West pressure too much for Fairfield girls

Fairfield jumped right into the fire Tuesday to kick off the regular season with a match-up against No. 1-ranked (Class 4A) Iowa City West.

The top team in the state showed why it?s been so highly regarded in preseason polls, streaking out to a 26-1 lead after the first period before running away with a 94-28 win.

?West High is very, very good,? said Fairfield head coach Mick Flattery. ?They?re deserving of a top ranking. They have a lot of weapons, and they shot the ball very well.?

Not only did the green-and-yellow Trojans shoot the ball well ? 55 percent from the floor compared to Fairfield?s 23 percent ? but the visitors laid on constant defensive pressure to force Fairfield into committing 33 turnovers.

Several of the turnovers resulted in easy fast break scores for West, and while Fairfield only trailed 2-1 after the first three minutes of play, the visiting team poured in 36 straight points en route to taking a commanding 38-1 lead.

Taylor Neil ended Fairfield?s skid with a free throw late in the first half, followed by another free throw from sophomore Hanna Greiner and a bucket by senior Serena Ward to make the score 43-5 at halftime.

Ward opened the second half with a quick score on Fairfield?s first possession, and later Tori Ogden hit two consecutive 3s and Jessica Lamb made one 2-pointer over a period that saw Fairfield out-score their opponent 8-5. The host Trojans scored 17 of their 28 points in the third quarter alone.

?I thought the third quarter, for at least half of it, our kids really competed,? said Flattery. ?We talked about it at halftime ... when you walk out of this locker room look at it as 0-0 and let?s try to win the third quarter and go from there.?

Ogden led Fairfield with nine points followed by junior Sidney Baumann and Ward with six apiece. Brittany Kurtz scored three points off the bench. Baumann also had team highs in rebounds (five), steals (two) and assists (three).

?I was really pleased with how our girls never backed down, never let up, and that?s not easy to do playing a team as good as [Iowa City West],? Flattery added. ?I?m just thankful we have a week now to get ready for Osky and go back and work on a lot of the fundamental things.?

Fairfield (0-1) will continue its difficult opening season schedule, which includes four ranked teams before Christmas break, at home Monday vs. Oskaloosa.

FAIRFIELD ? Ogden 9, Baumann 6, Ward 6, Kurtz 3, Lamb 2, Greiner 1, Neil 1

3-point goals ? Ogden 2. Rebounds ? Baumann 5, Neil 4. Assists ? Baumann 3. Steals ? Baumann 2