INDEPENDENCE–Fairview used a late run to defeat host Independence in a Chagrin Valley Conference Metro Division showdown on Wednesday, 40-33.
The Warriors trailed 26-25 entering the fourth quarter but turned the tables with a 12-5 run, leading to one of Fairview’s biggest wins of the season.
“Every game moving forward is going to be huge for us,” said Fairview head coach Karen Swanson-Haan. “We set a goal for ourselves at the beginning of the season of where we wanted to finish in the conference, and all the girls know we still have a shot at it, but we’ve got to play well the rest of the way. The girls brought it today, and I’m proud of how we played tonight.”
The Warriors jumped the Blue Devils early with a 5-0 start, capped by a Ryane Kerrigan 3-pointer before Emily Gibbons scored a pair of buckets to get Independence back into the game.
Kerrigan knocked down another triple and Fairview added four more points from Claire Dahler to take a 13-9 lead into the second.
The two sides battled back and forth in the second frame, with Paige Priebe scoring four points to help trim the Blue Devil deficit down to 21-18 at the break.
Priebe continued in the third quarter with six more points, leading Independence to a 26-25 lead after three.
Despite having the lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils ran into some woes on both sides, opening the door for Fairview.
“We did not play together,” said Independence head coach Brittany Zele. “This was very much unlike us. We’ve grown a lot since the first time we played them but, unfortunately, we didn’t show that tonight. They outplayed us.”
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors knocked down some big shots, with Kerrigan and Bella Pecchio-Schuerger connecting on 3-pointers, and Dahler sealing the deal with four more points for the win.
The Blue Devils made life tough on Fairview, staying close and even taking the lead late before the Warriors flipped the script to take care of business on the road.
“I was proud how our younger players battled today,” Swanson-Haan said of how her team responded to the adversity. “We had many young players step up tonight to weather those peaks and valleys.”
That growth from a Fairview team that started three freshmen and a sophomore in the win has been consistent throughout the year, with this game potentially being one of the most significant stepping stones in the process.
“We talk about how growth isn’t linear and how it takes a setback to go back in the right direction,” Haan said. “We’ve had some setbacks throughout the season, but how we’ve responded to them has been more important. I think tonight was a response from our team.”
The upward trend is coming with nine games left. The Warriors sit at 7-6 with the postseason quickly approaching.
“The conference race is important, but we’re also working towards the playoffs, and I think we’re looking to take something from each and every game,” Swanson-Haan said of the home stretch. “Win or lose, we need to learn from every game we play and fine-tune ourselves for the playoffs.”
Kerrigan finished with a game-high 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and three 3-pointers, Dahler posted 10 points with four steals, and Pecchio-Schuerger added nine points. Emily Larkin pulled down nine rebounds and scored six points.
Independence’s growth took a step back with the loss, but it will have to refocus to get back on track.
“We as a staff have to watch the film and find what we need to focus on,” Zele said of the remedy for the loss. “We can’t dwell on a loss, we need to learn from it, and that’s the plan.”
Despite the woes, the Blue Devils answered the bell consistently by responding to each Fairview run to stay in the game, even taking the lead into the fourth.
“We took longer possessions when faced with a zone defense, and we’re okay with that,” Zele said. “We don’t want to settle for 3-pointers; we just want to try and get a mid-range shot or a layup. We just couldn’t find that. It was harder to piece runs together, but we didn’t settle.”
Priebe led Independence with 10 points, Emily Gibbons added eight, and Lile Manfredonia pitched in with seven.
Independence hosts Beachwood on January 18, while Fairview hosts Cuyahoga Heights.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
