Trojans slide past Eddyville, 49-45

The Fairfield girls? basketball team led wire-to-wire Tuesday, holding off a 19-point fourth-quarter rally from Eddyville-Blakesburg to win its sixth game of the season, 49-45.

The Trojans led comfortably, 41-26 with three quarters in the books, but a 17-3 run by the Rockets to open the final quarter abruptly turned the contest into an exercise in clutch shooting.

With the Trojans grasping to a 44-43 lead with 1:25 to go, junior Erin Thompson hit two big free throws to push Fairfield?s lead to three. The Rockets again pulled within one with a minute to play, but Brittany Kurtz answered with a jumper of her own as Fairfield went up 48-45. Eddyville-Blakesburg missed a free throw opportunity on the other end, and senior Serena Ward sealed the game with one more free throw in the final seconds.

?Our girls are learning as they go and it?s just terrific that they?re able to see some success as they continue ? to be able to win games in these stressful situations,? said Fairfield head coach Mick Flattery.

After beginning the season 0-4, the Trojans? overall record now sits at .500 thanks to six victories in the last eight tries.

?It can?t be a final point for us,? Flattery added of reaching .500 for the first time since the season?s start. ?It?s just a point where if we want to have a winning season, we have to get back to .500 at some point and then go from there. Now we?ve put ourselves in that position but have a lot of hard work left to do.?

Ward lifted the Trojans to a quick 9-0 lead on 4-for-5 shooting during the first two and a half minutes of regulation, and she also scored six of the Trojans? final 13 points. The sharp-shooting senior finished the contest with a game-high 17 points on 7-for-20 shooting. She also collected four steals and three assists.

?Obviously, Serena Ward played very well,? said Flattery. ?She really took the game into her hands at certain times, early on and then late in the game.?

The win showed major improvement from a season ago, when the Trojans fell 63-33 to a similar Eddyville-Blakesburg lineup. The difference this time proved to be not only improved shooting, as the Trojans hit 39 percent of their shots, but also stout defense. As a team, the Fairfield girls tallied up 14 steals along with three blocks. In last season?s contest, they stole the ball just four times.

?That?s what it?s all about ? that?s the fun thing about sports,? said Flattery. ?If you get beat last year, try to turn around and see how well you can do this time ? see if you?ve gotten any better.?

Ward had four steals followed by Sidney Baumann and Taylor Neil with three steals each. Kurtz blocked two shots and Hanna Greiner had the other block.

On the offensive end, Baumann netted nine points, Kurtz had eight points, Neil scored six and Thompson scored five. Both Greiner and Miranda Metcalf added two points apiece. Kurtz led in rebounding with eight and Baumann pulled down seven.

Flattery also contributed some of the Trojans? success to the dedicated fan base that continues to come out and the cheer for the girls, game after game.

?The crowd was very helpful to us,? he said. ?We played two close games here in the last two and hopefully we continue to get people out more and more to watch these gals because they?re really fun to watch.?

Next up for the Trojans (6-6, 1-3 SEC) is a big conference home game vs. Mount Pleasant Friday.

FAIRFIELD ? Ward 7-20 2-6 17, Baumann 3-4 3-4 9, Kurtz 4-10 0-0 8, Neil 2-9 2-2 6, Thompson 1-2 3-4 5, Greiner 1-2 0-0 2, Metcalf 1-1 0-0 2, Lamb 0-1 0-0 0, Bielinski 0-0 0-0 0, Total 19-49 10-16 49

3-point goals ? Ward 1. Rebounds ? Kurtz 8, Baumann 7, Neil 4. Assists ? Thompson 3, Ward 3, Baumann 2. Steals ? Ward 4, Neil 3, Baumann 3. Blocks ? Kurtz 2, Greiner 1