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Washington Evening Journal
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Panthers, Trojans go down to the wire
Mt. Pleasant holds on in conference head-to-head with Fairfield
FAIRFIELD — Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield girls basketball put together one of the best games of the season the first time the two squads squared off.
That one ended with a Mt. Pleasant win on a game winner 51-50.
On Tuesday the Trojans and Panthers gave fans another classic, which ended with Mt. Pleasant on top once again 56-54.
Both teams held leads in this one.
With just 11 seconds left it was the Panthers who led by six points, 56-50, but Fairfield didn’t give up.
The Trojan’s Savannah Hollander, who was out for much of the third period with foul trouble, drilled a three with just two seconds left on the clock to make it a three point game.
While time didn’t seem like it was on Fairfield’s side, Mt. Pleasant launched the ball the full-length of the court with the hope of running out the clock, but the ball rolled out of bounds instead, giving the Trojans a shot to tie it.
With a three point advantage, Mt. Pleasant elected to foul to put the Trojans at the foul line with just 0.4 seconds left. It paid off as the Trojans hit one of two and time expired.
Prior to the fourth, it was anyone’s game.
By the end of the first quarter it was the Trojans who held the lead, 14-9. The pair traded the lead twice through the opening eight minutes, with Fairfield going up by as much as nine after an 8-0 run.
To begin the second, it was the Juliana Burns show for Mt. Pleasant. The senior scored 13 of the Panthers 14 second quarter points.
Through the first five minutes Burns outscored Fairfield 11-5 to give the Panthers a 20-19 lead.
Burns would finish with 23 on the night.
It was Fairfield who ended the half on a high note though as the Trojans closed the period on a 6-0 run to regain the lead and make it 29-23 at the break. The Trojans got to 29 after Grace Lyon grabbed an offensive board off a free throw and dropped it in at the buzzer.
Through the third, it was Mt. Pleasant who found some momentum. The Panthers got into the bonus early on in the frame and used the foul line to their advantage.
Mt. Pleasant ended up shooting 15 free throws in the third, which in turn helped the Panthers pour in a game high 21 points. That included a 7-0 run to the end of the quarter that gave them a 44-41 advantage after three.
Meanwhile, Fairfield scored 12 points in the third.
Along with Burns’ scoring, she also pulled down nine rebounds. Myah Starr finished with 13 points. Alexa Fuller added seven points, Abby Carthey six and Hailey Parrott five. Kynlee White and Addison Peck each scored one as well.
With the win, Mt. Pleasant moves to 4-13, 2-6.
Fairfield drops to 2-14, 0-10. It’s the second loss of the week for the Trojans as they fell in a tough one to Albia on Monday as well, 57-42.
