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Fairmont girls impress at tournament

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By Greg Billing, Staff Writer 10:19 PM Monday, January 16, 2012

Fairmont’s high school girls basketball team entered the weekend ranked No. 10 in the Division I state poll.

Twinsburg and Canton McKinley might beg to differ.

Fairmont put a scare into No. 5 Twinsburg on Saturday and beat No. 2 Canton McKinley late Sunday night at the Classic in the Country invitational in Berlin.

Against Twinsburg, which beat Fairmont 55-42 in the D-I title game last season, the Firebirds took a 28-24 lead into halftime before falling 56-49.

Against McKinley, the Firebirds led by as many as 21 before winning 52-41. The loss was just the second regular-season defeat for the Pups since December 2009. The Pups also lost last Thursday.

“Our kids really came out focused,” Fairmont coach Tim Cogan said. “They didn’t want to lose two games there.

“Our kids were really unselfish. It was a huge team effort. This is great for us and gets us back on the map.”

The Firebirds led the Pups 45-24 entering the fourth quarter.

Fairmont junior Chelsea Welch held Ameryst Alston — the reigning Ms. Basketball and an Ohio State recruit — to 15 points on 3-of-12 shooting. Alston, who entered averaging 26 points, had three at halftime.

Fairmont, which doesn’t have a senior on the roster, also enjoyed a significant height advantage. Fairmont has three players who stand 6-foot-2 with sophomores Makayla Waterman, Kathryn Westbeld and Emma Havener. McKinley’s tallest player is 5-10.

Westbeld led Fairmont offensively with 23 points and added 12 rebounds in an otherwise balanced scoring attack.

On Saturday, McKinley had snapped Princeton’s 41-game regular season winning streak with a 59-53 win. Princeton is ranked No. 3 in the state.

“We’re still a work in progress,” McKinley coach Pam Davis told the Canton Repository. “I expect our veterans to lead the way and show the way to our young kids, and we’re inconsistent. ... Rankings are subjective. It all comes down to the last eight games of the year.”

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