HANCEVILLE, Ala. – In our first varsity matchup of the night, West Point and Fairview duked it out for a spot in Thursday night’s semifinals. After a tight first half, West Point fended off an aggressive Lady Aggies team in the second half to earn a 56-44 win and advance to the semifinal round.
Laklin Shadix scored a quick basket for West Point to put them on the scoreboard first. Hallie Wheeler drilled a trey from the left corner to give the Lady Warriors an early 5-0 lead, but a pair of baskets by Jayla Gorham cut it to 5-4. Liberty Shadix put in a three on the other end to make it an 8-4 game. Later on, a pair of free throws by Laklin Shadix and threes by Wheeler and Camryn Faulkner pushed the West Point lead to 16-6 with a little over two minutes to go in the opening period. Gorham put in another basket in the paint, and Darby Nichols drilled a short jumper to make it an 18-10 game. Laklin Shadix got fouled while shooting a three and made two of three from the line to give the Lady Warriors a 20-10 lead going into the second quarter.
Both teams went scoreless for a little over two minutes to start out the second before Liberty Shadix put in a jumper to make it a 22-10 game. An and-one by Gorham made it a 22-13 game, and she later made a tough down low to trim the Fairview deficit to just six at 22-16 with 3:44 remaining in the first half. Jaelyn Faulkner banked in a short shot to give West Point a 24-16 lead, but Gorham drained a trey from the right corner to cut it to 24-19 late in the first half. Liberty Shadix knocked down a pair of shots in the paint to increase the Lady Warrior lead to 28-19 at the half.
Liberty Shadix and Lexi Collins traded baskets to keep it at a nine-point game at 30-21. Laklin Shadix converted on her and-one opportunity to give West Point a 33-21 lead, but a three by Lexi Golden and a free throw by Davi Stidham made it a 34-25 game with a little over four minutes to go in the third period. Liberty Shadix drilled a three to stretch the Lady Warrior lead to 37-25, but four straight points by Stidham made it a 37-29 contest. A layup by Golden cut it to 38-31, but Wheeler drained a trey to give West Point a 41-31 lead. A steal and a layup by Camryn Faulkner made it 43-29, but a trey from the left right corner by Peyton Defoor trimmed the Lady Aggie deficit to just 10 at 43-35. Redding hit a driving layup to cut it to 43-37, but Liberty Shadix drained both shots from the free throw line to make it a 45-37 contest going into the final period.
Five straight points by Jaelyn Faulkner, including an and-one, stretched the Lady Warrior lead to 50-37 early in the fourth, but free throws by Darby Nichols, Golden, and Stidham made it a 52-41 game with a little over three minutes to go in the game. Collins drained a short jumper to cut it to 53-43 late in the game, but a free throw by Jaelyn Faulkner and two by Kealie Harbison gave West Point a 56-44 lead. The Lady Warriors moved on to the semifinal round with a 56-44 win over the Lady Aggies.
Liberty Shadix led the way for West Point with 17 points. Laklin Shadix put in 11 points, while Wheeler and Camryn Faulkner each finished with nine points for the Lady Warriors. Jayla Gorham finished with 15 points for Fairview, and Stidham added nine points.
The Lady Warriors will be back on the court Thursday night at 7:30 to face Cold Springs in the varsity girls’ semifinals.
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