Fairfield folds to Lady Mustangs

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The Fairfield Lady Lions came into Thursday night’s cross-county matchup against the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs with a 9-win streak to protect, knowing it would take a hard-fought game to keep it afloat. After four quarters trailing the Mustangs, the Fairfield ladies took the drive back to Leesburg with a 39-point loss.

The game seemed sealed from the beginning, with the Lynchburg-Clay Ladies jumping out to a 13-point lead by the end of the first quarter. Hannah and McKayla Binkley tied scoring for the Mustangs with two 2-pointers and a three apiece, while Grace Shope and Blake Adams each threw a two for Fairfield. Adams added one from the freethrow line to lead scoring for the Lions. The Lady Mustangs kept Fairfield from scoring for the first half of the quarter, then allowed the Lions only 5 points after that.

By the end of the first period, the Lady Mustangs were ahead at 18-5.

The second quarter saw Fairfield improve their scoring with a 7-point gain for the period. Brianna Barnes was able to score two 2-pointers for Fairfield from under the net, but Lynchburg-Clay’s tight defense kept the visitors from making much more than that. Meanwhile, the Lady Mustangs scored 15 points, with Hannah Binkley and Peyton Scott each putting up five for the Mustangs. Zoe Fittro tossed a long three early in the quarter, and McKayla Binkley made a 2-pointer that brought the first half to a close with Lynchburg-Clay up by 21.

By the half, the score was 33-12.

The Lady Lions came out of the locker room with some heat, scoring 13 points in the third quarter between Carly Reiber, Trinity Huff, Alexis Tate, Ashley Sowards and Blake Adams. Sowards led scoring for the Lions with two 3-pointers in the period. Despite the Lions’ scoring improvements, the Fairfield Lady’s defense allowed Lynchburg 21 points in the quarter. McKayla Binkley was the star of the third quarter, making 13 of Lynchburg’s 21 points for the period.

By the end of the third, the score was 54-25

The Lady Mustangs secured the win in the fourth quarter, outscoring Fairfield by 10 points at 18-8 in the quarter. Peyton Scott put up 7 points for LC in the final period, while Barnes made a 2-pointer and a freethrow to lead the Lions.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Lynchburg ladies had taken the win and ended Fairfield’s 9-win streak with a final score of 72-33.

“I thought we set the tempo early with our press,” LC coach Whitney Lewis said. “We were able to create some turnovers, get some easy buckets, and that was able to get us in a rhythm and a flow there in the first quarter.”

“Lynchburg is a really, really good team,” said Fairfield coach Chad Hamilton. “They make things difficult offensively, because they’re so quick and athletic on defense. They made it difficult for us to do anything we wanted to do, and they created a lot of mismatches. It was a rough night for us.”

McKayla and Hannah Binkley led scoring for the Mustangs with 20 and 17 points, respectively, while Barnes, Sowards and Shope led scoring for the Lions with 7, 6 and 6, respectively.

Summary

Lynchburg-Clay — 18 15 21 18 — 72

Fairfield — 5 7 13 8 — 33

LCHS: Blankenship 2(3)-13; Scott 7-2/3-16; H. Binkley 4(2)-3/4-17; M. Binkley 10(2)-20

Totals: 23(7)-5/7-72

FHS: Shope 3-0/2-6; Reiber 1-2; Huff 2-1/2-5; Tate 2/4-2; Sowards (2)0/2-6; Adams 2-1/2-5; Barnes 3-1/2-7

Totals: 11(2)-5/14-33

Reach David Wright at 937-402-2570, or on Twitter @DavidWrighter.

Hannah Binkley runs the ball for Lynchburg-Clay while Fairfield’s Ashley Sowards defends.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2017/02/web1_cropDSC_0170.jpgHannah Binkley runs the ball for Lynchburg-Clay while Fairfield’s Ashley Sowards defends. David Wright | The Times-Gazette
9-win streak for Lady Lions ended Thursday night

By David Wright

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