The first quarter ended with a 10-10 tie between cross-county rivals McClain and Fairfield, but low scoring in the second quarter from the Lady Lions costed them the win against the Lady Tigers Monday night at McClain High School.
With a final score of 49-36, the McClain ladies advance to 10-11, 7-6 for the season, while Fairfield drops to 12-9, 9-3.
The lead changed twice in the first quarter, and neither team was able to make it more than 5 points over the other. Malea Montavon was the lead scorer for McClain in the first quarter, throwing down a three and a two, while Grace Shope tossed two 2-pointers for Fairfield.
Things went downhill in the second quarter for the Lady Lions as McClain tightened up their defense, keeping the Leesburg ladies at a 5-point gain for the quarter while scoring 14 for themselves. Although the score was tied once and the lead changed three times early in the quarter, the Lady Lions had a hard time getting by McClain later on.
At the half, the score was 24-15 with the Tigers ahead by 9.
The teams each scored 13 points in the third quarter, with Taylor Polley putting up two 2-pointers, a three and one from the freethrow line for McClain. Trinity Huff threw a 2-pointer and a free throw, while Alexis Tate threw a 3-pointer to lead scoring for the Lions. Despite an offensive effort, Fairfield couldn’t come back from the low scoring before the half.
Polley threw five free throws for McClain in contribution to a 12-point gain in the fourth quarter, while Shope led scoring for Leesburg with four from the freethrow line, making up half of the Leesburg ladies’ points for the quarter. When the clock ran out, McClain had won the game at 49-36 for a 13-point win.
“I thought our seniors really did a good job of leading us,” said McClain girls coach Jarrod Haines. “It seemed like we had a balanced attack of scoring and defense early in the second half, and Maddy Stegbauer kept Grace Shope in check, which, when you play Fairfield, that’s what you’ve got to do. And I thought we did a good job of controlling the boards, which really played in our favor.”
“We missed at least three or four, not wide-open, but very makeable shots,” said Fairfield coach Chad Hamilton. “They got the rebound and went down and scored – that changed the momentum and that was essentially the game. If we can knock down some of those easy ones, then it’s a different outcome. I’m proud of us, proud of the girls. We played very hard, and I can’t ask for any more than that from them.”
The Lady Tigers will take on Hillsboro Saturday at McClain High School in a rivalry game at 7 p.m.
Up next for the Lady Lions is a road matchup against Fayetteville Thursday night against the Lady Rockets at 7:30 p.m.
Elsewhere in the county Monday night, the Hillsboro Lady Indians took a loss to Zane Trace in a non-conference matchup with a final score of 39-37, dropping to a 4-17, 2-11 record on the season, and Whiteoak lost to Eastern 68-24, bringing them to 3-17, 2-10.
Summary
McClain — 10 14 13 12 — 49
Fairfield — 10 5 13 8 — 36
MHS: Montgomery 4-3/7-11; Malea Montavon 4(1)-1/2-12; Polley 3(1)-7/10-16; Uhrig 1/2-1; Barton 1-1/4-3; Kegley 1-2/2-4; Makenzie Montavon 1-2
Totals: 14(2)-15/24-49
FHS: Newkirk 2-1/2-5; Shope 4-4/7-12; C. Arnold 1(1)-5; Huff 1-1/5-3; Young (1)-3; Adams 1-3/4-5; Barnes 1-1/2-3
Totals 10(2)-11/20-36
Reach David Wright at 937-402-2570, or on Twitter @DavidWrighter.
