FAIRVIEW, Ala. – Both the Aggies and Lady Aggies were on their home floor to host Guntersville in a pair of area matchups Friday night and the Fairview squads split the results of two very different games. The Lady Aggies trailed by 12 at the half against the Lady Wildcats but rallied to tie things up at the end of regulation and outlast Guntersville in overtime 62-60. The boys’ contest was settled a lot faster as the Wildcats jumped out to a 22-point halftime lead before pulling away to defeat the Aggies 74-43.
Fairview 62 – Guntersville 60 (varsity girls)
Baskets by Molly McKelvy and Emma Garcia gave Fairview an early, 4-2 lead and after Guntersville managed to pull ahead, another McKelvy layup tied the game at 7 midway through the first. A Jacy Gorham jumper put the Lady Aggies in front 9-7 but back to back three-pointers from the Lady Wildcats on the other end gave them a 13-9 advantage with two minutes remaining in the opening period. Daisy Manasco was able to score inside to stop the run but Fairview trailed Guntersville 19-12 going into the second quarter.
Gorham knocked down a three-pointer and then laid one in to score the first five points of the quarter and cut the lead to 21-18. However, the Lady Wildcats once again responded with a pair of treys to move back in front 27-18. The run continued, and Guntersville built a 34-21 lead with two minutes to play in the half. Five straight points from Garcia helped Fairview cut into the lead late in the second but the Lady Wildcats led the way 38-26 at the break.
Fairview tightened up defensively in the third quarter and began to close the gap. Manasco laid one in and buried a three-pointer to score five straight for the Lady Aggies and make it a 39-31 game and Garcia followed with five points of her own to trim the lead to three with just over three minutes remaining in the quarter. Manasco turned a steal on an inbounds pass into two points for Fairview to make it a 39-38 game and she scored through a foul on the next possession to give the Lady Aggies their first lead since the first quarter. The Lady Wildcats were able to get back on top by the end of the period, but Fairview trailed just 44-40 going into the fourth.
Baskets by McKelvy and Manasco cut the lead to 46-44 early in the period and another Manasco layup put the Lady Aggies back in front 48-46 midway through the fourth. A three-pointer gave Guntersville a 51-48 lead with three minutes to play but Maddie Yeager answered with a three on the other end to tie the game with less than two minutes remaining. A pair of McKelvy free throws kept the game tied at 53 with 25 seconds on the clock but neither team was able to get on the board after that and we went to overtime knotted at 53.
A Yeager basket gave Fairview a 2-point lead early the overtime period and McKelvy drilled a three to make it a 58-53 game with less than three minutes to play. Yeager added a free throw to sretch the lead to six, but the Lady Wildcats were able to trim the lead to 59-56 with just over a minute remaining. Morgan Lindsay’s first basket of the game couldn’t have come at a better time and gave Fairview a 61-56 advantage with less than a minute to play. Guntersville cut the lead all the way down to 61-60 with 30 seconds on the clock and after a McKelvy free throw made it a 2-point game, the Lady Aggies came up with the final defensive stop that they needed and held on to defeat the Lady Wildcats in overtime, 62-60.
Manasco led Fairview with 16 points in the win, followed by Garcia with 15 and McKelvy with 13. Gorham and Yeager each added seven points for the Lady Aggies.
Guntersville 74 – Fairview 43 (varsity boys)
Owen Yarbrough and Preston Ryan each scored early in the opening period to give Fairview an early, 4-3 lead but Guntersville quickly took control of the momentum and the lead with a 9-0 scoring run. Ryan knocked down a three-pointer to stop the run and make it a 12-7 game midway through the first, but the Wildcats were able to build a 20-12 lead going into the second.
Guntersville continued to score in the paint and add to its lead but another Yarbrough bucket, followed by a three-pointer by Parker Martin, made it 30-17 with five minutes to play in the half. A pair of Peyton Bailey and Aaron Carpenter free throws held the lead to 41-21 late in the second quarter but the Wildcats led the way 45-23 going into the halftime break.
Guntersville started the third quarter with a 9-0 run to pull ahead 54-23 but Ryan laid one in and Martin drilled another three to make it a 58-28 game midway through the period. Another scoring run from the Wildcats helped them extend their lead to 68-32 going into the final frame and with the hot clock running throughout the fourth, Guntersville pulled away to collect the area win on the road 74-43.
Yarbrough led the Aggies with 18 points in the loss, followed by Ryan with seven and Martin with six. Fairview will be back home Tuesday night to take on Hartselle.
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