Trojans ?Ward? off Oskaloosa for win No. 1

Following a disheartening loss in the season-opener last week, the Fairfield girls? basketball team needed a win.

Tuesday, the Trojans did just enough to let Oskaloosa hang around until the bitter end, but in the sprint to the finish line, sophomore Serena Ward pushed Fairfield through for a final-minute 52-49 victory.

Facing a 49-48 deficit, Ward rose up without hesitation, gave the ball a lap around the rim before falling through the net and put the Trojans up one with 30 seconds remaining. One possession later, after the Indians came up empty, Ward ripped down an offensive rebound off a missed Gretchen Granneman free throw and headed to the line herself with 12 ticks left.

From the same spot she had just nailed the jumper, Ward didn?t mess around with the rim this time. She nailed the two free throws to solidify Fairfield?s lead that they carried through to the buzzer.

?She has a great shot, but sometimes you?re worried about kids getting in those kind of situations. She found her rhythm and it would?ve taken a lot for her to miss,? said head coach Billy Strickler. ?You could see the look of relief after she hit that first one ? the second one was a breeze.?

Before Ward?s foul shots ? her first attempts of the season so far ? the Trojans were just 4-9 in the contest from the charity stripe.

?I just had to relax and shoot,? said Ward, who ended up with six points on the night. ?They?re easy shots, shots I have practiced, and if they went in, I knew it would be huge for us winning the game.?

Ward wasn?t the only one hitting big shots for the Trojans however. Senior Heather Mason led all scorers with 15 points and sunk three mid-range jump shots for all of Fairfield?s fourth-quarter points beside Ward?s final-minute flurry. Mason?s offense kept the Trojans within striking distance after Samantha Lowry?s buzzer beating three-pointer put Oskaloosa ahead 43-42 entering the fourth quarter.

?Our girls have won one game in the last 30 or so outings, so learning how to win is what we have to do right now,? said Indian head coach Burdette Brown, whose team drops to 0-2 on the season. ?Last year we were getting beat by 20-30 points night in and night out, but this year we have ourselves in the game.?

Meredith Flattery got the Trojans started with Fairfield?s first seven points of the game including a corner three-pointer on the first possession. The senior hit another long-ball early in the second quarter to finish with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists as the Trojans rallied from an Oskaloosa lead that swelled to as many eight points mid-way through the second period. 13 of the last 15 points in the second period went to Fairfield as Gretchen Granneman, Annie Buch, Tori Ogden and Mason all contributed in the final two minutes to put the Trojans ahead 30-27 heading into the locker room.

?As soon as we got the lead it felt like we were finally playing the way we need to,? Strickler said. ?We kind of let them hang around a bit but made sure we put it away in the end.?

With the win, Fairfield moves to 1-1 on the season.

?I told the girls all it takes is one to get started,? said Strickler. ?We have to get that feel that we can play ball, we can win, and hopefully it will carry into some big games we have coming up.?

The next big game for Fairfield will be Friday night on the road where they will open the conference season against Mount Pleasant.