Trojan girls fall to buzzer beater

FAIRFIELD - It did not look like she wanted to shoot it, but with the Pella bench all yelling, Madison Naig took an inbounds pass and swished it for a 54-52 nonconference girls basketball victory over Pella Tuesday.

The visiting Dutch also ran away with a boys win, 66-31.

'It was not our first option I will just say that,” Pella head coach Jerod Garland said. 'She threw it up with just enough time left.”

It was an exciting end to an exciting game. The score was tied at 9-9 after one quarter, Pella led 23-22 at the half, and it was 39-36 for the Trojans after three.

'They liked to throw the lob pass throughout the game, so with two seconds left, we were not going to give up anything inside,” Fairfield head coach Jeff Miller said. 'I had my two guards in the corners. No. 50 (Naig) popped out and had a 15 footer. She was looking everywhere but at the basket.”

Naig finished with a game-high 18 points, but it was her longest shot of the night as Pella (4-2) was adept at interior passing. Teammate Anna VanderWaal finished with 15.

'Pella is an athletic team that was strong inside and they gave us problems,” Miller said. 'People will see a two-point loss and I don't know what they're going to think, but I think it very well could have been a two-point win. I feel good about the girls, but I would feel better if we had went to overtime.”

After taking a 27-26 lead midway through the third frame, Fairfield gave up a 9-2 run to the visitors. The Trojans answered with a 13-2 run that spanned the two final frames, but gave up an 8-0 run to fall behind 50-46.

'We weren't moving our legs in our man-to-man defense,” Miller said. 'We were getting to our spots a little bit late and that gave them some easy shots at the basket.”

Four free throws by Shaylin Drish, who finished with 17 points, and two free throws by Danielle Breen sandwiched a Pella basket and tied the game at 52 with 54 seconds left.

Pella worked it for a shot and missed. Fairfield seemed to get the rebound but it was awarded to the Dutch, who called time to set up the final play.

'Fairfield has multiple players that can shoot and put the ball on the floor so that concerned us,” Garland said. 'Drish is just a phenomenal player. I love watching her and what she brings to the floor.”

There were a lot of traveling violations called throughout the game.

'I have two girls with experience and five girls that are getting experience, so we are still growing,” Miller said. 'As the year progresses, we're going to do more and more positive things.”

Throughout the game there were areas where Fairfield made mistakes.

'The thing is we did not do enough to get the win,” Miller said. 'We played really, really hard. Pella is a good team. The girls played hard and that is all I can ask them. Drish is our floor general. A lot of times I just let her call the offense. The Breen girls did a lot of things for us.”

Free throws have been an area of concern for the Trojans, but they were 16-of-23 as a team.

'We had Mallory (Lyon), Shaylin, Destiney (Gridley), Hannah (Simpson) and Danielle (Breen) with layups that just did not fall,” Miller said.

While not converting those opportunities is frustrating, it is also encouraging that the Trojans had those opportunities. Gridley and Simpson finished with eight points each for the Trojans (4-2), which hosts new Southeast Conference member Burlington Friday.

'Good teams find a way to win,” Miller said.

The Pella boys showed they were a good team, taking a 19-9 lead with the last five points of the first quarter after Fairfield's JJ Lane swished a 3-pointer and extending it to 39-16 by halftime. It was 60-22 by the end of the third quarter with a continuous clock.

Fairfield couldn't stop Pella's Logan Shetterly, who scored 15 points outside, and Grant Nelson, who had 17, mostly in the lane.

Max Weaton led Fairfield with six points.

'Pella was a better team than us right now,” Fairfield coach Mick Flattery said. 'They shot well and we played very poorly.”

The Trojans are 1-4 and play at Burlington Friday. Pella is 4-2.