HUNTSVILLE– On a dreary, chilly, rain-soaked night, Fairview made the hour-plus drive up Interstate 65 to take on Columbia in sub-regional action to see who would head to the Northwest Regional.
Both teams started out ice cold in the first. The Lady Aggies were the first to break the scoring drought with a pair of free throws by Abby Taylor. Lizzie Mae Garrison followed Taylor with a three ball to put Fairview up five. They finished out the quarter with another bucket to take a 7-2 lead after one.
Fairview continued the pressure in the second with good ball movement and easy buckets. Columbia kept it close in the second, but Fairview held their lead thanks to a last second, deep 2-pointer by Garrison to give the Lady Aggies the 18-14 advantage heading to the half.
Taylor Yeager quickly pushed the Fairview lead to seven with a three and Dalys Mullican followed with a deep two, upping the lead to nine and forcing a Columbia timeout. Out of the timeout, the Lady Eagles cut the Fairview lead to five before Abby Schnittker buried a three to push the lead back to eight. They were able to add another point to their lead, going up 29-20 heading into the final stanza.
Columbia started the fourth on a 4-0 run to cut the Lady Aggie lead to five, prompting a timeout from the purple and white. On a very questionable drive to the basket, where it appeared that the shooter took four steps toward the hoop, Columbia cut the Fairview lead to just three. 1:30 later, the Lady Eagles took the lead on a 3-point bucket, putting Fairview behind for the first time in the game, trailing 33-31 with 1:53 left to play.
Columbia added to the lead with a pair of free throws, pushing the lead to four and making it a two possession game. Yeager of Fairview then hit a pair of free throws of her own, pulling Fairview back within two. But the Lady Aggies were forced to foul and Columbia was money from the line down the stretch, closing out the game and punching their ticket to the Northwest Regional Tournament at Wallace State Community College by a final score of 42-36.
