WEST UNITY 1/10/2014—In a contest that saw Hilltop lead for 3 quarters of action, but a huge fourth quarter by the Fayette Eagles to come away with a 57-45 victory.
It was the Lady Cadets who would take a first quarter lead, going ahead of the Eagles 14-9.
Turnovers stifled the Eagles in the contest, giving up 17 free possessions to Hilltop. The Eagle’s rebounding advantage also kept them in the game, grabbing 34 rebounds in the contest. The Cadets would be able to hold on to a narrow 23-22 lead as the two teams headed in to the locker rooms for halftime.
The Cadets lead would expand in the third period of play, as Hilltop would outscore Fayette 10-7 in the third quarter to push the score to 32-28 in favor of the Cadets.
Hohings would change drastically in the fourth quarter. Field goal shooting percentages for both squads was fairly even, with Fayette shooting 31 percent from the field, and Hilltop only a percentage point behind at 30 percent from the field. The difference in the contest was at the free throw line. Hilltop made 7 of their 14 attempts on the night, while Fayette drained 25 of their 32 attempts, for a team free throw percentage of 78 percent. Fayette would go on to score 29 points in the fourth and final quarter of action, and after trailing by four points at the end of the third quarter, the Eagles suddenly found themselves ahead by 12 points as the contest came to an end.
LeAnn Joost lead the Cadets in scoring with ten points, followed by Kailey Creamer with eight points, Emily Armbruster with seven, Kayla Settlemire put six on the board, Destiny Denton was next with five, and Bailey Funkhouser finished with two.
For Fayette it was Kaela Seiler leading the way with 21 points. Taylor Griffiths contributed 14, Michaela Bates was able to rack up 12, Paige Keefer scored four, Katelyn Bates had three, Alexis Fruchey scored two, and Jessie Wheeler rounded out the scoring with one.
-Mitchell Peebles