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Trojans on the board!
Fairfield girls knock off Mt. Pleasant for 1st win
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MT. PLEASANT — It took a while for the Fairfield girls basketball team to celebrate a win in the 2024-25 season, but the stars aligned on Tuesday night at the formerly known Ruble Arena.
Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield did battle at the Panthers’ central campus, the first varsity action to take place at the old Iowa Wesleyan gymnasium since the school closed in 2023. The Trojans came in 0-18, but led from start to finish in a 40-35 victory.
The Trojans threw some big punches early on when senior Grace Lyon soaked the net with four 3-pointers, which put the Trojans up 18-8 after one quarter of play and ignited the visiting Fairfield faithful.
“She just came out red-hot,” said Fairfield head coach Jarrod Belzer. “There have been games this year where she hasn't shot well at all, but she's a senior that just stuck with it.”
Lyon’s fast start helped Fairfield hold onto the lead in the third quarter, as the team went into the half leading 25-17.
Mt. Pleasant cut the lead to five points on several different occasions, including just before the third quarter buzzer, when the Panthers brought the deficit down to 33-28, but Mt. Pleasant never got it back to a one possession game.
“That first quarter just killed us,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Curt Watson. “Give Lyon credit, she just knocked them down.”
Lyon finished the game with 17 points to lead the Trojans. She went 5-for-7 from 3-point land.
“We all wanted this moment,” said Lyon. “We all worked together to get it, so we were all just really proud of each other.”
Maddy Martin finished the night with six points and 13 rebounds. Vanessa Kessel finished with six points. Faith Jones and Emma Metcalf each put up five points, and Haleigh Strickland finished with one.
Mt. Pleasant’s Kynlee White scored 13 points in the loss. Charice Auwerda finished with seven. Abby Carthey had five. Addison Clark scored four. Myah Starr and Abigail Shelangoski each scored three.
The win was not only the Trojans’ first win of the year, but also the team’s first Southeast Conference victory since December of 2022.
“It just means so much to this group,” said Belzer. “They've been super positive, every single day in practice. They've never had a day where they've showed up being pouty or feeling bad for themselves. I could not be happier for this team.”
With the win, Fairfield is now 1-18 overall and 1-8 in the Southeast Conference. Mt. Pleasant is now 3-15 overall and 1-18 in the league, tied with Fairfield for fifth place.
