WELLSTON — With the kind of heart the Fairland Lady Dragons showed, they had to be coach Mindy Chapman’s Valentines.

Heavy underdogs coming into Saturday’s Division III sectional tournament semifinal game, the Lady Dragons upset the Paint Valley Lady Bearcats 64-63.

“We played a great first half. Paint Valley came out (in the second) half and picked up their defense. We had a harder time offensively in the second half,” Chapman said.

“But the girls played with a lot of hear. We have intensified our playing as a team the second half of the season and came together to play better team ball and make better individual decisions.”

Shea Berry led Fairland with 17 points and 3 assists. MacKenzie Rucker had 12 points and Destinee Spears got 12 points and 5 rebounds.

Maggie Cooper scored 21 to lead Paint Valley. Tristen Rumfield had 15 and Whitney Holler scored 14.

Fairland exploded for 28 points in the first quarter to take a commanding 28-10 lead. Berry had 12 points in the quarter and Spears scored 7.

The offense wasn’t as potent in the second quarter but still scored 13 points as Rucker got 6. Cooper and Holler combined for 11 points and the Lady Bearcats trailed 41-25 at the half.

Cooper scored 8 more points in the third quarter as Paint Valley cut the deficit to 56-45.

The Lady Bearcats continued to rally in the fourth quarter, but Molly Bumgardner was 3 of 4 from the line and Berry made two more as Fairland held on for the win.

The Lady Dragons Cinderella run came to an end Monday when they lost to top-seed Alexander 60-27.

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FAIRLAND (12-10): Destinee Spears 5 0 2-5 12, Megan Auxier 0 1 0-0 3, Shea Berry 4 1 6-8 17, Molly Bumgardner 1 0 4-6 6, MacKenzie Phillips 4 1 1-4 12, Beth Schlegel 0 0 0-0 0, Christin Capper 1 0 1-2 3, Laren Phillips 0 0 0-0 0, Erika Smoot 1 0 0-0 2, Megan Brooks 1 0 1-3 3, Emily McMaster 2 0 2-2 6. Totals: 22-61

17-30

64. 3-point goals 3-7. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 25 (Auxier 5, Spears 5, Bumgardner 4). Assists: 9 (Berry 3, Rucker 2). Turnovers: 18.

PAINT VALLEY (12-9): Tristen Rumfield 3 0 9-13 15, Cassie Sharp 1 0 0-0 2, Erica Barker 1 0 0-0 2, Whitney Holler 6 0 2-4 14, Maggie Cooper 10 0 1-5 21, Bree Knauff 0 0 0-0 0, Lacy Spurlock 1 0 1-2 3, Chelsea Wright 3 0 0-0 6. Totals: 25-67

13-24

63. 3-point goals: 0-2. Fouls: 20. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 40 (Cooper 14, Rumfield 7). Assists: 7 (Rumfield 3, Cooper 2, Wright 2). Turnovers: 21.