Lady Dragons burn Lady Senators for fifth-straight district title

WAVERLY — The Fairland Lady Dragons proved they were a two demential team.

Along with being the better team.

The Lady Dragons used  an explosive offense with a strong defense to beat the Portsmouth West Lady Senators 69-38 in the Division 5 district semifinals Saturday at the Waverly Downtown Arena.

"I thought our first quarter was really good. We've been challenging our kids to come out with a better effort," said Fairland coach Jon Buchanan. "We've been kind of flat the last couple weeks and I thought we did. And I didn't think Portsmouth West was playing bad, I felt we were playing really great."

The Lady Dragons (21-4) will play Waynesville in the regional semifinals at Lakota East High School on Wednesday.

"Waynesville is really good. They got an elite point guard. We're very familiar with them, we played them last year in the same round, in the same gym. And obviously when you get to the Sweet 16, everybody's good."

West (15-10) stayed close early as the game was tied three times with the final time 6-all, and the lead changed hands three more times with the final switch coming at the 5:17 mark when Addison Godby made a driving layup.

The basket ignited a 15-0 run that ended on a jump shot by Bailey Russell with 2:13 on the clock for 21-7 lead.

Brayleigh Pistole make two foul shots with 59 seconds to go in the quarter and end West’s scoring draught. Pistole scored again with 12 seconds left and it was 21-11.

Fairland’s defense took over and forced 13 turnovers in the second quarter and Russell scored 10 points including a 3-pointer with 2:05 left in the half to make it 34-17.

Pistole’s layup before time ran out cut the Fairland lead to 38-20 at the break.

Isa taliaferro took over the scoring in the third quarter for the Lady Dragons as she scored 10 points including a pair of 3-pointers.

Taliaferro’s 3-pointers and extended the lead to 49-26 before West’s Macey Whisman scored to end the 11-4 Fairland scoring run.

Buchanan praised Taliaferro's offensive performance.

"Isa played great. Obviously she made shots and she's so smart out there," said Buchanan. "She had a really good game."

Whisman ’s jumper made it 54-30 but a foul shot by Godby gave Fairland a comfortable 55-30 lead after three quarters.

Ports. West 11 9 10 8 = 38

Fairland 21 17 17 14 = 69

PORTSMOUTH WEST (15-10): Shella Harrison 0 0 0-0 0, Ally Buckner 1 1 3-4 8, Raleigh Miller 0 0 0-0 0, Lauryn Trinidad 2 0 0-0 4, Kayla Throckmorton 0 0 0-0 0, Molly Whisman 0 0 0-0 0, Gracelynn Bigham 0 0 0-2 0, Brayleigh Pistole 6 0 3-6 15, Aubree Hayslip 0 0 0-0 0, Hailey Carver 1 0 0-0 2, Shelby Hurst 0 0 1-2 1, Macey Whisman 3 0 0-2 6, Maddox Lawless 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 1 7-16. Rebounds: xx (Pistole 8, Whisman 7, Buckner 6). Assists: 1. Steals: 6 (Bigham 2). Blocks: 5 (Pistole 3). Turnovers: 33. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None

FAIRLAND (21-4): Teagan Leep 1 0 0-0 2, Isa Taliaferro 3 4 1-1 19, Addison Godby 6 0 3-9 15, Rylee Russell 1 0 0-0 2, Haley Adkins 0 0 0-0 0, Addyson Cornell 3 1 0-0 9, Stella Whitley 0 0 0-0 0, Lola Donahue 1 0 0-0 2, Kiana Miller 0 0 1-4, Liana Streets 1 0 0-0 2, Ray Anderson 0 0 0-0 0, Bailey Russell 6 1 2-4 17, Morgan Elliott 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 28-66 7-18 69. 3-pt goals: 6-23. Rebounds: xx (Godby 6, Whitley 4). Assists: 9 (Taliaferro 4, Godby 3). Steals: 23 (Cornell 5, Godby 4, R. Russell 3, B. Russell 3). Turnovers: 9. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: None.