Fairfield’s Lady Eagles struggled against Mexia rivals…
Friday the 13th always provides the oddities in many things. Fairfield and Mexia basketball only provided evidence of those oddities.
The Fairfield Lady Eagles fell behind 21-4 in the third quarter and rallied to send the game to overtime only to fall 34-33.
The game started with poor shooting by both teams. Each offense had a basket and a pair of free throws to end the frame at 4-4. The teams combined for two of 22 shooting .
Fairfield had some good defensive work to stay in the game. Williams scored and Keith hit a pair of three pointers to extend the lead to 16-4 at the half. Fairfield missed all ten shots from the field and were shut out in the quarter. The teams combined for a five of 46 shooting in the first half.
Lady Eagle forward Tanna Lide sparked the Fairfield defense with some solid play. She had a couple of steals and had four rebounds in a 10-1 rebounding edge in the first four minutes.
Mikayla Thurman hit a three pointer with 5:29 remaining in the third quarter cutting the lead to 21-7, breaking an 11:28 scoreless streak on the game clock. Then the Eagles hit four of five shots to close the lead. DaMeka Shed and Kierra Birdow each made shots. Birdow took a pass from Shed near the end of the period and cut the lead to 21-17 heading into the fourth.
Birdow scored twice in the early minutes of the fourth period and only a Keener free throw kept any lead for the Ladycats at 22-21. Keith hit her third three pointer of the game with 3:25 remaining in regulation and that snapped a streak of 20 missed shots for Mexia. Brandi Carter and Shed had four straight free throws with just under three minutes left for their first lead of the game, 25-24.
Keith added another tray with one minute to go but Shed hit a free throw to tie the game at 28-28. The teams each missed late opportunities and the game went to overtime.
Keith hit a short jumper to take an early lead in the extra period and Hollie added another to hold the lead. The Lady Eagles stayed close with good free throw shooting. Carter had a free throw and Josey Richardson nailed a pair of free throws. On the second Carter free throw, Fairfield was called for a violation and point was disallowed. Carter still gave the Lady Eagles a chance in the final seconds with Keith missed a pair of free throws. Her lay up at the buzzer fell off the rim and the Lady Cats extended their district record to 2-0 with the 34-33 win.
Birdow had nine points and Shed added eight for the Lady Eagles. Keith led all scorers with 15 points.
(Pictured above): Working hard to bring the ball in the attempt for one last basket is Brandy Carter for the Lady Eagles to tie the game against Mexia.
(Pictured below): Lady Eagle Josie Richardson makes both free throws after being fouled by a Mexia player.
