Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

SOUTH POINT — If someone makes a mistake, they should get a second chance.

If you miss a first shot, the Fairland Lady Dragons don’t believe in allowing a second chance.

Fairland limited South Point’s second chance attempts as the Lady Dragons rolled to a 64-44 win over the Lady Pointers Monday in a battle for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference race.

“Before the game we talked about not giving up any second chance shots, especially in the first half,” said Fairland coach Jon Buchanan. “We did a great job of that and we got a lot of second chance shots and that was without Terra (Stapleton) a lot of the time.”

The 6-foot-4 Stapleton had 14 points and eight rebounds despite playing only about 10 minutes the entire game due to foul trouble.

But Caitlin Stone and Taylor Perry had five offensive boards each to help overcome Stapleton’s absence. Mackenzie Riley had seven rebounds.

Kelsey Riley scored a career-high 15 points and Stone had 14 points as Fairland improved to 8-3 overall and 5-0 in the league. Fairland has won 28 straight league games.

“We got major contributions from other girls. Caitlin Stone had a real good first half. We had some other girls step up and give us more production than we’re used to getting,” said Buchanan.

Brianna Bacon scored 11 points to lead the Lady Pointers (10-2, 3-1).

Fairland led 18-12 at the end of the first quarter. Stone then scored 11 points in the second quarter and the defense held South Point to just seven points and it was 34-19 at the break.

“We played well. We played good defense. We rebounded the basketball. Those were the things we talked about in the locker room,” said Buchanan.

Stapleton scored nine points in the third quarter as Fairland blitzed the Lady Pointers 23-6 in the third quarter to open up its biggest lead at 57-25.

The Lady Dragons matched that 32-point spread with a 62-30 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Fairland 18 16 23 7 = 64

South Point 12 7 6 19 = 44

FAIRLAND (8-3, 5-0): Stapleton 6 0 2-2 14, Tiffani Christian 0 0 0-0 0, Taylor Staten 0 0 0-0 0, Morgan Manns 0 0 0-0 0, Mollie Morris 2 0 0-0 4, Brianna Dickess 1 0 0-0 2, Chandler Fulks 2 0 1-2 5, Mackenzie Riley 1 0 2-2 4, Kelsey Riley 6 0 3-5 15, Caitlin Stone 2 2 4-6 14, Taylor Perry 1 0 2-3 4, Whitney Huff 0 0 0-0 0, Jenna Fulks 1 0 1-6 3, Maddy Kazee 0 0 0-1 0. Totals: 22 2 14-27 64. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Staten.

SOUTH POINT (10-2, 3-1): Haley Rawlins 0 1 2-3 5, Bonnie Hileman 1 0 1-2 3, Brooklyn Badgett 0 2 2-3 8, Brett Justice 1 1 0-1 5, Taylor Dillow 0 0 0-0 0, Olivia Abner 0 0 1-2 1, Brianna Bacon 4 0 3-8 12, Abbey Winkler 1 0 2-3 4, Lakin Adams 1 0 0-2 2, Aundrea Bradburn 0 1 2-2 5. Totals: 8 5 13-26 44. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None.