GIRLS
The Fair Play Lady Hornets kicked the night off with a 70-43 win over Polk County League foe Dadeville. After trailing the entire first half, the Lady Hornets had a monster third quarter to fuel their lopsided victory at home Thursday.
“After we realized that Dadeville was not going to lay down and die for us, we came out and played in-your-face defense,” said Fair Play head coach Alicia Mercer. “That definitely got us the opportunity for steals and some quick baskets and the momentum just kept us going.”
The Dadeville Lady Wildcats jumped to a seven point lead early in the contest before Fair Play outscored Dadeville 23-6 in the third quarter to give the Lady Hornets a 16 point lead. Fair Play put up another 18 points in the final quarter while holding Dadeville to 7 to cap the 70-43 conference victory for the Lady Hornets.
Dadeville coach Daniel Durst said his freshman-heavy team showed their inexperience on the court in the night’s loss.
“We’re a very young team and it’s really youth that gets the better of us,” he said. “When we get ahead we tend to play ‘not to lose’ instead of ‘to win’ and that hurts us in the long run.”
Anna Reaves led the offensive charge for Fair Play, scoring 26 points on the night. Paige Harman put up 18 points while Maysee Harman ended in double digits with 10.
This was the first conference win of the season for the Lady Hornets (5-6) who lost to Halfway by one basket in overtime earlier in the season. Fair Play hopes to get their revenge when they face Halfway again in the opening round of the Lakeland tournament beginning next week.
Dadeville, now 3-7 on the season and 0-2 in the conference, will face Halfway on Friday night and Lockwood on Monday.
Dadeville 43, Fair Play 70
Dadeville 17-13-6-7—43
Fair Play 10-19-23-18—70
Dadeville—Laxi Lakey 14, Ashton Neely 13, Macy Sappington 7, CC Miller 5, Abby Sappington 4
Fair Play—Anna Reaves 26, Paige Harman 18, Maysee Harman 10, Miranda Lightfoot 6, Dahlia Simpson 6, Ashton Curl 2, Christina Bayer 2
BOYS
Devon Rovenstine and Camden Welch combined for 37 of Fair Play’s 48 points in the Hornets’ victory over Dadeville Thursday. Both players put up big points in the team’s fourth quarter surge that decided the close match between conference opponents.
“We started out not playing well and we finally had that spurt late in the game where we did some things right,” said Fair Play head coach Lynn Long. “We just had to step up and play a little bit and it took us a while to get on track and rolling.”
The Fair Play Hornets went on a 10-2 run to open the contest, but Dadeville fought back to tie it up at 15 midway through the second quarter. It was a tight second half until the Hornets opened it up early in the fourth, outscoring Dadeville 15-5. The Wildcats couldn’t catch up and Fair Play claimed the 48-33 home court win.
Dadeville coach Curtis Collins said his team lost but is still improving game-to-game.
“We are heading the right direction defensively,” Collins said. “We held (Fair Play) to 48 points which is low for them and that is really the key for us, is just trying to get better every game on the defensive end.”
With the win, the Hornets improve to 7-5 on the season, a perfect 2-0 in the conference, headed into the Lakeland tournament next week where they will face Wheatland in the first round on Monday.
Dadeville, down but not out, has lost a few close games contributing to the team’s 2-7 record. The Wildcats will work to get a win against Halfway at home Friday night.
Dadeville 33, Fair Play 48
Dadeville 9-11-8-5—33
Fair Play 10-8-15-15—48
Dadeville—Teddy McMasters 13, Jarrett Sappington 11, Zeb Medley 5, Will Toler 2, Skylor Horton 2
Fair Play—Devon Rovenstine 19, Camden Welch 18, Justin Viles 4, Ryan Rutledge 3, Brian Hosman 2, Cody Dahlberg 2
