By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
It had been 12 years since Fair Grove’s girls basketball team won a sectional game.
It’s been 14 since the Eagles won in the quarterfinals. They’ll get a chance, though, on Saturday.
Fair Grove built a big lead to open the game and then did it again in the second half as the Eagles knocked off Diamond 62-52 on Tuesday in a Class 3 sectional at Carthage High School.
The Eagles (25-4) advance to face Mansfield (25-4) this weekend in the quarterfinals in Warrensburg in a rematch of a December contest that Fair Grove won handily.
“We had the goal of getting to the district championship game and winning it, and then getting to a sectional,” Fair Grove coach Jenny Talbert said. “We’re looking at these little goals and taking it one game at a time and trying to enjoy the ride. These girls are really focused on keeping our season going. They want to go to practice, they want to have another game.”
Against a Diamond team that just won its first district title since 1986, the Eagles jumped out to a 20-6 lead to open the game. But by halftime, the Wildcats (22-6) had cut it to 30-25 thanks in part to a 10-point second quarter from junior Grace Frazier.
And then Frazier opened the second half with a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game.
But Fair Grove sophomore Ashton Bell answered with a triple 18 seconds later. Bell scored eight points in the third and senior Kameron Green added six as the Eagles pushed their lead to 46-34 by the end of three.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Again, Frazier opened the fourth with a 3-pointer to get back within single digits. Again, Fair Grove answered, this time on a 3-pointer by sophomore Emma Padgett.
Sophomore Brooke Daniels followed with an offensive rebound and score and later made a 3-pointer. After a free throw by Bell with 4:52 remaining, the Eagles led 55-37.
Diamond got back within 10 on two occasions in the final minute-plus of the game, both on Frazier 3-pointers. It was too little, too late for the Wildcats.
“I was proud of the girls for fighting,” Talbert said. “We didn’t play our best, and give Diamond credit, they played really well. Grace Frazier shot the ball extremely well and we had a hard time staying in front of her. Our second half we did a better job with team defense instead of leaving one man out to dry … there’s highs and lows in these postseason games and you’ve got to ride the wave through all of them.”
“We were able to come out and build that big lead which definitely helped us,” Talbert said. “We’ve been able to do that in a lot of our games. Sometimes we can maintain it but anybody you’re playing right now is going to be really good, they’re not just going to fall over because they’re fighting for their season. We knew they’d make runs. It was just a matter of us answering and staying committed to the game plan.”
“We didn’t lose to a bad team for sure,” Diamond coach Marty Atnip said. “They’re really good and we had a hard time matching up with their size, they’re really long and athletic. We played with the heart of a champion tonight and I’m so proud of these girls, they left it all out on the court. We’re going to use it as motivation for next year. We’ve got pretty much everybody back from this group. You’ve got to tip your hat to Fair Grove, they’re a really good team and well coached, real disciplined. I felt like we had our opportunities for sure but they made the key baskets and the key plays down the stretch.”
Bell led the Eagles with 26 points and made six 3-pointers. Daniels scored 16, including 11 in the fourth quarter. Green had seven, sophomore Camdyn Hart had six, Padgett had three and junior Allison Findley and sophomore Abbey Green each scored two.
Diamond’s Frazier scored 40 and made seven 3-pointers. She had 17 points in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Lauren Turner scored four, sophomore Kabrie Parmley had three, junior MaKaylynn Lafferty and freshman Marissa DeJager each had two, and junior Caitlyn Suhrie scored one.
