|
|
Choicetta scores 23 in a victory!
By Scott Tyler/ Palestine Herald-Press
LUFKIN— Fairfield girls’ head coach Tommy Fadal
walked into the Lady Eagles’ locker room at halftime Monday night
knowing it could have been worse than the eight-point deficit his
team faced against Diboll.
Despite getting into the bonus in the first five minutes of the game
and putting Diboll’s top scorer — Nikki Green — on the bench with
three first-half fouls, Fairfield struggled to stop Diboll for the
first 16 minutes.
That was when Fadal walked in at halftime and told his team to start
playing aggressive — “start playing Fairfield basketball”.
The Lady Eagles did just that, blowing past Diboll in the second
half to capture the Class 3A-Region III quarterfinal title, 76-67,
at Angelina College.
“I told them we could have been down by more than just eight
points,” Fadal said of his halftime speech. “I told our players to
take it to hem and we refocused and came out looking like a
different team.”
With the comeback win, Fairfield (31-2) advances to the Class
3A-Region III semifinals, which will be played at 6:15 p.m. Friday
at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. The Lady Eagles will
play the winner of tonight’s Hardin-Jefferson versus Brookhill Royal
game.
Monday night, Diboll led by as many as 13 points in the first half
despite Green, the 6-foot plus post player, being on the bench with
foul trouble.
Even though Fairfield could not take advantage of the foul problems
in the first half, it was a different story in the second half.
With Green starting the second half on the bench all she could do
was watch as the Lady Eagles started the third quarter with a 9-0
run and Taylor Haynes’ layup gave Fairfield a 39-38 lead.
After the teams traded baskets, Choicetta McMillian put Fairfield
ahead for good when she made a pair of free throws for a 43-42 lead.
McMillian was settling for three-point shots in the first half but
after a talk with Fadal, she started going to the basket, where she
either made the close-range shot or got fouled and went to the line.
McMillian finished with a game-high 26 points as she was 18-of-20
from the free-throw line. In contrast, Diboll only made 12 free
throws as a team.
“I told Choicetta to go up there and lead the team,” Fadal said.
“She got back into the flow of the game and when she settles down,
it makes our team better.”
After McMillian’s free throws, Haynes had a driving layup and Denise
Brown made a three pointer of the wing to give Fairfield a 50-44
lead.
Haynes had eight of her 15 points in the third quarter. The eight
third-quarter points by Haynes was two more points than Diboll
scored as a team in the quarter.
Brown’s three pointer started an 11-0 run for the Lady Eagles that
ran into the fourth quarter. Sarah Linton hit a three pointer to
begin the final quarter and Haynes and McMillian each made two free
throws as Fairfield took its largest lead of the night at 58-44.
Behind Green, who only had four points heading into the fourth
quarter, Diboll tried to get back into the game.
Green scored 19 points in the fourth quarter and the Lady Jacks got
the deficit down to 67-60 with two minutes to play, but it would be
the closest Diboll would get as the Lady Eagles put the game away
from the free-throw line.
Fairfield made 18-of-22 free throws in the fourth quarter and was
34-of-46 from the free-throw line on the night.
“In a game like this, you always feel it is going to come
down to free throws,” Fadal said. “We practice everyday on free
throws and it paid off tonight.”
Notes: Fairfield had a late scare when with under a minute to play
in the game, Haynes went up for a layup and as she was being fouled,
she fell to the ground, holding her left knee. The Lady Eagle senior
had to be helped off the court. ...Fairfield freshman Courtney
Morton scored 13 points and had a team-high nine rebounds. ...Before
Monday night, Diboll’s last loss also came to Fairfield in the
championship game of the Fairfield Tournament in December. ...With
Lufkin less than 12 miles from Diboll, Monday’s crowd was
pro-Lumberjacks with over three-fourths of the crowd cheering for
Diboll.
Fairfield (31-2) 14 16 21 25 76
Diboll(26-9) 20 18 6 23 67
Fairfield: Sarah
Linton, 5; Kiresten Cox, 1; Choicetta McMillian, 26; Joye McElory,
8; Taylor Hanes, 15; Denise Brown, 8; Courtney Morton, 13.
Diboll: Kayla Elizalde, 18; Ternisha Jackson, 6; Chelsea Burns, 8;
Vanessa Jones; 12; Nikki Greene, 23.
3-Pointers: F: Linton, Brown; D: Greene.
|
