Fairfield girls eliminated in regional final

ELDRIDGE - The Fairfield girls basketball team just didn't have enough fire power to stick with No. 6 North Scott on Tuesday night. The Lancers upended the Trojans 69-41 in the regional final to end the Trojans' season and advance to the Class 4A state tournament.

Fairfield hung tough in the first half. Hannah Simpson scored five points in the first quarter and five points in the second to help the Trojans hang around, and Fairfield held a modest 6-5 lead in the first few minutes.

The Lancers, however, were just too tough. North Scott led 15-9 after the first quarter and 33-19 at halftime, getting to 33 on a banked in buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Samantha Scott, which gave the Lancers all the momentum they needed headed into the break.

'That was a big shot by them, the banked in three,” Fairfield head coach Pat Pacha said. 'It was a big momentum changer.”

The third quarter was all North Scott. The Lancers put up 23 points in the period to open up a 56-28 lead going into the fourth quarter, and Fairfield could never recover.

'They're a good basketball team,” Coach Pacha said about the Lancers. 'They stepped up.”

Simpson finished the night with 17 points to lead the Trojans. Danielle Breen had 11. Olivia Jones scored six. Delaney Breen had five, and Anna Westphal scored two.

Fairfield ended the season 11-9. The Trojans will see the graduation of a pair of seniors; Jones and Westphal.

Coach Pacha hopes a run to the regional final will be a big lesson for his team as they go back to chasing the state tournament next winter.

'I'm excited for it,” Pacha said about next season. 'I could start practicing tomorrow.”