After being down by as many as 15 points midway through the second period, the Fair Play Lady Hornets (7-8) relied on hot shooting, tight defensive pressure and an enthusiastic home crowd to earn a 54-48 comeback victory over the Wheatland Lady Mules (12-5) on Tuesday.
It was Wheatland that seemed to have all the answers on defense in the game's opening 16 minutes as head coach Jeremiah Bryan's team held Fair Play to just three field goals.
With the game tied at seven in the first quarter, that drought allowed Wheatland to post a 15-0 run over a span of nearly seven minutes to grab a 22-7 edge after a free-throw by sophomore guard Gracie Fatino at the second stanza's 3:44 mark.
“I think a lot of it with the girls is that they haven't quite figured out how to come out at a strong tempo at the beginning,” Fair Play head coach Alicia Mercer said about her team's early struggles. “They have that desire and they have that push to do it, they just haven't figured out how to come out strong.”
Taking the floor for the second half, the issue of not being able to come out strong out of the locker room was, well, a non-issue.
Junior forwards and twin sisters Paige and Maysee Harman put the team on their shoulders to ultimately help construct a 33-18 Lady Hornets spurt over the next 12 minutes of play to tie the game at 40 with 1.8 seconds remaining in the third.
Turnovers were another major factor in the Fair Play comeback bid. After turning the ball over 12 times in the first half, Fair Play gave up possession a grand total of just four times in the third quarter.
“In the second half, I made it quite clear that it would be an emphasis of importance and it was,” Mercer said about taking care of the basketball. “That's what turns games around is when you do the little things right.”
While Fair Play was playing much more efficiently on offense, the Lady Hornets made Wheatland a victim of a heavy late-game press which forced the Lady Mules, who already had two of their starting guards in serious foul trouble, to give up the ball ten times over the final 16 minutes.
“Turnovers were huge,” said Bryan. “We couldn't handle the ball during that press. It seems like when we don't have all three of our guards out there, we just panic instead of having the confidence of being able to do it yourself.”
With the score tied at 44, Maysee Harman would finally give Fair Play the lead for good on an easy layup with 4:45 to go and help make the thought of a potential upset over its Polk County League foe a reality.
The Harman sisters combined to score 25 points on the night, while Anna Reeves contributed eleven points off the bench.
Madi Sutt and Gracie Fatino tallied 18 and 17 points for Wheatland, respectively.
Box Score
Wheatland – 12 16 12 8 – 48
Fair Play – 7 10 23 14 – 54
Wheatland – Madi Sutt 18, Gracie Fatino 17, Ashley Horton 8, Ashley Poley 2, McKinsey Bryan 2, Katlin Pickens 1
Fair Play – Paige Harman 14, Maysee Harman 11, Anna Reeves, 11, Miranda Lightfoot 8, Dahlia Simpson 6, Ashton Curl 4
