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Fairfield girls rally from slow start to beat Talawanda

Indians’ defense forces 32 Braves turnovers to grab 62-48 nonleague win.

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By Skip Weaver Staff Writer 12:35 AM Tuesday, February 9, 2010

FAIRFIELD — After scoring just two points in the first quarter, the Fairfield High School girls basketball team had an offensive explosion over the next three periods to claim a 62-48 nonleague win over Talawanda on Monday night, Feb. 8.

The Indians (4-14) trailed by as many as 14 points midway through the second quarter, but ended up with a 14-point victory, largely because of their second-half defensive effort.

“At halftime, our major adjustment was just to speed up the game,” said FHS coach Patrick O’Leary after his team put together its first winning streak of the season with its second win in a row.

“I honestly had a gut feeling we were going to play better in the second half,” O’Leary said. “I saw glimpses of it in the second quarter. We put some pressure on the ball, got them out of their offense and forced turnovers.”

The Braves (6-12) gave the ball up 32 times in the game, 20 of them against that second-half pressure.

“Our problem is the same it has been all year,” THS coach Rodney Parrett said. “We can’t handle the pressure in the back court, and until we learn to handle it, we’re going to struggle.

“I told the girls that Fairfield’s record was not a true indication of how they play,” he continued. “They do things well.”

Talawanda shot just 28.8 percent for the game, connecting on 15-of-52 field goals. In the second half, the Braves were 6-of-25 from the floor.

“It’s bad enough that we only took 25 shots in 16 minutes of play,” Parrett said. “But to only make six of them. We didn’t execute or do any of the little things well.”

Shelby Logsdon led Talawanda with a game-high 15 points. Caitlyn Calhoun added eight.

Fairfield, on the other hand, shot 43.1 percent for the game including a 16-of-28 performance in the second half.

The Indians trailed 21-7 with 2 minutes, 17 seconds left in the first half. From there, the Indians outscored Talawanda 29-12 to gain their first lead of the game with 3:24 left in the third quarter.

The Braves got the lead back once more at 41-40 with 18 seconds left in the third, but Alexandria Branch nailed a pair of free throws to end the third putting Fairfield back on top to stay.

Branch also had a game-high 15 points. Jasmyn Sims added 14 and Kelly Zecher had 10 for Fairfield.

“We wanted to play with more intensity, make better decisions and get the ball to the basket,” O’Leary said. “I think we accomplished all three of those things in the second half.”

Fairfield will host Mason in a make-up game on Thursday, while Talawanda will host Norwood on Saturday.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2852, or sweaver@coxohio.com.

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