The Fairfield Lady Eagles had to battle their way out of Mexia High School to preserve an unbeaten record in district play. Fairfield took the game 53-47 and are one win away from a perfect district 19-4A record.
Fairfield jumped out to an early big lead and it seemed a win was just minutes away. The Lady Eagles hit seven of their first nine from the field and Braden Bossier pulled down nine first quarter rebounds. Breyanna Dowell scored on a pair of possessions and Bossier tossed a beautiful pass to her for a third. Kayelee Adams and Jarahle Daniels had back-to-back three pointers and Te’ Yalla Simpson went coast to coast off of a steal and built a 16-6 lead at the end of one quarter.
The Ladycats began to close the gap with steals that lead to baskets. Fairfield committed ten turnovers and a couple of them ended in a pair of threes from Treece Daily. Yazmine Green and Precious daily scored near the end of the half and the Eagles lead was cut in half to 24-19.
The same pace rang true in the first moments of the second half. Fairfield committed 11 more turnovers in the third quarter and Treece Daily scored five point in a row, then Ny Janae hit put back a shot for Mexia’s first lead of the game at 29-28 with 3:30 remaining in the third. Dowell ended the Mexia 7-0 with a lay in and Daniels hit a short jumper to give the Lady Eagles the lead 34-33 at the end of the third quarter.
Fairfield hit three of their first four shots from the field eliminated the turnover spell and began to pull away. A pair of Daily three pointers could only get them within two. Josey Richardson turned solid defense into instant offense with a score and Adams buried a three to put the game in Fairfield control. Richardson blocked a shot and it went directly to Jada Clark who finished with the final shot to preserve the 53-47 win.
Fairfield outrebounded Mexia 45-21 led by Bossier with 16. Fairfield ended the game with 28 turnovers and hit almost half of their shots. There were only 13 free throws shot in the entire game.
Fairfield will conclude the regular season at home against the Madisonville Lady Mustangs. They have clinched the District 19-4A title and will head toward East Texas in the first round of the playoffs. Keep flipping the pages of the Freestone County Times for playoff information as it comes available.
(Sports Photography by Melissa Lee)
