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Fairfield polished off the Palestine Westwood Lady Panthers at home then hit the road to defeat the Palestine Lady Wildcats.
“They’ve got themselves in great position and have to finish the job,” FHS head coach Tommy Fadal says.
Sitting in second place in 19-AAA as the second round of action starts is Madisonville, with a 4-1 record. Mexia is at 3-2 for third place, Palestine is 2-3 in fourth, Groesbeck is 1-4 and Westwood is 0-5.
“We need to take the next two and one-half weeks and focus,” Fadal says.
District play wraps up Tuesday, Feb. 5, after which the post season playoff season starts.
At home against Westwood early last week, the Lady Eagles took a slim 16-14 lead the first period, then tightened up on defense to take the second period 18-8 and hold a 34-22 lead.
Fairfield tallied another 18 points in the third period and upped the output to 25 points in the final stanza, giving up 10 and seven, for a 77-39 win.
“Choicetta McMillian had a great night with 33 points, 13 rebounds and four steals,” Fadal reports. “That’s a pretty complete game.”
As part of her performance, Miss McMillian connected on a pair of 3-pointers and made five free throws.
Second leading scorer Raven Henry tallied 12 points, wielding a hot hand from the floor by making five of six field goal shots. She also grabbed eight rebounds.
The coach points out that Joshlyn Reeves grabbed four big offensive rebounds and Denise Brown stole the ball from the Lady Panthers five times. Second leading rebounder Courtney Morton grabbed nine, of which six were offensive.
“I thought we played good defense. We wound the rebounding battle, and that’s huge,” Fadal says.
Others scoring were: Taylor Haynes, 9; Morton, 7; Joye McElroy, 6; Brown, 3; and Reeves, 2.
The Lady Eagles show 52 percent from the free throw line, making 12 of 23 attempts.
Fairfield cagers stole the ball 25 times, committed just 11 turnovers and snared a total of 48 rebounds.
“Everybody got to play and contributed,” Fadal reports.
The FHS varsity quintet was out sized by the Lady Wildcats, but got the job done with a 53-33 win on the road.
“It was a fight. They are huge,” the coach declares.
In spite of a height disadvantage, the Lady Eagles grabbed 35 rebounds in the game, led by Misses McMillian and Haynes with eight each.
“That is the key to beating those guys, rebounding,” Fadal reports.
Fairfield jumped out to an 11-6 lead in the game and added 18 points in the second period for a 29-17 advantage at half-time.
The Lady Eagles were out scored 6-8 in the third period but roared back with an 18-8 fourth period to win.
“It was another team victory,” the coach points out.
Fairfield scoring was fairly balanced with three players reaching double digits—-Miss McMillian led with 20 points, Miss Brown tallied 12 and Miss Haynes chipped in 10.
Others scoring were: Sarah Linton, 3; Morton, 2; Reeves, 2; Mia Mayo, 2; and McElroy, 1.
Coming off the bench to help the team defensively, while also giving the starters a few minutes to rest, were Misses Linton, Mayo and Reeves.
From 3-point range, Miss McMillian made four, Misses Brown and Haynes connected on a pair apiece and Miss Linton scored one.
The Lady Eagles shot just 32 percent from the free throw line, making eight of 19 attempts.
In junior varsity action, Fairfield took a slim 10-9 lead the first period and added 16 points the second period to extend the margin to 26-15.
And, the Lady Eagles were just getting started. The jv quintet scored 20 points in the third period and 19 in the fourth, giving up six and eight, to win 57-29.
“The girls had a great second half. They were very aggressive and they caused Westwood to turn the ball over many times, and in return we scored a lot on the fast break,” coach LaDonna Brackens says.
Leading scorer with 17 points was Barvion Wyatt. She was joined in double digits by Sierra Henry, 12 points.
Others scoring were: Bre West, 9; Calyn Caffey, 6; O.J. Edwards, 6; Sally Taylor, 2; Trilandria Titus, 2; Brooke LaNove, 2; and Markeisha Cox, 1.
Top rebounders were Misses Henry and Caffey.
The Lady Eagles shot 62.5 percent from the free throw line, making 10 of 16 attempts.
“These girls play well together. The upperclassmen really push the freshmen and they are all beginning to gel and work together,” coach Brackens says.
Fairfield jv cagers played only one game last week and the freshmen, who did not have any games, moved up to jv.
The Lady Eagles were scheduled to start the second round of district early this week at Madisonville, host Mexia this Friday and head to Groesbeck on Tuesday.