Fairview’s young basketball team added an exclamation point to its season with a 50-48 upset win in a Division V sectional final at Poland on Saturday.
The 17th-seeded Warriors made key plays down the stretch to upend the No. 13 Bulldogs.
“It was super exciting,” said Fairview coach Karen Swanson Haan. “I think the feeling among all of us was that it was going to be a fairly evenly matched game, but if we played really well and played our hearts out, it was definitely winnable.”
If left the building before the tip-off.
The Warriors came out of the gate playing confidently and led 10-5 after one.
Freshman Ryane Kerrigan opened the game hitting 1-of-2 free throws then later added a 3-pointer. Freshmen Claire Dahler and Ivy Budzar and senior Alexa Manos also scored for the Warriors in the first.
Kerrigan added five more in the second and Manos drained a 3-pointer to help the Warriors keep pace with the Bulldogs in a 20-20 game at the break.
Poland found its groove in the third and edged the Warriors in the frame, 17-15, to take a 37-35 lead into the fourth.
That’s when the Warriors were at their best.
Tied 41-41, Dahler recorded a steal and went coast-to-coast, finishing with a layup for a 43-41 lead the Warriors never relinquished.
“We started three freshmen and all three of them had absolutely enormous minutes tonight for us,” Swanson Haan said. “Claire, that play was fantastic as was her handling the ball for us against their pressure, and Ivy Budzar, she is a post player for us, and her length was exceptionally helpful because Poland has some real good bigs on their team. And then Ryane Kerrigan, she actually led us in scoring today even though she wasn’t feeling well and was kind of battling a cold, but she started, and she had a couple really, really big shots.”
Fairview outscored Poland in the fourth, 15-11.
Kerrigan led the Warriors with 13 points and Budzar also scored in double figures with 10. Dahler and Manos scored nine each, Bella Shuerger added five, and Emily Larkin contributed with four.
The Warriors pulled down 41 rebounds and shot 38 percent from the floor while limiting the Bulldogs to just 25 percent.
“I think it came from our preparation,” Swanson Haan said. “The schedule we played really prepared us for moments like this.”
With the win, the Warriors improved to 14-9 and advanced to the district semifinal round. They’ll travel to No. 1 seed Columbiana Crestview on Feb. 18.
