By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
COLUMBIA — Abby Green adapted as well as anyone to the exceptional physical nature of Saturday’s Class 3 state championship game, allowing her to power Fair Grove to a 33-27 triumph against El Dorado Springs.
Green garnered 12 points and seven rebounds and at the other end of the court the junior post player helped hold the Lady Bulldogs to eight points in the paint.
For Green, it was her kind of game.
“I grew up like that, always guarding my sister in practice and playing against her at home in our driveway,” Abby said, referring to her older sister, Kameron, an all-state player for the Lady Eagles a year ago. “She helped shape the kind of player I am.”
“We love to be physical,” Green added. “We love to get after it on defense and on offense. That’s our favorite kind of game to play.”
Fair Grove (25-7) captured its second straight state championship while taking its season series two games to one against El Dorado Springs (28-4).
The third meeting was nothing like their first two matchups.
In their regular-season matchups, Fair Grove 73-64 in December and the Lady Bulldogs won 56-51 at the Pink & White Lady Classic.
Last year’s state championship game was a Fair Grove 54-52 win.
This time around, neither team shot better than 27 percent from the field and they combined for 34 turnovers.
Fair Grove won without the need for any late dramatics, even after putting up just 19 points over the final three quarters.
The 27 points is a season-low for El Dorado Springs, as is the 33 points for Fair Grove.
“Two very good defensive teams out there, which is the way it should be,” Fair Grove coach Gary Greene said. “On this stage, the ramifications are so much higher. You’ve got a state championship on the line, it matters more. (Players) are tighter, whether you admit it or not. Even those close shots, you don’t shoot them with the same freedom as a regular-season game.
“Points were at a premium. We were fortunate to have enough,” he added. “It was two teams that grind, two proud programs and nobody was going to give an inch. We’re not trying to play ugly or sluggish, it was just two teams duking it out.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Fair Grove’s defense dominated for the second time in as many nights. The Lady Eagles limited their two opponents at the state tournament to a total of 46 points.
Brooke Daniels is one of Fair Grove’s players who have enjoyed a rare hat trick of sorts by competing in state tournaments in basketball, volleyball and softball over the past year.
She credits the Lady Eagles’ competitive nature, no matter the sport, for their success.
“It keeps getting better,” said Daniels, who had 10 points and four steals Saturday. “We’ve been there and know what it feels like. You want it more. Coming back here, we wanted it really bad, and I think it showed.”
El Dorado Springs’ only lead was at 3-0. By the end of the first quarter, Fair Grove was up 14-3.
“We come out and hit our first shot and things look like they’re going to be great,” Lady Bulldogs coach Beau Swopes said. “We struggled through the rest of the first quarter. We called a timeout, and you could tell by the looks on their faces that this game was far from over.
“They continued to fight,” he added. “Until the buzzer sounded, I still believed we were going to come back. It didn’t end the way we wanted it to or the way we imagined. The way I feel about them doesn’t change with a loss. I wouldn’t coach any other team besides this group of girls.”
“Getting down by as many as we did, we never stopped fighting,” guard Tenlie Steward said. “We will never stop fighting for something we want.”
El Dorado Springs’ offense couldn’t recover from the loss of guard McKinli Mays. She fouled out with 5:34 remaining on what turned out to be a three-point play by Daniels.
Over the final 5:34, the Lady Bulldogs managed just four points.
Mays, who averaged 13.6 points a game, went to El Dorado Springs’ bench with nine points.
“It didn’t end like we wanted it to, but I’m proud of (us),” forward Gracie Mead said. “I’m not ashamed of any of it and happy I made it here with the group I did.”
The Lady Eagles and Lady Bulldogs call each other their closest rivals, but that will change a bit this summer. Green, Daniels and Ashton Bell will be teammates in summer ball with El Dorado Springs’ Neely Schaaf.
“Being on a team together is going to be special,” Daniels said. “Honestly it’s exciting. Having Neely on the floor with us is going to be different, but we’re going to enjoy it and have a good summer.
“I have a lot of respect for every single one of their girls,” Daniels added. “Their defense is crazy, it’s awesome.”
Fair Grove fans turned out in great numbers at Mizzou Arena, much to the appreciation of the Lady Eagles.
“We’re a small town, but we’ve got a lot of fans,” Daniels said. “Everybody knows everybody. But there were people in the stands I was like, ‘Who’s that, hey what’s up?’ I know a lot of people. But I didn’t know who they were.”
Fair Grove 33, El Dorado Springs 27
FAIR GROVE (33) — Daniels 3-10 3-4 9, Hart 1-6 2-4 4, Padgett 0-0 1-2 1, Green 4-10 4-4 12, Bell 2-9 1-2 6, Findley 0-1 1-2 1, Skouby 0-1 0-0 0.
EL DORADO SPRINGS (27) — Collins 2-3 0-0 6, Steward 0-7 5-5 5, Mays 3-9 3-6 9, Mead 0-2 0-0 0, Schaaf 1-10 0-0 2, Schmitt 1-3 0-0 2, Floyd 0-1 0-0 0, Strauch 1-2 0-0 3.
Fair Grove 14 3 8 8 – 33
ElDo 3 10 9 5 – 27
3-point goals – Collins 2, Stauch, Bell.
