DANVILLE — It will be Fairview's first appearance in the Danville Lady Hawks Thanksgiving Classic semifinal round following a huge 48-39 victory Wednesday over Decatur in the quarterfinals.
Fairview utilized its quickness in the backcourt with Taylor Yeager, Jada Golden, Abby Schnittker, Lizzie Garrison and McKinna Yearwood causing havoc to Decatur ballhandlers. Numerous turnovers were forced and a much quicker tempo by Mary Hartline's Lady Aggies than what Decatur coach Brad Boy wanted to get involved with.
The Lady Aggies were able to hang with a physical Decatur front line, despite allowing Christina Decay 13 points inside. Getting out to an 11-0 first quarter lead and never trailing was a determining factor in Fairview getting its fourth straight victory.
Fairview did see the deficit get cut to 13-11 early in the second and regrouped to lead 31-17 at halftime. Once again, Decatur made a run and narrowed it to 33-28 in the third, only to see the Lady Aggies fight it off and carry a 36-28 lead into the final period of play.
Taylor Yeager had 22 for the Lady Aggies with center Abbi Taylor scoring 11 and Lizzie Garrison producing six.
Fairview gets a semifinal game Friday at 12:40 p.m. vs. tournament host Danville who had Wednesday off after posting wins over West Point and Carbon Hill Saturday.
The other semifinal is between Brewer and Athens. Brewer, the defending tournament champion, knocked off Cold Springs 49-41 while Athens held off Lawrence County 62-58 in a quarterfinal game of undefeated teams.
Bailey West netted 18 with Emme Willoughby getting 10 in a game where the Lady Eagles had problems getting into an offensive flow.
Taylor Hall pumped in 22 to get Athens by Lawrence County and on to the Final Four with a 7-0 record.
Rachael Childress, a UAB signee, powered Lawrence County with 34 points.
Holly Pond and West Point posted consolation bracket triumphs on Wednesday. Holly Pond drilled Hatton 61-30 behind Ruth Horton's 20 points and Melissa Clingman with 16.
West Point snapped a 5-game losing streak, routing Carbon Hill 67-33 as Olivia Ball scored 15, Tess Hembree 14, Jeri Beasley 11 and Bailee Yearwood nine.
Good Hope lost in the closing seconds to Falkville 32-28. Leading the Lady Raiders was Kaylee Maddox with 10 and Kelly Pickett with nine.
Friday Schedule for County Teams
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Cold Springs vs. Lawrence Co 11:20 a.m. at Danville, 2nd game TBA
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Fairview vs. Danville 12:40 p.m. at Danville, 2nd game TBA
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Good Hope vs. Hatton 10 a.m., Vs. Russellville 4:40 p.m. at Falkville
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Holly Pond vs. West Point 12:40 p.m., 2nd game TBA at Falkville
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West Point vs. Holly Pond 12:40 p.m. at Falkville, 2nd game TBA
