Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The final four minutes were the difference.
Class 3-A No. 1-ranked Huntington finished the game strong as the Lady Highlanders pulled away from the Fairland Lady Dragons 58-39 on Monday.
Fairland (11-1) was paced by Emily Chapman with 17 points including three 3-point goals.. Taylar Wilson had eight points.
The Lady Highlanders (10-2) were led by Mariah Harmon with a game-high 18 points. Jordyn Dawson had 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots while Kearsta Turner added 10.
“Dawson can dominate the game with offense, defense and physicality. We knew she was good,” said Lady Dragons’ coach Jon Buchanan.
“We handled their press pretty well but not making shots or rebounding. They’re the most talented team we’ll face.”
Chapman and Kelsie Warnock combined for nine points in the first quarter and Fairland trailed 21-14.
Huntington extended the lead to 31-14 at the half and it was 40-25 after three quarter.
But Chapman scored 10 points including a 3-pointer to cap an 11-4 run and Fairland trailed 44-36 with 4:14 to go.
However, Huntington went on a 9-0 run as Harmon scored five points to settle the outcome.
“We missed a bunch of easy shots. We didn’t played extremely well as far as finishing. We played pretty well in our half-court defensive,” said Buchanan.
Fairland hosts Rock Hill on Thursday.
Fairland    14    4    7    14    =    39
Huntington    21    10    9    18    =    58
FAIRLAND (11-1): Allie Marshall 0 0 2-2 2, Taylar Wilson 3 0 2-4 8, Emily Chapman 2 3 4-4 17, Morgan Fridley 0 0 0-0 0, Kelsie Warnock 3 0 0-2 6, Issy McKinney 1 0 0-0 2, Alesha Simpson 1 0 1-2 3, Jackie Wagner 0 0 1-2 1. Totals: 10 3 10-16 39. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: Simpson.
HUNTINGTON (10-2): Kearsta Turner 2 2 0-0 10, Alezha Turner 1 0 0-0 2, Mariah Harmon 4 1 7-11 18, Kierra Crawford 0 0 0-0 0, Lexi Sheffield 1 2 0-0 8, Madison Slash 2 0 0-0 4, Jordyn Dawson 7 0 2-6 16. Totals: 17 5 9-17 58. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.