Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

PROCTORVILLE — Things didn’t always looked good during the game, but Fairland liked the looks of the scoreboard after the game.

The Lady Dragons didn’t have their best performance of the season, but they remained unbeaten as they beat the Oak Hill Lady Oaks 63-53 on Thursday.

“It wasn’t pretty all the time, but any time you can beat Oak Hill it’s a good win,” said Fairland coach Jon Buchanan.

“They did a good job double-teaming Terra (Stapleton) everywhere she went, but to Terra’s credit she kept composure.”

Fairland’s defense was able to limit Oak Hill to 5 of 15 shooting from the 3-point line.

“Our plan was to take away the 3s and to take care of the ball. They usually shoot between 30 to 35 3-pointers, so we did a good job there,” said Buchanan.

“We didn’t take care of the ball as well as we should have. A lot of our turnovers were our own fault.”

The Lady Dragons (5-0) had 27 turnovers but their defense forced Oak Hill into 18 turnovers.

Stapleton finished with 20 points, 18 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Taylor Perry scored 14 points and Chandler Fulks had 11 points.

Mackenzie Riley grabbed 8 rebounds and Kelsey Riley had 7.

Leanna Adkins scored 17 points for Oak Hill (5-4) in her first game back from an injury.

The game was tied 12-12 at the end of the first quarter as Merrill Melvin scored 6 points for the Lady Oaks.

Fairland began to pull away in the second quarter by outscoring Oak Hill 17-10 to lead 29-22 at the break.

Haislop scored 6 points in the third quarter as Oak Hill rallied to take the lead, but Perry came up with a steal and layup to put Fairland up for good. The Lady Dragons were up 41-35 at the end of the quarter.

“Perry stepped up tonight. She’s a freshman and she played well in her first big game,” said Buchanan. “She played good defense and scored 14 points. We’re real happy with her performance.”

The Lady Oaks climbed to within 4 points in the fourth quarter, but they were forced to foul and Stapleton went 8 of 8 from the line and Perry 6 of 6 as Fairland converted 13 of 18 free throws in the final stanza.

For the game, Fairland was 24 of 33 and the Lady Oaks only connected on 10 of 21 attempts.

Fairland plays in the Bishop Ready next Thursday in the Liberty Union Yule Classic.

Oak Hill 12 10 13 18 = 53

Fairland 12 17 12 22 = 63

OAK HILL (5-4): Alex Kuhn 2-3 1-4 0-1 7, Kayla Swann 3-8 0-0 2-7 8, Merrill Melvin 3-6 0-0 3-4 9, Abby Haislop 1-9 2-6 1-2 9, Paige Roseberry 0-3 0-1 3-4 3, Leanna Adkins 5-10 2-4 1-3 17, Miranda Melvin 0-0 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-51 10-21 53. 3-point goals: 5-15. Rebounds: 24 (Roseberry 6). Assists: 12 (Adkins 6). Steals: 11 (Kuhn 4). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Melvin.

FAIRLAND (5-0): Haley Woodall 0-0 0-0 2-2 2, Terra Stapleton 4-9 0-0 12-12 20, Kayla Swiger 1-5 0-2 0-0 2, Brianna Dickess 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Chandler Fulks 4-11 1-4 0-0 11, Mackenzie Riley 2-3 0-0 4-13 8, Mariah Chaffin 0-0 0-1 0-0 0, Kelsey Riley 3-5 0-0 0-0 6, Caitlin Stone 0-3 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Perry 4-6 0-0 6-6 14, Jenna Fulks 0-0 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-50 24-33 63. 3-point goals: 1-8. Rebounds: 50 (Stapleton 18, M. Riley 8, K. Riley 7). Assists: 8. Steals: 10. Turnovers: 27. Blocked shots: 6 (Stapleton 4). Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.