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Washington Evening Journal
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Panther girls prevail in Fairfield
Mt. Pleasant fires on all cylinders in win over Trojans
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FAIRFIELD — What looked to be a promisingly close matchup turned into a Panther runaway when the Mt. Pleasant girls visited rival Fairfield for a Southeast Conference clash on Friday night.
The Panthers scooped up their second win in a row and their first in conference play, beating Fairfield 50-30 in league play.
"Tonight, I thought we actually put four good quarters together," said Mt. Pleasant head coach Curt Watson. "We played a complete game tonight."
The game was a defensive struggle early, with Mt. Pleasant leading 8-5 after the first period. The Panther offense kicked it into high gear in the second quarter, however, piling up 22 points to take a 30-17 halftime advantage.
Any hope of a Trojan comeback was dashed in the third quarter. Mt. Pleasant outscored Fairfield 14-4 in the third to go up 44-21 with eight minutes remaining, and the Trojans could never claw their way back.
"They just flat out wanted it more than us tonight," said Fairfield head coach Jarrod Belzer. "It's a simple game of putting the ball in the hoop, and we couldn't do that tonight."
The Panthers were led by Alexa Fuller, who had a fantastic night all around, going for 14 points and 10 rebounds.
"That was probably the best game of her career," Watson said. "She just played so well."
After the game, Fuller credited her output to a little offseason work.
I didn't want to suck this year," Fuller said. "So, I tried to find a couple things to do that could get me semi-better."
Abby Carthey added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Panthers. Kynlee White finished with 12 points and four steals. Addison Clark had five points and four steals. Paityn Ensminger finished with four points, and Myah Starr chipped in two.
Despite the loss, Fairfield got a huge game out of Faith Jones. The Trojan junior went off for 19 points and seven steals, making seven of Fairfield's 12 field goals on the night.
Emma Metcalf scored three points. Maddy Martin, Lauren Martin, Haleigh Strickland and Elyse Setterstrom each scored two.
With the win, Mt. Pleasant moved to 3-8 overall and 1-4 in the SEC. Fairfield fell to 0-11 and 0-5.
