FAIRVIEW – Fairview won their first county title in 34 years in the last weekend of January in the Cullman County Tournament at Wallace against Cold Springs. They were looking to end another long streak: 21 years since they won an area championship. That streak is now over as well, as the Lady Aggies came from behind in tonight’s final quarter against West Point, taking the 5A, Area 12 title 58-52.
Early on, it was West Point that got off to a really quick start as two threes by Bailee Yearwood, and layups by Lexi Shadix and Olivia Ball, gave them a 10-3 lead with 3:52 remaining in the first. Coming out of a timeout, Fairview's Abbi Taylor converted a 3-point play to cut the deficit to 10-6, but Ball countered with a three, and Shadix added another layup off a Lady Aggie turnover to push the lead to 15-6. Jada Golden cut the deficit to 15-9 with a three of her own, which was the score after one.
Ball stretched the lead to nine with another three. Micah Oldacre got fouled while shooting a three; she made 2-of-3 from the line, plus Lillie Burdette added a layup to up the lead to 22-9, prompting coach Mary Lauren Hartline to burn a timeout with 5:06 remaining in the first half. Shadix increased the lead to 24-9 with another layup, then Golden scored the next six points to cut the lead to 24-15. West Point countered with four in a row to push the lead back to double-digits at 28-15, but Fairview finished with a 5-0 run of their own behind another three by Golden and a layup by Maci Yeager to cut the lead to 28-20 at the half.
Mackenzie Carter hit a three on West Point's opening possession to increase the lead to 31-20, but Golden nailed another three and Taylor Yeager scored her first points of the game on a 3-point play to swivel the lead to 31-26 with only 53 seconds coming off the clock. Taylor Yeager added two more from the line to cut the lead to three. Each team traded layups on their next possessions. Yearwood increased the Lady Warrior lead to 40-32 on a three from the left wing. Each team got sloppy on their next few possessions before both traded layups to make the score 42-34 after three.
Fairview started their run early in the final quarter, forcing West Point into turnovers and bad shot selection. Taylor Yeager helped start a 13-0 run by scoring seven, followed by a free throw by Abby Schnittker, and a long jumper by Maci Yeager, giving the Lady Aggies a 44-42 lead, then Golden nailed a three from the left wing to increase the lead to 47-42. Shadix hit two free throws for West Point's first points of the quarter, then Taylor Yeager added four more points to push the lead back to five at 51-46. Taylor split from the line; she grabbed her own miss on the second free throw and hit a layup to give them a much-needed basket to push the cushion to 54-47. Yearwood nailed a huge three to cut the lead to 54-50 with 1:21 remaining; she added two more from the line to cut the lead to two. But a layup by Taylor and one free throw each by Taylor Yeager and Golden sealed the win for Fairview, who will host the sub-regional game next Monday at 7 p.m.
Golden finished with 19 points and added a pair of late steals. Taylor added 14 points and eight rebounds. Taylor Yeager finished with 15 points, three rebounds and six steals, all of them coming in the second half. Fairview improved to 24-5 on the season.
"We started off really tight," Hartline said. "We needed to loosen up, and we did. This was the best shooting night that West Point has had against us. They made us change our defense. We have had trouble finishing games and quarters, but we did that tonight. We finished."
She added, "This was our team's first area championship since 1996. The girls have worked so hard to get here, and I am really proud of them."
She was quick to praise the big play of Yeager in the final quarter.
"She played big in that quarter. That's what we expect out of her."
Yearwood finished with 15 points for West Point. Ball had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and she added four steals. Shadix added 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. They fell to 20-8 on the season. They will travel to No. 2 Wenonah on Monday in hopes of keeping their season alive.
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