The Fairfield Lady Eagles claimed a road win and a home win for the week to remain on top of the District 20-3A and the state Class 3A rankings.
On Tuesday, the Lady Eagles visited the Groesbeck Lady Goats. Fairfield built a 56-9 halftime lead and cruised to an 83-16 win.
Fairfield forced 11 first period turnovers and held Groesbeck to five points and only allowed three shots to be taken from the field. Shadasia Brackens and McKinna Brackens used their scoring and passing ability to move the ball around to teammates and each other. Shadasia Brackens scored 11 of her game high 19 points in the first period and Avery Thaler added six more.
With the game well in hand, the starters gave way to the reserves and they extended the lead even further. Fairfield forced a total of 38 turnovers and seven second half points.
The Friday game had the Franklin Lady Lions coming to the Johnson Activity Center. The Lady Lions were able to keep pace throughout the first period but the Lady Eagles pulled away over the final three periods.
Karaline Smitherman closed the Lady Lion deficit in the opening minutes by giving her team a made three pointer and closing the lead to 6-5. They would take a 10-9 lead with 1:25 remaining in the period on a Hallie Fannin three pointer. Fairfield freshman guard Kaylee Williams found McKinna Brackens for a score to put the Lady Eagles back on top at the end of the first period 11-10.
The next two periods showed the dominance of Fairfield. McKinna Brackens scored two straight times and Thaler added finishes on passes from McKinna Brackens and Jimilyah Nash. Blayke Brackens added a pair of scores and the Fairfield Lady Eagles outscored Franklin 19-0 and took a 30-10 lead into the locker room.
Franklin forced so many shots in the middle two period they ended up missing 14 straight shots and did not add another score until 3:27 remaining in the third period to cut the lead to 37-12. Fairfield made their final eight shots of the period, six of the seven by the Brackens dynamic duo and the final one by Williams. Fairfield added 20 points to the lead and were ahead 52-12 with eight minutes to play.
Franklin did score some in the fourth period against the reserves for Fairfield but the end result was a Lady Eagle 59-25 win.
The Fairfield Lady Eagles continue to lead the district standings at 11-0 and hold a significant lead over the Mexia Ladycats, Franklin Lady Lions and Teague Lady Lions.
They will travel to Mexia on Tuesday and should wrap up the district title next week and prepare for their goal of a fourth consecutive state tournament appearance.
(Photos by Payton Botelho)
