Lady Eagles Basketball
Fairfield Wins State Semi-Finals, Brings Home State Runner-up
Lady Eagles bring home 3A State Runner-up at State Tournament.
March 6, 2023
Lady Eagles brought Eagle fans back to San Antonio’s Alamodome for the fourth consecutive year in a row, starting their run against the Winnsboro Lady Raiders last Thursday. The Lady Eagles advance to the State Championship game, falling short by 11 points and bringing home the title of 3A State Runner-up.
“We told them it might take four quarters to wear them down and it did,” head coach Sally Whitaker said at the Winnsboro vs. Fairfield press conference. “Once we finally got to that point, we were able to make steals, and control the game and make free throws. So our defense is why we are here.”
The Semi-Final game left Eagle fans on the edge of their seats as the leading team switched back and forth. Fairfield started in the lead, ending the first quarter 9-3, and kept this lead even after finding a tough opponent in the Lady Raiders #55 Faith Acker. The lead was then changed when Winnsboro got a 3 point lead with a score of 34-31 at the end of the third quarter. That lead was then taken back by the Lady Eagles after the last couple of minutes in the fourth quarter, with Lady Eagles winning the Semi-Finals with a score of 51-43.
“After [Jimilyah Nash] hit that, we all regain our motivation, it increased it a lot,” junior # 13 Avery Thaler said at the Winnsboro vs. Fairfield press conference. “We don’t even have to tell her good job and she just went right back to playing defense.”
After a day of rest on Friday, the girls then faced their next opponent, the Holiday Lady Eagles last Saturday. Fairfield ended the first quarter in Holiday’s favor with a score of 19-7. By the end of the second quarter, Fairfield caught up a little going from a 12 point gap to a 8 point gap with the score of 28-20 with Holiday still in the lead. The third quarter ended with the gap left at a 5 point gap with a score of 39-34 with Holiday still in the lead. The fourth quarter kept all Eagles in the stand on their feet as Fairfield finally overtook Holiday which caused the game to become anyone’s game. In the end the Holiday came out victorious with a final score of 58-47.
“It a lot of pressure, and you wanna give up at times, but we never gave up,” senior player #20 Shadasia Brackens said at the Holiday vs. Fairfield press conference. “I’m proud of us for that. There’s not many people who get to experience this real good blessing to just come back for my four years I’ve been in high school, which is crazy to me cause when I was in junior high I never thought about this. I didn’t even care about this to be honest, so I‘m just glad I’m here.”
These girls leave a legacy of four state appearances in a row and close off the season with an overall standing of 39-3.
District 20-3A Honors include Co-District MVP, Shadasia Brackens and McKinna Brackens; Defensive MVP, Avery Thaler; 6th Man of the Year, Blayke Brackens; 1st Team All District, Kaylee Williams; 2nd Team All District, Jimilyah Nash; Heart and Hustle Award, Lillian McBean; Honorable Mention, Jaci Abram and Kristavia Nelms. Academic All-District: McKinna Brackens, Shadasia Brackens, Avery Thaler, Lillian McBean, Jimilyah Nash, Jaci Abram, Blayke Brackens, and Addison Posey.
