Tahalier Collier (4) puts one up underneath for the Lady Griffins. (Photo/DeAnna Robinson)
WINNSBORO (Dec. 19, 2016) – It was a tough Friday night for the Lady Griffins when the Newberry Bulldogs rolled into town and laid down a 60-34 trouncing.
“I think turnovers really killed us,” Lady Griffins head coach Amelia Miller said. “We’ve got to get it mentally that defense wins games, and we’re not there yet; but we’re going to get there.”
Despite the final score, the game started in a closely contested fashion. Both teams traded buckets in the opening frame, and Fairfield held a slim 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Lakeyn Boyd scored six of Fairfield’s 10 points in the first, and Rayanna Davis was responsible for seven of Newberry’s nine first-quarter points.
Then, in the second period, the wheels began to come off for the Lady Griffins. The Bulldogs went on to outscore Fairfield 20-10 in the quarter, thanks in large part to the dominant post presence of Newberry’s Nigeria Davis and Kelsey Felks.
The low-post tandem of Davis and Felks combined for 32 points on the night, and with their help Newberry seized a 29-20 lead going into the half.
“I felt like we missed some assignments down low,” Miller said. “We weren’t fronting the post like we were supposed to. Foul trouble came into play because of lack of positioning that we were getting down low and they just had a field day, and we had to end up going small because of foul trouble.”
Turnovers plagued the Lady Griffins throughout much of the first half, and the second half was no exception to the turnover bug. Fairfield, due largely to the turnover problem, only mustered up 14 second-half points, and by the end of the third they were down by 19.
“With the turnovers I felt like that really put a damper on the game,” Miller said. “Not having our senior, Jameka Henderson, in kind of hurt us, and the ball is in the eighth-graders’ hands more. Again, they’re learning and I’m going to continue to play them and we’re going to get better.”
Newberry kept their foot to the floor throughout the duration of the fourth quarter. The Lady Bulldog defense held Fairfield to just seven points in the quarter, and the offense kept piling it on with a 14-point quarter.
The loss drops the Lady Griffins to 1-5 on the season.
Newberry 60, Fairfield 34
FCHS: 10-10-7-7 – 34
NHS: 9-20-17-14 – 60
Fairfield
Lakeyn Boyd-15, Jamaria Sampson-6, Tahalier Collier-6, Tameshia Woodard-5,Destiny Armstrong-2.
Newberry
Rayanna Davis-18, Nigeria Davis-17, Kelsey Felks-15, Kelsey Havard-4, Diamond Davis-3, Jalia Perry-2, Lindsey Ruff-1.
