Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

WAVERLY — The Fairland Lady Dragons made a “To Do” list and then lost it.

The Lady Dragons failed to do what was necessary and it resulted in a 48-33 loss to the No. 2-ranked Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs in the Division III district finals on Saturday.

“We didn’t rebound well. They got a lot of second chance rebounds. The things we knew we needed to do we just didn’t do today,” said Fairland coach Jon Buchanan.

“Hopefully in the future coming back we’ll do that. We just didn’t make plays.”

The game remained close until the four quarter as Fairland’s offense continued to fade. The Lady Dragons were just 14-of-47 from the floor for 30 percent including 6-of-25 in the second half and a mere 2-of-11 in the fourth quarter.

Besides their shooting struggles, the Lady Dragons were guilty of 18 turnovers.

“I don’t know how many times we turned it over and that is uncharacteristic of us. But that’s kind of what they do,” said Buchanan.

“(Lynchburg) is known for pressuring the basketball and getting skill. For the most part in the first half we handled it pretty good and it’s a one-point game. It goes to 15 because we start throwing the ball away.”

Fairland jumped out to an 8-0 lead to begin the game as Allie Marshall and Emily Chapman each hit 3-pointers. But a steal and layup by McKayla Binkley tied the game at 12 to end the quarter.

Both teams had shooting problems. Fairland was 3-of-10 and Lynchburg 2-of-12.

A layup by Taylar Wilson gave Fairland an 18-17 lead with 1:20 left in the half, but it proved to be the last one for the Lady Dragons.

Hannah Binkley hit a trey to put the Lady Mustangs up 20-18. Marshall’s foul shot got Fairland within 20-19 at the half.

“They first quarter they played man and we ate it up. They went zone and kind of changed the game up a little bit. They took (the ball) out of Emily’s hands and kind of forced the other kids to make it,” said Buchanan.

“But those other kids can make shots. We wouldn’t have won 20 games if those others kids wouldn’t have made plays. We didn’t have any problem with anything that was happening out there, we just wanted to see the ball go in the basket and see us throw it a little less to the team in the white and a little more to the team in the green.”

The Lady Mustangs took a six-point lead twice and then a layup by Ali Little and a steal and layup by Peyton Scott pushed the Lynchburg lead to 36-28 at the end of the quarter.

A steal and layup by Hannah Binkley began the fourth quarter and she made a basket at the 5:56 mark for a 40-28 lead. The basket was the 1,000th career points for Binkley.

Fairland (20-4) finally got a trifecta from Taylor Perry with 5:18 to play but their last basket was a 15-footer by Perry with 4:25 left and the Lady Dragons trailed just 42-22.

“The game doesn’t have to be too complicated. You take care of the ball and makes shots and you’ve got a chance to win. You miss shots and don’t take care of the ball you’re not going to win. It doesn’t matter if it’s the district finals or not,” said Buchanan.

Chapman finished with 12 points and Wilson had nine rebounds.

McKayla Binkley had 13 points, Hannah Binkley and Scott 12 each and Little 11 for all of the scoring by the Lady Mustangs (24-1).

Fairland 12 7 9 5 = 33

Lynchburg 12 8 16 12 = 48

FAIRLAND (20-4): Allie Marshall 1 1 1-2 6, Taylar Wilson 2 0 0-0 4, Emily Chapman 3 2 0-0 12, Kelsie Warnock 0 0 0-2 0, Taylor Perry 2 1 0-2 7, Emma Fulton 2 0 0-1 4, Tori Hall 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-47 1-7 33. 3-point goals: 4-18. Rebounds: 12-O, 17-D = 29 (Wilson 9, Warnock 5, Chapman 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 5. Assists: 4. Steals: 7 (Chapman 3, Wilson 2). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 11. Fouled out: None.

LYNCHBURG-CLAY (24-1): Ali Little 5 0 1-2 11, Peyton Scott 6 0 0-0 12, Madison Wills 0 0 0-0 0, Hannan Binkley 3 1 3-4 12, McKayla Binkley 4 1 2-3 13, Lexi Waits 0 0 0-0 0, Vanessa Thiel 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-52 6-9 48. 3-point goals: 2-14. Rebounds: 16-O, 20-D = 36 (Little 11, Scott 7). Team/deadball rebounds: 9. Assists: 4 (H. Binkley 2, M. Binkley 2). Steals: 7 (Scott 4, H. Binkley 2). Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None.