It had all the makings of a classic. Conference title on the line… Final game of the regular season… A friendly, yet competitive rivalry… And Senior Night…
The Strafford Lady Indians and Fair Grove Lady Eagles did not disappoint the packed house on Thursday night, as Strafford pulled out a 77-71 overtime victory over host Fair Grove to claim the Mid-Lakes Conference regular-season title and its ninth-straight win.
“Every year, it doesn’t matter who’s done what throughout the season,” Strafford coach Steve Frank said. “This game has always been a battle. When you have a good conference rival, and it’s a good conference rival for the fact that both schools really get along and we really respect each other. But when you step out on the floor, it’s always going to be a battle.”
And a battle it was. Behind junior point guard Abby Oliver’s eight first-quarter points, Strafford took a 15-14 lead. The two teams went back-and-fourth throughout the second quarter before Fair Grove senior point guard Bailey Weaver hit one of two free throws with 6.1 seconds remaining to give the Lady Eagles a 32-31 lead going into halftime.
The third quarter was more of the same, with both teams scoring 14 points apiece and Fair Grove holding onto its one-point lead (46-45).
Strafford went on a 6-0 run to open up a seven-point lead to start the fourth quarter before Fair Grove freshman Alana Findley pulled down a rebound and was fouled. She hit both free throws (53-48), but Strafford came right back when Hayley Frank fed Kaylee Larimer for a bucket to push the lead back to seven (55-48).
Fair Grove fought back, going on a 6-0 run of its own and then taking a 57-55 lead on a 3-pointer from the top of the key by senior Makenna Hill. Strafford tied it at 57, but a 3 from Bailey Weaver put the Lady Eagles back on top 60-57, and a 5-0 run pushed the Fair Grove lead to 65-57 with 1:55 to play in regulation.
“We felt pretty good,” Fair Grove coach Jenny Talbert said. “We had that seven-, or eight-point lead with about a minute-and-a-half to go, and then we just kind of got back on our heels and had some key turnovers. They picked up their pressure for a little bit and we didn’t handle it very well.”
Strafford made the most of those turnovers to go on another 6-0 run to pull within two points (65-63) with 45.2 seconds to go. The Lady Indians applied full-court pressure and forced a Fair Grove foul, sending Zoey Mullins to the free-throw line. Mullins hit both free throws to tie the game with 1.8 seconds remaining in regulation.
Fair Grove had the length of the floor to go, but missed a long 3-pointer to try and win the game in regulation.
“They got right back into it,” Talbert said, “and going into overtime, we knew it was going to be a challenge because they’re a great basketball team. My girls, they kept fighting. I was proud of them. They fought till the end, but a few little stretches there gave them too much life. And that was kind of the difference in the game.”
A 5-0 run to open overtime, put Strafford up 70-65, forcing Fair Grove to foul and the Lady Indians went 7-for-8 from the line down the stretch to pull out the win.
“I think we got down seven with about 1:50 to go and it wasn’t looking real good,” Coach Frank said. “We had a couple of big plays and just did the little things, and then hit some free throws there down the stretch. I give those kids credit for having the resilience to come back.”
And one of those “kids” was Oliver, who collected the 1,000th point of her career on Thursday night, scoring a game-high 27.
“It’s pretty incredible because I didn’t really know about this (1,000 points), so it was a big surprise to me,” Oliver said. “It’s a great accomplishment for me to be able to do this in high school. I’m just really happy that we won.”
“Abby played really well,” Coach Frank said. “She has played with great resilience every game this year. I’m sure her name is at the top of everybody’s board, and gets a lot of pressure. She does a really good job of handling it and playing throughout the game and not trying to force.”
Bailey Weaver led three Lady Eagles in double figures with 23 points. She was one of seven seniors honored prior to the game.
“Bailey played hard,” Talbert said. “She always gives it her all every game. We can never fault her effort for anything. She’s had a tremendous career and I hope that it goes on for a few more weeks.”
District play starts next week for both teams. And both teams are in the same district (Class 3 District 11), which is hosted by Fair Grove. The possibility exists that the two teams could meet again.
Both coaches feel that their seasons, and Thursday night’s game, are good preparation for the postseason.
“We were looking at our schedule and I think we’ve played eight ranked teams this year,” Coach Frank said. “And, of course, we’ve played several 5A teams this year. I feel like, if we can get an opportunity to play a few more games, that will come back to our favor.
“We had a big one against Rogersville our last game. I said after that game, ‘well this is a great game to prepare us for districts.’ Well, this one may top that. This was a great game to prepare us for districts, too. From this point on, it’ll go down to the wire in all your big games, and you just hope the ball rolls your way. And tonight, it did.”
Talbert hopes to see Strafford again.
“I think it prepares us great for districts,” she said. “We get to host districts, which is awesome. I know that our girls will be fired up. We wanted to beat ‘em now, but we’re on opposite sides of the bracket, so if we can get there and they can get there, it’d be fun to play them again.
“Hopefully, we could win out on that one. It will be a challenge to get there. We have a tough district. We’ll just take it one game at a time and hope that our season keeps going.”
STRAFFORD 77, FAIR GROVE 71 (OT)
Mid-Lakes Conference game
Strafford – 15-16-14-20-12—77
Fair Grove – 14-18-14-19-6—71
Strafford (23-3, 6-0) – Abby Oliver 27, Hayley Frank 19, Logan Eden 6, Kaylee Larimer 8, Kayley Frank 9, Zoey Mullins 8.
Fair Grove (18-7, 4-2) – Bailey Weaver 23, Makenna Hill 15, Kelli Oplotnik 10, Casey Baker 8, Lorin Weaver 4, Kaitlyn Jeter 3, Alana Findley 8.
Strafford B 47, Fair Grove B 44
