Waynesville saw those traits in last year’s semifinal and lost to Fairland by 13 points. But the full-court press? If Fairland needed a another edge this season in pursuit of a state title, the Dragons have found treasure.
Every time Fairland scored, which was a lot, they pressed, forcing 16 first-half turnovers, fueling the Dragons’ 76-38 victory.
“They continued to speed us up and force turnovers throughout the game,” Waynesville coach Kelley Bricker said. “That was not something that we handled particularly well tonight, and that was different from last year.”
Fairland (22-4) takes on Anna next at 2 p.m. Saturday back at Lakota East in their pursuit of advancing past the state semifinal that ended their season a year ago. The Rockets (16-8) survived and advanced with a 50-49 overtime victory against Versailles.
Anna will face the same fierce pressure that shot the Dragons to a 14-2 lead in under three minutes, a 31-6 lead after one quarter and a 51-16 halftime lead.
The Dragons pressed and created turnovers and layups. They pushed the ball relentlessly in transition and scored on passes over the top of the Spartans. They spaced the floor when they had to run half-court offense, resulting in 40.7% (11 of 27) 3-point shooting or found cutters in the lane for easy twos. Overall, they shot 52.7%.
Waynesville (19-7) had no answers.
“They’re aggressive on defense, and they move really well, so it makes it really difficult to get openings going to the basket,” Bricker said. “And then you counter that with how fast they get down the floor. We knew transition was going to be something that we had to account for, and we didn’t do as well as I would hope with that.”
Nine Dragons scored, but Bailey Russell did the most damage with 24 points.
When the Spartans beat the press or got into their offense, seniors Maggie Stephenson and Katie Berrey did most of the scoring. Stephenson scored 18 and Berrey added 12.
The loss finished the careers of the two four-year starters. Berrey will play in college at Cedarville and Stephenson will play at Mount Vernon Nazarene.
“Katie and Maggie are two of the most prolific performers in the history of Waynesville basketball,” Bricker said.
The Spartans graduate five other seniors, including starters Grace Cordery, Amelia Bunch and Maddie Kolaczkowski.
“This is an incredibly special group of players, but a special group of seniors for Waynesville, one of the largest groups of seniors that we’ve had come through in a long time,” Bricker said. “It’s a special group, who not only is talented, but also supports each other and wants nothing but the best for each other. They really go out of their way to celebrate each other’s wins and support each other on and off the floor.”
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