FAIRVIEW – Fairview looked to punch their ticket to the Northwest Regionals for the third consecutive season, but it was not an easy road to get there as they took on the Pleasant Grove Lady Spartans Monday night. It was not the prettiest of performances for the Lady Aggies, but they got hot at the right time and hit just enough free throws to win, 55-48, to clinch a spot at Wallace State.
McKinna Yearwood got the scoring started for Fairview with a 3-pointer. Aylliah Curry hit a layup to get Pleasant Grove on the scoreboard. Yearwood nailed another three to give Fairview an early 6-2 lead, but Curry hit a three and Destiny Garrett hit a layup to give the Lady Spartans a 7-6 lead. Behind a three by Jada Golden, and layups by Abby Schnittker and Taylor Yeager, Fairview finished the quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 13-9 lead after one.
A Raven Hand three cut the deficit to 13-12 to start off the second quarter, but each team turned it over on their next possessions. After that, Fairview pounded the ball inside to Abbi Taylor, who scored the next seven points for the Lady Aggies, the first on a free throw, during a 7-2 run, to increase the lead to 20-14. The Lady Spartans countered with a mini 5-0 run to cut the lead back to one. Curry gave Pleasant Grove a 21-20 run with a layup, but Maci Yeager nailed a jumper before the buzzer sounded to give Fairview a 22-21 lead at the half.
After Taylor increased the lead to 29-25 on a layup with 4:49 remaining in the third quarter, Fairview widened it to 34-27 on a Golden short jumper and a Taylor Yeager three from the right wing off a Lady Spartan turnover and widened it to nine on a pair of Taylor free throws. Pleasant Grove answered with a 6-2 run of their own as Takia Bradberry got a loose ball and laid it up and in before the buzzer sounded to cut the deficit to 38-33 entering the final quarter.
Yearwood nailed another three to widen the lead to 41-35 with 6:37 remaining in the game. Garrett scored the next four points for Pleasant Grove to cut the lead to 41-39. Fairview answered on another Taylor layup and another Taylor Yeager three to increase the lead to 46-39. Garrett and Curry helped lead a 6-0 Lady Spartan run to cut the deficit to one. But they were not able to grab the lead as Taylor added another layup and Fairview hit seven free throws at the end to hold on and advance to Wallace on Monday afternoon at noon to play Lawrence County, who squeezed by Lee tonight, 51-50.
Taylor had 15 points, 14 rebounds and three steals for Fairview. Yearwood also finished with 15 points, three rebounds and two assists. Taylor Yeager ended up with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists. Golden finished with eight points and six rebounds. They improve to 27-6 on the season.
"I thought Taylor, Abbi and McKinna hit huge shots during the game," Fairview coach Mary Lauren Hartline said. "These girls have worked really hard, and I am glad to see them get this experience."
But she was not happy with her team's performance at the free-throw line. They shot 9-of-20 from there.
She added, "I am really disappointed with our free-throw performance. We normally shoot better than this."
Garrett finished with 14 points, six rebounds and six steals for Pleasant Grove, who ends the season with a 24-8 record. Curry had 13 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Bradberry ended up with eight points and six rebounds.
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