VINEMONT, Ala. — Fairview made the short trip over to Vinemont Saturday night to face off against the Lady Eagles and Eagles in a pair of county games. In the girls’ game, a strong second half helped propel the Lady Aggies to a 62-40 win over the Lady Eagles and in the boys’ game, Vinemont held off a late rally by Fairview to pick up a 57-55 win.
Fairview 62 – Vinemont 40 (varsity girls)
Fairview got off to a red-hot start offensively as Emma Garcia drilled a three and Sadie Smith, along with Garcia, each added a basket down low to give the Lady Aggies a quick 6-0 lead a little over a minute into the game. Caroline Miller got a basket to fall for Vinemont to make it a 7-2 game, but the Lady Aggies’ Morgan Lindsay hit a layup and Garcia hit another three to push their lead to 12-2. Maggie Burks hit a shot down to make it a 12-4 contest, but a Lindsay trey and a layup by Somer Harris increased Fairview’s lead to 17-4. Whitney hit a three for the Lady Eagles to cut the deficit to nine at 17-8. Smith scored the final five points of the quarter for the Lady Aggies as they went into the second quarter with a 24-10 lead.
Only three field goals were made in the second quarter, and they were all made by Vinemont as a Reagan Robinson shot down low and a pair of treys from Berkley Gable cut the Lady Aggie lead to 24-18 at the half. A Jayla Gorham three increased Fairview’s lead to 27-18 to start out the third quarter, but six straight points from Burks made it a 29-24 game early in the third period. A pair of Raylee Quick free throws kept the Vinemont deficit at five at 31-26. A Smith shot down low, and a Reagan Dunkin trey pushed Fairview’s lead back up to 10 at 36-26.
The Lady Aggies started to pull away late in the third period as a three-point play by Smith and baskets down low by Lindsay and Gorham made it a 43-28 game. Another Garcia shot down low had Fairview up by a score of 47-30 going into the final period. A pair of Carley Stephens free throws cut the Fairview lead to 47-32, but a Dunkin three and a Smith made basket pushed the Lady Aggie lead to 52-32. Another Gorham basket down low made it 55-32 and Fairview went on cruise control from there as they went on to take the game, 62-40.
Smith finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, and five steals for Fairview (14-7). Garcia also finished with 14 points as well, along with 11 rebounds and five steals. Gorham added 13 points and eight rebounds, while Lindsay ended up with seven points and a pair of steals. For Vinemont (6-10), Burks finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Gable added eight points and four rebounds while Robinson (three steals) and Whitney Quick each ended up with six points.
Vinemont 57 – Fairview 55 (varsity boys)
Both teams struggled to score for the first two-plus minutes of the game before Colby Miller hit a shot down to give Vinemont a 3-1 lead early in the first period. Cylas Yarbrough drilled a three and Kobe Payne hit a layup to give Fairview a 6-3 lead, but later on, the Eagles went on a little run behind Miller, Isaac Moody, and Toby Hill as they scored Vinemont’s next eight points, with Hill’s layup helping give them an 11-8 lead. Back-to-back baskets down low by Ethan Fraiser gave the Aggies a 12-11 lead, but Hill scored again down low and Kix Johnson got a steal and he hit a fast-break layup as the Eagles would go into the second quarter with a 15-12 lead.
A Fraiser free throw cut the Vinemont lead to 17-15, but five straight points from Ryan Stewart increased the Eagle lead to 22-15. Later on in the second period, a Miller shot down low and another Stewart three gave Vinemont a double-digit lead at 27-17 with a little over three minutes left in the first half. The Aggies finished the first half strong as Austin Johnson hit a layup to make it a 27-19 game, then a pair of baskets from Cade Arnold and one from Yarbrough helped cut the Fairview deficit to just two at 27-25.
An Austin Johnson layup kept the Fairview deficit at two at 31-29 early in the third quarter. Moody hit a long-range shot from the left wing and Miller hit another basket down low to push Vinemont’s lead to 36-29 with a little over four minutes to go in the third period. A Hill basket down low and another Moody three gave the Eagles a 41-31 lead. A Yarbrough shot down low made it a 42-34 game, but Connor Gibbs split a pair from the line as the Eagles went into the final quarter up by a score of 43-34.
A pair of Landon Tweedie free throws cut the Fairview deficit to just seven at 43-36, but Hill hit a pair of shots down low, and Miller added a floater to help give Vinemont a 49-36 game with a little over five minutes to go in the contest. A basket each from Johnson and Payne made it a 49-40 game, but a pair of free throws from Moody helped push Vinemont’s lead to 53-40.
That’s when the Aggies made their run as Tweedie hit a basket down low and Payne scored four straight points, including a steal and a layup, to help cut the Eagle lead to 53-46. Fraiser added a layup to make it a 54-48 game and Payne added a pair from the line to cut it to 55-50. Payne later drilled a three with 11 seconds left to cut the deficit to just three at 56-53, but Johnson added a free throw for the Eagles as they would go on to win a huge game at home over the Aggies, 57-55.
Hill led the way for Vinemont (4-13) with 18 points, five rebounds, and a pair of steals. Miller finished with a double-double: 12 points and 15 rebounds, along with a steal and a block. Moody also added 12 points in the game, along with four rebounds and a steal. Stewart ended up with eight points. For Fairview (12-7), Payne finished with 15 points and two steals. Fraiser added nine points, seven rebounds, and a pair of steals.
Johnson and Yarbrough (eight rebounds) also finished with nine points as well. Tweedie ended up with seven points, while Arnold added six points.
Fairview will head back home Tuesday to take on Brewer.
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