Fairfield falls short of state

KEOKUK ? A familiar foe, a familiar place, a raucous crowd and a trip to the state tournament in the balance, but it just wasn?t meant to be for Fairfield, as the Trojans got off to a slow start and eventually fell Tuesday night in Keokuk 47-32, as the Chiefs won the regional title.

?A huge thanks to our student body, player families and our community for the awesome support we had last night,? said Fairfield head coach Mick Flattery. ?It was a tough loss for sure. Keokuk really took on coach Davis? personality this season, playing tough defense. Best of luck to them at state.?

Sami Fritz led the Trojans with nine points and nine rebounds. Ashtyn Drish came in off the bench to score eight points, Mackenzie Flattery added six points, Kylie Kurtz scored four, Nicole Buch had three, while Mikaela Lunsford and Kara Jeffrey rounded out the Fairfield scoring with a point apiece.

Fairfield fell behind early, down 5-0 through the first three minutes. Makenzie Pezley went to the free-throw line for the Chiefs and extended the lead to 6-0 with 4:47 left in the first quarter. The Trojans got on the board with 3:04 left on a bucket from Fritz. Kurtz then drove inside, made the layup and drew a foul to head to the line, but the junior?s free throw was errant, making it 6-4 with 2:42 left.

Michaela Davis made a 3-pointer for Keokuk and Alyssa Wessel knocked down a layup to extend an early Keokuk lead, while Drish cut back into it with a bucket of her own to end the quarter with the Trojans down 11-6.

Keokuk continued to push the envelope in the second quarter. The Chiefs went on a 10-2 run through the first four minutes, with only Drish being able to score for Fairfield.

Lunsford added in a free throw before Keokuk again rattled off a big run to end the quarter leading 23-11. Fairfield got another basket from Drish. On the final possession of the half, Keokuk collected three straight offensive rebounds, but couldn?t connect on a final shot.

With the way Keokuk?s defense has looked this season, a 12-point lead at halftime could have been crippling and forced the Trojans into giving up. Instead, Fairfield finally got the offense rolling out of the halftime break. Mackenzie Flattery drained a 3-pointer to start it for Fairfield and Kurtz followed with a tough shot inside to make it 23-16.

After consecutive Keokuk fouls, Buch knocked down a couple of free throws at the line to pull within five points. The Chiefs collected their third foul of the half, but Fairfield couldn?t convert that one into points and Pezley followed with a perfect 3-pointer to make it 26-18.

Fritz then stepped up and hit a jumper to cut the deficit to six points with 3:32 left in the quarter. Buch hit a free throw to pull within five and Keokuk collected their sixth foul of the half before Davis hit a layup to make it 29-21. Lunsford followed by drawing a charge on Davis to get Fairfield into bonus territory, giving the Trojans hope that if the team could drive and hit foul shots, they could pull back into the game.

However, Keokuk?s pressure continued to rattle Fairfield, as the Trojans couldn?t help fouling either. While no more points were scored in the frame, Fairfield and Keokuk both ended with seven fouls apiece, making free throw shooting pivotal for both teams, as they headed to the fourth with the Chiefs up 29-21.

Davis opened the scoring in the fourth with a layup, then a foul on Pezley sent Kurtz to the line. The Keokuk student section got loud and rattled the Fairfield junior into missing the free throw and Lunsford then committed a foul to send Paige Kayvan to the line for Keokuk. She hit one free throw and missed the second, sparking a rally of six straight points for the Chiefs, making it 37-21.

With just under six minutes remaining in the game, Fairfield?s toughest possession saw the Trojans miss four straight shots under the baskets, with rebounds from Fritz and Lunsford to keep it alive. Pezley ended up fouling out of the game for Keokuk, but Wessel and Davis stepped up in her absence to seal the game away. Flattery hit a 3-pointer with under a minute left to make it 45-41 and Jeffrey made a free throw with less than 30 seconds remaining to record her first varsity point of the season.

?We had our chances in this game with layups and free throws and just couldn?t convert,? said Mick Flattery. ?Our girls did a good job of coming out of halftime and trying to get back into this game. Our varsity, JV, freshmen and eighth-grade teams all had winning seasons and double-digit totals this season. We got 33 wins the last two years with these kids and that?s not bad, especially with our schedule this year.

?There are a lot of great memories and games to look at this year versus this final loss.?