FORT PAYNE – A shootout in the first round of the Wills Valley Girls Shootout featured Fairview and Eufaula, led by talented scoring guards, Taylor Yeager from Fairview and Jirah Ards of Eufaula.
The difference in Eufaula's 72-60 victory Wednesday afternoon was a 13-0 run by the Lady Tigers in the third quarter after Fairview moved into the lead.
Ards produced six points in that span as the No. 8 team in the current 5A state poll stayed in front, sending Fairview to the consolation bracket for the rest of the tournament on the campus of Fort Payne High School.
Yeager was a factor for Mary Hartline's Lady Aggies as they trailed by a margin of 29-20 with 4:29 to play in the second period.
The floor leader for the Lady Aggies got her team's final 11 points, with a 3-pointer to tie the score at 31-31 to end the first half. Yeager had 20 points after 16:00 of play, doing what she could to keep her squad in contention.
A good start in the third period saw Fairview go ahead 40-36 with a field goal from close range by Abbi Taylor, then two free throws from the post player. That was the largest lead for Fairview. It didn't last long.
Eufaula kept Fairview from scoring for more than four minutes and got good play from Ards and Rachel Johnson out of the backcourt to take the lead and control the contest. Eufaula led 49-40 before the drought ended for the Lady Aggies on a three by Jada Golden with 1:42 to go in the period.
Fairview was in striking distance, down by a margin of 53-46, heading into the fourth.
Ards controlled the game for the Lady Tigers at the foul line. The senior was 7-of-8 in the final 3:00 to extend the lead from 60-53 to a final margin of 72-60. Ards had 33 points in the game, shooting 15-of-18 from the foul line. Johnson provided support for the Lady Tigers with 18 points on 7-of-15 from the field, scoring three times from long distance.
Eufaula is now 8-1 on the season with eight consecutive wins. The Lady Tigers began the season with a loss to Auburn.
Yeager nearly matched the scoring of Ards, collecting 31 points as she was 10-of-20 shooting, 7-of-16 in three-pointers and 4-of-4 from the line. Taylor tossed in 13 points, Abby Schnittker scored seven, Golden six and Maci Yeager three.
Fairview shot well from the line, getting 15-of-18 for 83 percent as Taylor was 7-of-8 with Yeager 4-of-4 and Schnittker 3-of-4.
But the scoring drought of more than 4:00 was the difference, putting the Lady Aggies into an 11 a.m. game Thursday with Scottsboro, instead of a 5 p.m. semifinal vs. Hokes Bluff.
Hokes Bluff began the session coming from behind to beat Scottsboro 32-31, getting the game winning shot with 10 seconds remaining.
Fairview is 12-5 for the season and has played four consecutive opponents ranked in the Top 10 in three different classifications.
It began last Tuesday with a 56-51 loss to No. 4 Cold Springs from 2A, was followed by a 46-32 win last Friday at No. 9 West Point in 5A, then a 56-53 loss Monday to No. 9 Brewer from 6A and today's game against No. 8 Eufaula out of 5A.
Cold Springs is currently undefeated, Brewer has one loss, West Point two losses and Eufaula one loss.
Scottsboro will enter the matchup with Fairview with a record of 5-8.
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