Fighting until the very end, Fairfield knocked off the Corpus Christi West Osa Lady Bears 61-56 in the State Semifinal on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 25, at the Delmar Fieldhouse in Houston to advance to the State Championship.
Fairfield (32-6) took on Tuscola Jim Ned (35-2) for the 3A, Division I State Title on Friday, Feb. 28, at 1 p.m. at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
“It was a tough game. West Osa has some really good athletes. They have a great basketball team and coach,” Coach Sally Whitaker said following the victory. “It was a battle and we knew it was going to be. We were fortunate to be on top.”
Fairfield came out and took a 17-12 lead over West Osa in the first quarter of play. Kaylee Williams was big for the Lady Eagles in the first quarter as she scored 10 points; a three-pointer, three baskets, and a free throw.
“I just focused on driving to the basket. I knew I had to drive to either get fouled or make the shot,” Williams said after the game. “Going to the State Championship is just a dream. Last year, we fell short by one in the Regional Final. It was just heart-breaking and I didn’t want that happening this year. We just want to win on Friday.”
The Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Bears 1210 in the second quarter to increase their lead to 29-22 at halftime.
West Osa came out in the third quarter and hit two three-pointers and a basket to take a 30-29 lead over Fairfield. However, the Lady Eagles went on a 13-7 run to finish out the quarter and take a five-point lead, 42-37, into the final quarter of play.
With three minutes left in the game, the Lady Bears took a one-point lead, 51-50, which forced Fairfield to call a timeout.
Jaclynn Schmidt hit two free throws to give Fairfield a 53-52 lead. Great defense by the Lady Eagles stopped West Osa from scoring. Williams hit two free throws to make it a 55-52 game.
Fairfield fouled on a three-point shot. However, the Lady Bears only hit one of the three free throws to make it a 55-53 game with 48.7 seconds left. West Osa then hit the first of two free throws to make it a one-point game, 55-54.
Schmidt rebounded for the Lady Eagles and Fairfield called a timeout with 37.5 seconds left in the game.
Two free throws by Jimilyah Nash and a basket by Schmidt gave Fairfield a 5954 lead. West Osa scored a basket to get within threepoints, 59-56. The Lady Bears were forced to foul and Blayke Brackens hit both free throws to seal the deal for the Lady Eagles as Fairfield took a 61-56 lead in the final seconds of the game to win and advance to the State Championship.
“When asked about her message to the girls in the final minute of the game, Whitaker said, “We just had to execute. It is hard to execute in the heat of a battle. Just to get enough accomplished to get the win was great. I am so happy for our girls.”
B. Brackens and Williams led the way for the Lady Eagles with 16 points each. J. Nash added 13 points, Schmidt 6, Jaci Abram 4, Kole Brackens 3 and KeKe Alexander 2.
“We are just tough. We have a resilient group of girls; one of the toughest teams I’ve coached I think,” Whitaker said when asked what makes this team so special. “Their attitude is great; they just really want to win. They keep trying no matter what. Their resilience is something special.”
Whitaker noted that anything can happen at the State Tournament. Fairfield did play Jim Ned earlier this season in a tournament and fell to the Lady Indians 43-30.
When asked if San Antone ever gets old, Whitaker shook her head with a big smile on her face and said, “No… we had to work really hard to get here this year. We are really happy to be here. We are just ready to compete in one more game.”
