Lady Dragons 4th quarter comeback falls short, fall to Lady Titans

FAIRBORN — Regardless of the outcome, there was no quit in the Fairland Lady Dragons. It’s just not in their DNA.

After falling behind by 16 points, the Lady Dragons mounted one last heroic run, but fell short as they fell to the Ottawa-Glandorf Lady Titans 54-48 in the Division 5 State Semifinals at Wright State University.

“We came on early and made shots and put ourselves in position to win the game. It just didn’t go our way in the end,” said Fairland coach Jon Buchanan.

“I’m super proud of how the kids came ready to play and really brought the energy. Ottawa-Glandorf is an excellent team. They easily could have been in the last two Final Fours. They just ran into Africentric in the regional finals both years. We were up for the challenge and gave it everything.”

Fairland had just two players reach double figures. Bailey Russell finished with a game-high 19 points, which was a befitting way for the school's all-time scoring leader to cap off a historic career. Stetson recruit Addison Godby finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds.

The Lady Titans has three players reach double figures with Alivia Grothause scoring a team-high 17 points, Karsyn Erford had 16 and Madison McKee chipped in 13.

Godby’s jumper gave Fairland its biggest lead at 11-6 with 2:53 on the first quarter clock. O-G battled back and a jumper by Erford put her team up 16-14 at the end of the quarter.

Godby’s 3-pointer put Fairland up 17-16 and the Lady Dragons maintained a lead until Erford tied the game at 25-all.

Stella Whitley came off the bench to hit a 3-pointer and the Lady Dragons were up 28-25. Two free throws by Gracie Lammers got O-G within 28-27 at the half.

Addyson Cornell connected on two foul shots for a 30-29 lead with 6:14 on the third quarter clock.

But it was at that point Ottawa-Glandorf went on a 17-0 run.

McKee gave the Lady Titans their largest lead of the game with a layup inside at 46-30 with 7 minutes showing on the clock.

“It was like were weren’t taking good shots. They were the same looks that we took earlier in the game. We just couldn’t get them to fall,” said Godby.

“But we knew there were still eight minutes to play, so we just had to battling and chipping away and give ourselves a chance.”

Running out of time, the Lady Dragons needed to make a run.

A 3-pointer from Godby would be just what Fairland needed and ignite the comeback and Russell would score 7-straight to help the Lady Dragons climb back to within 46-40 with 5:09 remaining.

Erford would temporarily halt the run with a jumper to put Ottawa back out by eight.

However, Fairland's run would continue with a pair of buckets from Godby and then Russell would score inside to cut the deficit to 48-46 with just 2:09 remaining in the game.

Karsyn Erford sank two free throws to give the Lady Titans a 50-46 lead. Fairland missed a shot and Alivia Grothause grabbed the rebound and Erford drove for a layup and it was 52-46.

Russell hit two foul shots and it was 52-48 with 1:22 to play. Fairland failed to connect on the offensive end and Erford was fouled with 29 seconds left and she hit both shots and it was 54-48.

“I feel like most teams in the situation we are in — down 14 in the Final Four — would have given up, but that’s not who we are,” said Russell.

“We all kept our heads high going into the fourth quarter and I’m so proud of how we fought back.”

Fairland finished the season 23-5 as the senior class helped lead the team to four straight Final Four appearances.

The senior class compiled a 97-13 record that included three Ohio Valley Conference titles, four district and regional championships to go with the four Final Four berths.

“What we did on the court is great, but I think our legacy off the court is bigger because of how much we care for each other,” said Godby.

“We post on social media pages because we want the younger players to see how close we are. We’ve been playing together our whole lives and that bond is not something created overnight. Hopefully, those players see the love we have for one another and they’ll want that for themselves.”

Fairland 16 12 2 18 = 48

Ottawa-Glandorf 16 11 17 10 = 54

FAIRLAND (23-5): Teagan Leep 0 0 0-0 0, Isa Taliaferro 0 2 0-0 6, Addison Godby 4 2 0-3 14, Rylee Russell 0 0 0-2 0, Addyson Cornell 1 0 2-2 4, Stella Whitley 0 1 0-0 3, Lola Donahue 1 0 0-2 2, Kiana Miller 0 0 0-2 0, Bailey Russell 4 2 5-6 19. Totals: 10 7 7-15 48. 3-pt goals: 7-25. Rebounds; (O-7, D-16) 23 (Russell 6, Taliaferr o5, Godby 5). Assists: 10 (Godby 4, Taliaferro 3). Steals: 4. Blocks: 1 (Taliaferro). Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: R. Russell (4th).

OTTAWA-GLANDORF (28-0): Alivia Grothouse 8 0 1-5 17, Karsyn Erford 5 0 6-9 16, Allison Kuhlman 2 0 0-0 4, Gracie Lammers 0 0 2-2 2, Savannah Recker 0 0 2-2 2, Madison McKee 6 0 1-3 13, Greta Liebrecht 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 0 12-21 54. 3-point goals: 0-10. Rebounds: O=2, D=22) 24 (McKee 10, Erford 5). Assists: 8 (Erford 3, Lammers 2, Recker 2). Steals: 5 (Kehlman 2). Blocks: 3. Turnovers: 10. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.