Battling for the ball in the championship game is Madisonville vs. Martin Mill during Fairfield’s Invitational Basketball Tournament last week…
The Fairfield Lady Eagles had to go to overtime in the third-place game of the Fairfield Invitational Basketball Tournament. The 60-59 win put the Lady Eagles on the trophy stand.
The tournament started off in dominating fashion with two lopsided victories in the opening rounds. They jumped out to a 29-7 lead on the Anderson-Shiro Lady Owls and coasted to a 67-18 win. Da’Meka Shed led the way with 17 points and Kamri Griffin poured in 12 more in the win.
The Lady Eagle defense held Anderson Shiro to only seven field goals and forced 31 turnovers. Shed had five steals and Jasmine Jones three.
Fairfield had much of the same in the winner’s side of the bracket. They routed the Mabank Lady Panthers 67-33 to advance to the tournament semifinals. They led 37-17 at the half and cruised to the second-round victory. Shed added 18 points and Makayla Thurman scored 11.
Fairfield moved on to the tournament semifinal and faced the Martins Mill Lady Mustangs. Fairfield trailed after one period and could not make up the difference throughout the game and Martins Mill won 72-51 to move on to the tournament final.
Da’Meka Shed powered the way for the Lady Eagles with 29 points. Her output was one of the highest scoring games of the tournament. She hit two three pointers and nine of her 12 free throw attempts. Briley Moon scored 20 for the second time and two others joined her in double figures.
The final had the Diboll Lady Jacks and the Fairfield Lady Eagles playing for third place. The game was 33-32 heading into the final quarter and Brandi Carter and Shed made a pair of baskets to build a small lead. The Lady Jacks hit four three pointers in the fourth and the see-saw battle went to overtime. Josey Richardson sc
ored a pair of baskets in the paint and Makayla Thurman had a driving lay up to tie the game. She added a free throw with four seconds left to send the game into the extra period.
Richardson scored on a short jumper and had three of four free throws and Shed added a ten-foot jumper. Diboll hit a three at the buzzer but they were down by four and the Lady Eagles claimed the 60-59 win.
Shed led the Lady Eagles with 19 points and Thurman and Richardson each had 11 in the win. Williams of Diboll poured in 28 to lead all scorers.
DAY ONE
Mabank 47, Corsicana 30
Marsh had 15 points and German tossed in 12 to lead the Mabank Lady Panthers to a 47-30 win to open the Fairfield Invitational Basketball Tournament. They would take on Fairfield on the winner’s side of the bracket.
Diboll 50, Centerville 45
Brittany West scored 15 for the Lady Tigers but it was not enough to move to the winner’s side of the bracket. Boykins and Mitchell each scored in double figures to claim the win.
Martins Mill 81, Normangee 40
Moon scored 20 points to lead five in double figures and the Martins Mill Lady Mustangs easily defeated the Normangee Lady Panthers in the first round. Jones scored 20 to match top scoring honors in the loss.
Bryan 58, Princeton 50
Nowlin scored 14 of her game high 21 points in the second half to lead the Bryan Lady Vikings in the win over Princeton. Nakeita Mack scored 15 points and Shelbi Cook added 13 points.
Madisonville 51, Hou. Second Baptist 26
Smith scored 12 points in the first half and had two three pointers in the second half and the Lady Mustangs advanced to the winner’s side of the bracket. They have had great success in the Fairfield tournament and held Second Baptist to two point in the final period.
Melissa 44, Crockett 35
Butterfield hit two three pointers in the second half and the Melissa Cardinals held the Lady Bulldogs to only eight points in the second half. The Lady Cards broke the game open with a 20-2 run throughout the third period in the win.
China Spring 67, Cedar Hill Trinity Christian 34
Snyder hit four three pointers and finished with 16 points and the Lady Cougars defeated Cedar Hill Trinity Christian 67-34. The Lady Cougars led at the half 35-16.
DAY TWO
Corsicana 45, Anderson Shiro 36
K. Watts nailed three three pointers, one in each of the first three quarters to propel the Corsicana Lady Tigers through the consolation bracket on day two. They trailed 16-13 at the half but gained the lead with a 17-point outburst in the third and kept the lead with solid free throw shooting.
