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| LADY EAGLES VARSITY cager Courtney Morton draws a bead on the basket in district play against the Mexia Ladycats. |
Fairfield dropped the decision to the Madisonville Lady Mustangs on the road and are tied with Madisonville for first place in district standings—-both teams are posting 6-1 records.
“We just don’t play well over there,” FHS head coach Tommy Fadal says.
“When you shoot 23 percent from the field you aren’t going to beat very many people, especially good teams,” he adds.
The Lady Eagles took 63 shots from the field and made only 15, and from 3-point range the team connected on just four of 24 attempts.
Fairfield beat Madisonville at home in the first round of district play and the Lady Eagles have been handling their opponents with relative ease until last week’s road trip.
“That loss made us figure out we are human and have to play hard every night,” Fadal says.
Fairfield led Madisonville in a low scoring first period 7-6, then were out scored by 10 points in the second period to trail 15-24 at half-time.
The Lady Eagles won the third period 19-16 to start a rally, but were held to single digits again in the final stanza top drop a 43-61 decision.
Leading scorers for the FHS quintet were Choicetta McMillian, 15 points, and Joye McElroy, 10.
Others scoring were: Courtney Morton, 7; Denise Brown, 6; Josh Reeves, 3; and Taylor Haynes, 2.
Miss McElroy led rebounding with seven, whiles Misses Brown and McMillian grabbed six each.
A bright spot on the night came at the free throw line where the Lady Eagles shot 75 percent, making nine of 12 attempts.
The girls recovered well at home Friday night when they trounced Mexia 61-38.
“We did make a good comeback. The girls were ready to go,” Fadal says.
If the Lady Eagles had followed up the Madisonville loss with a loss to Mexia they would have dropped from first place in district standings to a tie for third place.
Fairfield jumped out to a 21-14 lead in the first period and drubbed the Ladycats 23-8 the second period for a 44-22 advantage at intermission.
The Lady Eagles backed off the second half, scoring 17 points and giving up 16, to win.
“Our intensity was better. The kids were glad to be out there playing,” Fadal says. “We kind of rededicated ourselves in practice.”
Team leading scorer Miss McMillian got back on her game and tallied 28 points against the Ladycats. She also led the team with 10 rebounds and four steals.
Also in double digits, 13 points, was Miss Morton, who grabbed six rebounds.
Fadal reports that Kiresten Cox rejoined the team last week and pulled in seven rebounds while guarding the leading scorer for Mexia.
Others scoring were: McElroy, 4; Brown, 3; Cox, 3; Reeves, 3; Kirstie Brewer, 3; Mia Mayo, 2; and Raven Henry, 2.
The Lady Eagles shot 48 percent from the field, a marked improvement, and 61.5 percent from the free throw line, making 16 of 26 tries.
After playing 27 games this season, Fadal points out that his players are well drilled in their skills and now must work at keeping their heads in the game.
“Most of this is mental at this point in the season. You have to stay hungry and stay focused,” the coach explains.
The Fairfield junior varsity squad notched two wins last week, including a 1-point victory over the Lady Mustangs that came down to the final minutes.
“This was a fast paced game the entire game. The team played their best game of the season,” coach LaDonna Brackens says.
The Lady Eagles jv quintet took a slim 16-14 lead over the Lady Mustangs the first period and fell behind by a point in the second period to trail 25-26 at half-time.
Fairfield battled back to tie the contest 31-all at the end of three and won the final stanza 10-8 to claim a 41-39 victory.
“I am very proud of the performance of this combined team,” coach Brackens says.
Aside from Fairfield, no other school in the district fielded a freshmen team this season so the freshmen and jv squads have been combined.
In double digits against Madisonville was Barvion Wyatt, 11 points.
Others scoring were: Sierra Henry, 9; Kalyn Caffey, 9; Markeisha Cox, 6; Olivia Gallegos, 4; and Bre West, 2.
Leading rebounders were Misses Caffey and Henry.
Coach Brackens reports that Miss Caffey has battled back and ankle injuries most of the season, but played aggressively throughout the game.
The jv shot 55.6 percent from the free throw line, making 10 of 18 attempts.
Fairfield subvarsity players redeemed themselves from an earlier loss to Mexia this season by handing the Ladycats a resounding 54-26 defeat.
“This was a game the girls worked hard to win. We lost to them in Mexia so they wanted to redeem themselves and prove that they could win, and that is just what they did,” coach Brackens reports.
The Lady Eagles took a 14-9 lead the first period and added another 13 points in the second period for a 27-15 advantage at intermission.
Fairfield added 10 points in the third period and 17 in the fourth, giving up five and six, to win handily.
“We had a wide range of scoring from just about everyone on the team. Our defensive press worked really well and we had a lot of steals just by pressing,” the coach points out.
Leading scorer Miss Henry tallied 17 points and was joined in double digits by O.J. Edwards, 11 points.
Others scoring were: Wyatt, 8; West, 5; Cox, 4; Sally Taylor, 3; Jennifer Bisig, 2; Tanetta Coleman, 2; Krystal Rischer, 1; and Brooke LaNove, 1.
The jv shot 44.8 percent from the free throw line, making 13 of 29 attempts.
The Lady Eagles were scheduled to play at Groesbeck early this week, head to Palestine Westwood on Friday and wrap up the regular season Tuesday night at home against Palestine.