Loper had watched Withrow cut an eight-point lead to 24-22 in their Division I sectional first-round matchup at Lakota East.
Whatever Loper said paid off. Out of the timeout, sophomore Zahrya Bailey came up with a steal near the Tigers’ free-throw line and dribbled all the way for a layup, the first of six straight points that sparked a 23-7 blitz on the way to a 67-48 Fairfield win.
“We weren’t getting done what we wanted to get done,” Loper said. “We wanted to run and get up and down because (Withrow) was in a little bit of foul trouble. Sometimes you have to call a quick timeout.”
The 5-foot Bailey finished with a career-high 23 points, leading the 10th-seeded Indians into a second-round matchup on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against second-seeded Turpin, also at East. The Spartans advanced with a 46-30 win over 17th-seeded Mother of Mercy in the second of Saturday’s three games at East.
Bailey seemed to take Loper’s message personally. She scored 11 points during the decisive surge, as many as she’d scored in the first half. She went into the game with a team-high average of 11.1 points per game.
“He told us basically to keep the intensity up and get the 50-50 balls,” said Bailey, who was 8 of 11 from the field and 6 of 10 on free throws and also came up with four steals, helping push Withrow’s turnover total to 21. The Indians rode them to a 22-8 advantage in points off of turnovers.
“She’s been a spark for us all year,” Loper said.
Senior guard Brooke Spaulding scored 10 points and had a team-high five assists for Fairfield (15-8), which has won four of its last five games. The Indians lost to Walnut Hills in the first round of last season’s tournament after reaching a sectional final as a No. 9 seed in 2015.
“We’ve had some injuries, but things are starting to blend a little,” Loper said. “We’ve got a tough one coming up next.”
“We’ve been playing well as a team,” Bailey added. “We kept the intensity the whole game.”
The Indians made one more free throw (21) than Withrow (12-11) tried, and Fairfield ended up matching its single-game season-high in points. The Indians outscored the Tigers 27-8 in the third quarter and led by as many as 26 points in the fourth period.
After getting off to a sluggish start, Fairfield was able to go into the second quarter with an 11-5 lead. The Indians didn’t score until Bailey connected on a soft, short jumper with 4:11 left in the first quarter, sparking an 11-1 run to finish out the stanza. Bailey polished off the quarter with a traditional three-point play, giving her seven points.
Fairfield got help from a mistake-prone Tigers team that turned the ball over 10 times in the quarter.
The Indians led by as many as eight points in the second period before 19th-seeded Withrow eased back into the picture, cutting the lead to three points with 56 seconds remaining. Spaulding sank two free throws with 16.6 seconds left to help Fairfield take a 24-20 halftime lead.
Fairfield 11-13-27-16—67
Withrow 5-15-8-20—48
FAIRFIELD (15-8): Abby Halsey 1 0 2, Zaria Black 3 0 6, Zahrya Bailey 8 6 23, Addie Kidd 0 2 2, Journee Hicks 2 0 4, Brooke Spaulding 3 4 10, Kelis Jones 2 4 9, Kennedy Roberts-Rosser 1 2 4, D.J. Haygood 1 3 5, Maddie Schaeffer 1 0 2. Totals: 22-21-67
WITHROW (12-11): Doneasha Brewer 5 3 13, Jerria White 5 3 14, Bria Canada 1 1 3, Anyia Pride 6 4 16, Desire Oats 1 0 2. Totals: 18-11-48
3-pointers: F 2 (Bailey, Jones), W 1 (White)
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