Martins Mill 70, Bryan 37
The Martins Mill Lady Mustangs built a 42-15 lead and never looked back in their second win of the tournament. Briley Moon hit five three pointers and scored 20 points lead all scorers. Camacho scored 14 of her tournament high 16 in the win.
Princeton 53, Normangee 40
Normangee got into early foul trouble and could not overcome it and Princeton advanced through to the consolation semifinal. Shelbi Cook hit seven of 11 free throws to build a 28-20 halftime lead and they held on in the final half.
Madisonville 47, Melissa 35
The Lady Mustangs played their entire roster in the second game of the tournament and got by the Melissa Lady Cardinals 47-35. The stellar Lady Mustang defense allowed only two points in the first quarter. Smith led the way for the second time in the tournament with 12 points.
Hou. Second Baptist 33, Crockett 32
This was the most competitive in the tournament. Neither team got a lead of more than four points in the game. It was tied at 15-15 in the first half and Crockett led 24-22 at the end of the third period. Kollmorgan scored 10 points to lead the way for Second Baptist.
Diboll 47, China Spring 44
The Diboll Lady Jacks had a 23-10 lead at the half and had to stave off a late Lady Cougar rally to continue in the winner’s side of the bracket. Perkins scored 14 of her game high 18 points in the second half to fuel the comeback attempt that fell just short.
Centerville 40, Cedar Hill Trinity Christian 35
Matthews and West scored 10 points each and the Centerville Lady Tigers had a 35-21 lead heading into the final period. Cedar Hill Trinity Christian got hot and outscored Centerville 14-5 but it was not enough to defeat Centerville.
Bryan 63, Mabank 61
Nowlin scored 15 of her game high 23 points in the second half and they needed every one of them to hold off the Mabank Lady Panthers 63-61. The game was tied 51-51 leading into the fourth quarter. German scored 18 for the Lady Panthers, all of them in the first half.
Normangee 48, Anderson Shiro 38
Jones scored 15 of her game high 19 in the second half and the Normangee Lady Panthers chalked their first tournament victory.
China Spring 51, Melissa 40
Cleveland scored 16 points and the Lady Cougars moved on with their second tournament win.
DAY THREE
Centerville 52, Hou. Second Baptist 44
The Centerville Lady Tigers opened the final day of play with a 52-44 over Second Baptist. Brewer scored all of her points in the first half the 12-point halftime lead helped the Lady Tigers to victory.
Cedar Hill Trinity Christian 53, Crockett 46
Trinity Christian outscored the Lady Bulldogs 14-5 in overtime to push the Lady Bulldogs toward a winless tournament.
Princeton 44, Corsicana 27
The Princeton Lady Tigers allowed only three points in the third quarter and had enough offense to move to the consolation final. Shelbi Cook scored 11 points to pace the Lady Tigers.
Normangee 61, Melissa 44
Smith scored nine of her 11 points in the first half and claimed a win on the final day of the tournament over the Melissa Lady Cardinals.
Mabank 45, Anderson Shiro 18
The Anderson Shiro Lady Owls were the tired ones playing twice in three hours. They replaced the China Spring Lady Cougars who needed to make their quarterfinal football game. They trailed by 18 at the half.
Madisonville 44, Diboll 41
Smith hit a three pointer late in the fourth quarter and Leveston hit a pair of free throws and the Lady Mustangs advanced to the tournament final.
Hou. Second Baptist 36, Corsicana 33
Weison and Schroeder had a total of three free throws and no baskets were scored in the overtime win for Second Baptist. Corsicana only scored six points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Melissa 60, Bryan 55
Nemons scored 21 points and hit seven of nine free throws in the Lady Cardinals win on the final day.
Crockett 59, Anderson Shiro 29
This was the fifth game for the Lady Owls and the outcome was not surprising. James score 23 points and it was the fewest fouls in the entire tournament. Only 14 fouls were called in the game.
Princeton 53, Centerville 46
The Princeton Lady Tigers scored 26 points in the fourth quarter and claimed the consolation trophy. Shelbi Cook scored 17 points to lead the Lady Tigers.
TOURNAMENT FINAL
Martins Mill 49, Madisonville 43
Briley Moon scored 11 points in the final minutes to claim a hard-fought win over the Madisonville Lady Mustangs. She made six of seven free throws down the stretch. Martins Mill made 13 of 18 free throws in the final quarter to claim the tournament title.
