(December 5th, 2014) – FAYETTE: The Lady Eagles got off to a great start in their game against Edon on Friday night, and they never really looked back.
Enjoying a 5 point lead by the end of the first period, the Fayette girls put more and more distance between the Lady Bombers and themselves with the passing of each quarter. By halftime, the hometown Eagles held a 29-18 advantage over their guests from Edon.
In the second half, the Bombers increased their offensive production. Still, they couldn’t quite match the Lady Eagles’ potent offense. At the end of the game, the scoreboard read 59-42 in favor of Fayette.
Surprisingly, Edon rebounded quite well against a much taller Fayette team. The Lady Bombers reigned in 30 rebounds, while the Lady Eagles narrowly edged them out with 36. With a smaller team, the senior guard duo of Alex Kiess and Kaitlin Chrisman had to play a very active role in rebounding the basketball, pulling in 7 and 6 boards, respectively.
It was Kaitlyn Sonneberger who took the initiative when it came to going up and getting the ball. The junior brought in 9 rebounds over the course of the game. She also happened to lead all scorers with 13 points. Kiess added 11 for the Bombers, while Chrisman contributed 7 points in the loss.
For the Lady Eagles, seniors Page Keefer and Kaela Seiler each had 8 points, with the latter pulling down 9 rebounds. Michaela Bates, a junior for Fayette, claimed 8 points and 8 rebounds as well. Overall, the Eagles had eight players register 5 points or more against the Lady Bombers.
A decent amount of those points came from the free throw line. Shooting 69% from the line, the Lady Eagles were able to make 18 of their 26 attempts. Edon also had a decent night from the charity stripe. The Lady Bombers shot 67% on their extra points, hitting on 16 of 24 attempts.
Neither side was particularly careless with the ball. Committing 18 turnovers, Edon could have done a better job in this area, but that isn’t what lost them the game. Bates had a hand in a good many of those turnovers, stealing the ball 5 times from the Bombers. Her team limited their turnovers to 12.
Depth is what decided this game. Edon played seven girls in the contest, while, again, Fayette had eight players score 5 or more points. Not only that, but the Lady Bombers are still relying too heavily on the trio of Kiess, Sonneberger, and Chrisman, though teammates Hannah Kaylor and Shaylee Manahan, both sophomores, showed they had the potential to do more, scoring 5 points each.
Fayette is widely considered the favorite to win the Buckeye Border Conference this season. If they continue to play as balanced as they did against Edon, then it’s hard to go against that prediction.