Seventh-grade girls open season with three wins

WASHINGTON, Iowa ? In the opening night of basketball for the Fairfield seventh-grade girls, the ?A? team came out on top with a 28-17 victory vs. Washington.

Led by Nicole Buch?s 13 points and Ashtyn Drish?s 10, the Trojans built a 19-7 advantage by halftime. Fairfield?s Taylor Myers and Alie Kensett finished with two points apiece, and Amiah Neff netted one.

?With only six practices before this game, I wasn?t sure what to expect. It was great to play and get the win, but we would have loved to have a little more time to prepare,? said head coach Derek Philips. ?We pushed the ball well and played hard, but also saw some things to work on. We will hopefully use our next three practices to fix those before our first home game Thursday.?

In the ?B? game, the Trojans built a 14-2 lead by halftime and finished with a 18-9 win. Fairfield?s Sophie Allen, Katrina Cecchini, Kristen Daugherty and Abbey Gridley all scored four points. Lynsey Finney had two points.

?It was a nice balance of scoring tonight by the girls,? Philips said. ?They played hard and really dominated the game from the beginning. We really jumped on their passes and got some quick baskets.?

The Trojans also won a two-quarter ?C? game 6-2. Claire Christensen led the way with four points, and Shanti Williams scored two for Fairfield.

?For these five girls it was their first competitive game. They played really hard and got on the floor after loose balls. I was really pleased with our effort,? Philips added.

The Trojans? next game will be at home Thursday vs. Ottumwa.