HANCEVILLE – Not having a healthy Abbi Taylor, along with an ineffective second quarter, was too much for the Fairview Lady Aggies to overcome Wednesday afternoon when they played No. 2 Wenonah for the Class 5A Northwest Regional title.
Wenonah went back to Birmingham with its fifth consecutive regional crown, turning back Fairview 67-46 at Tom Drake Coliseum.
The loss concluded the best season ever for Fairview, with 28 wins against seven losses. The 2017 Cullman County tournament champion came into the game with 14 straight victories and a No. 10 state ranking in the 5A class.
A close first period against an athletic Wenonah team had the Lady Aggies down by only the score of 16-13.
But in the second period, three possessions in which they failed to score and losing Taylor for half of the quarter from a foot injury hampered the chances of the Lady Aggies to hang in with the Lady Dragons.
Wenonah led 32-20 at halftime.
"We did the best we could," coach Mary Hartline stated after the game. "We did go cold. The shooting was not where we wanted it. We had two goals coming into the game, turnovers and blocking out on rebounds. We got past half court consistently."
The first-half shooting was only 6-of-26 and 2-of-13 in a three-point attack that featured a variety of weapons.
Fairview was outscored 20-13 in the third period by the Lady Dragons, with hopes of a comeback evaporating, as they trailed 52-33.
The Lady Aggies were only outscored 15-13 in the fourth, with Jada Golden hitting a pair of treys and Taylor Yeager scoring on a drive to finish her final game of the season with 10 points.
Guard Abby Schnittker was steady during the afternoon, scoring 12 points, shooting 4-of-4 from the line and getting five rebounds.
Yeager delivered 10 to the total, Golden scored nine; Maci Yeager shined off the bench scoring seven, with Taylor limited to six points due to the injury she suffered when a Wenonah player stepped on her foot. Taylor played only 14-and-a-half minutes.
Jordan Moore scored two from the line as Fairview showed accuracy by shooting 90 percent in the game on 9-of-10 from the stripe.
Taylor, Yeager and Schnittker earned selections to the all-tournament team.
Leading Wenonah, who improved to 28-3, was Jayla Morrow, who scored 20 and was named the regional MVP. Alexus Dye netted 15 while Faith Reynolds scored 13.
Fairview loses Golden and Maci Yeager to graduation. Hartline had a hard time holding back the tears about how hard these two have worked since she started coaching in the middle school program at Fairview seven years ago.
Hartline now has three seasons leading the varsity, and Fairview has posted 66 wins and been in the Northwest Regional two of the three years, earning a berth to the title game.
Yeager, Taylor, Schnittker and McKinna Yearwood will anchor an experienced squad next season, along with depth from Daiyla Dean, Jordan Moore and Katie Ball.
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