59-28.

     Riddle has had success in the past against the Lady ‘Cats, scoring 30-plus points three times before Monday’s game.

     “Chelsey picked it back up tonight,” Fairfield head coach Matt Hodson said. “When she is on, she can score and rebound when she needs to.”

     The FHS junior ended the game not only with the big night offensively, but also had 11 rebounds, seven blocks, three steals and one assist. This season Riddle has scored 106 points in five games played.

     “(Chelsey) Riddle played a strong game against us,” Whiteoak head coach Steve Smith said. “She is the best post player in the league.”

     The Lady Lions led for all but one possession of the game when Whiteoak junior Haley Bingamon sank a 3-pointer with 7:11 remaining in the first quarter.

     After Riddle scored her fourth point of the first and FHS junior Megan Sword made the score 6-3. Sword had four points, seven rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block.

     Whiteoak sophomore Brooke Burns brought the Lady ‘Cats within one point of the Lady Lions with a put back bucket at the 4:56 mark of the first.

     The Lady Lions roared back with points by seniors Gabby Boone and Sadie Jones. Boone finished with 10 points, one block and one steal. Jones scored two points, while adding six rebounds, four steals and two assists.

     FHS continued to capitalize on the miscues of WHS as they ended the first with baskets from Riddle, Boone and a 3-pointer with 9 seconds left by senior Lauren Bowman for a 17-5 lead after the opening eight minutes.

     Fairfield (2-2, 3-3) finished the first with a 9-0 run in the final four minutes.

     Lady ‘Cat senior Emily Hargett opened up the second with four straight points on back-to-back buckets to make the score 17-9. Hargett led WHS with nine points.

     Riddle answered with three straight baskets and at the 1:38 mark of the second Riddle made the score 31-11 with inside points for a 20-point lead.

     Bowman hit her second 3-pointer, this time at the buzzer, for a 36-11 lead.

     Scoring was slow in the third with FHS outscoring the Lady ‘Cats 8-5. WHS sophomore Jessie Gilliland sank two free throws with 4:28 remaining in the quarter. Gilliland ended the game with eight points.

     WHS (0-4, 0-6) scored nine straight points, starting at the .49 second mark of the third with a put back basket by Hargett, followed with consecutive buckets from Gilliland. Bingamon then sank a 3-pointer with 7:23 left in the game. Bingamon finished with seven points.

     Riddle followed by scoring 10 of the next 12 points recorded, with Gilliland scoring a basket in-between Riddle’s at the 5:09 mark of the final quarter.

     Whiteoak senior Sarah Smith scored a two-point basket in the final 3:00. FHS freshman Sirenity Smith nailed a 3-pointer with .27 seconds left.

     Hodson said he was pleased with the way his starting five performed Monday.

     “With my starting five, I am very confident who I have starting for me,” Hodson said. “They practice hard, work hard and all of them are good friends. There is no fighting and they are a good group of kids.”

     Smith said his young team is improving and that is all he can ask for.

     “We are struggling scoring points, but the biggest thing for us is our self confidence,” Smith said. “Our girls have to believe they can win and we need to win to get things back on the right track.”

BOX SCORE

SCORE BY QUARTERS

WHS – 5 6 5 12 – 28

FHS – 17 19 8 15 – 59

INDIVIDUAL STATS

FHS (59)

M.Sword 2 4, S.Smith 0 (1) 3, S.Jones 1 2, K.Paris 1 2, L.Bowman 1 (2) 8, C.Riddle 15 0-1 30, G.Boone 5 10. TOTALS: 25 (3) 0-1 59.

WHS (28)

J.Gilliland 3 2-4 8, H.Bingamon 0 (2) 1-2 7, B.Burns 1 2, S.Smith 1 2, E.Hargett 4 1-2 9. TOTALS: 9 (2) 4-8 28.