Keokuk quickly upends Fairfield girls

Something started clicking for the Keokuk girls? basketball team in the huddle between the first and second quarter and the scoreboard immediately began to show it.

The Chiefs (7-3, 4-0 SEC) erased a five-point Fairfield (3-7, 0-3) lead at the break in a matter of seconds and never looked back on their way to a 63-47 Southeast Conference victory Tuesday night. Keokuk remains atop the SEC standings with the win and continues its roll coming out of winter break as winners of eight of the last nine games.

With Fairfield leading 13-8 after one quarter, it took Keokuk less than 90 seconds to equal its first period point total and take a 16-13 lead. The run continued from there and by the time the Chiefs finished their 18-2 spurt, they led 26-15.

?We started playing more of our type of game in the second quarter. Coming off a break, especially with girls, it?s a little different because they?re not quite sure what to expect,? said Keokuk head coach Michael Davis. ?I didn?t think we came out with the same fire and intensity that we normally play with, but then we got a couple steals and slowly took over the momentum.?

Full-court pressure was the impetus for many of those quick buckets including the final four points of the big run directly out of a Fairfield timeout.

?They started scoring, which put them in the press a little bit more and we got a little frazzled,? said Fairfield head coach Billy Strickler. ?The press break was something we worked on about every practice during break, but there?s still some work to do.?

Chiefs leading scorer Shelsey Stanley, after being held without a point in the first period, was the one finishing off a lot of those easy layins and put up 12 points in the second period. Stanley finished with a game-high 23 points ? more than double her season average coming in.

?If you knock down a few shots, you give yourself an opportunity to get in the press,? said Davis. ?And we were really hitting the boards hard. We were trying to get some second-chance opportunities and that made a big difference for our kids to get into it and have a little fun.?

Fairfield leading scorer Serena Ward put up 10 points in the first half including four points in the final moments of the first quarter that gave the Trojans the lead that stood as their biggest of the game. The junior was held scoreless for the entirety of the second half, however.

Tori Ogden opened up the scoring for Fairfield early and finished with a team-high 19 points. Jessica Lamb, Taylor Neil and Sidney Baumann each chipped in five points.

For complete story, read the Wednesday, January 5, 2011 Fairfield Ledger.