Ellie Carter (24) of Fairbanks goes up for a basket against Triad’s Kaydence Feasel (12) on Saturday evening. Carter scored 12 points during the Lady Panthers’ 65-9 victory. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
“This is what a rebuilding year truly looks like.”
The words of Triad High School girls basketball coach Erica Trainer sum up what the Lady Cardinal program is going through this season.
Triad fell to 0-7 on Saturday with a 65-9 loss on the floor of neighboring Fairbanks High School.
“We’re young and we’re playing a lot of freshmen,” said Trainer. “We had a couple of girls out with illness tonight and right now, we just don’t have anyone who can step up into a scoring role.”
The Lady Cardinals went into the game averaging 16 points per outing.
Opponents were scoring at nearly a 55-per game clip.
Both of those figures went in the wrong direction after the contest.
The game was the perfect antidote for a Fairbanks (6-1) squad that was still smarting from Wednesday’s 52-40 setback at the hands of Mechanicsburg.
“We got back to doing the things we do best,” said FHS coach Landon Fraker. “We took better care of the basketball and we shot better.”
Fairbanks finished the game with four players in double figures.
Elaina Lahmers led with 17 points.
Ellie Carter tossed in 12, Carly Lehman tallied 11 and Macy Miller finished with 10.
It took Fairbanks (which will host West Liberty-Salem on Wednesday) a few minutes to get untracked.
Lahmers scored the first three points and assisted on a basket by Miller.
Fairbanks’ pressure defense came up with numerous steals, several of which enabled the home team to put the first 19 points on the board.
A baseline move by Mia LeMay eliminated the goose egg from Triad’s side of the ledger.
Lahmers then scored right before the horn to send Fairbanks into the second quarter with a 24-3 margin.
FHS eased up a great deal on the defensive pressure.
Fraker also kept shuffling the lineup to get younger players more court time.
The results, however, were about the same.
Lehman buried a three-ball that pushed the Lady Panthers out to their first 30-point spread of 33-3.
Triad didn’t score again until there was slightly less than a minute remaining until halftime.
Abbey Overfield scored a pair of her team-high four points.
Fairbanks’ Liz Reinhard hit a free throw as the halftime margin expanded to 41-5.
As such, the running clock rule was invoked at the start of the second half.
Although Fairbanks didn’t apply much in the way of defensive pressure, the Cardinals, who will host West Jefferson on Wednesday, came up with numerous empty possessions.
“We had a lot of unforced turnovers,” said Trainer. “We trying to improve every day and we’re working on trying to get better as ball handlers.”
Triad was shut out of the scoreboard during the third quarter.
Miller hit a basket and Lehman drilled a trifecta as the Lady Panthers took a 48-5 lead into the fourth period.
Overfield tallied her final basket with slightly more than four minutes to play, making the score 63-7.
Madi Cox notched Triad’s final field goal (as the score went to 65-9) and was later sent to the free throw line with less than a minute left.
She tried to push the Cardinals into double-digit scoring.
The free throws, however, didn’t find the mark and Fairbanks was able to run out the timer.
Fairbanks
Lahmers 5-6-17, Carter 6-0-12, Lehman 4-1-11, Miller 5-0-10, R. Poling 2-2-6, A. Poling 2-0-4, Groves 2-0-4, Reinhard 0-1-1, Ruff 0-0-0, Smith 0-0-0. Totals 26-10-65.
Three-point goals: Lehman 2, Lahmers 1.
Triad
Overfield 2-0-4, Cox 1-1-3, M. LeMay 1-0-2, Roberts 0-0-0, Nott 0-0-0, Allison 0-0-0, Feasel 0-0-0, Gregg 0-0-0, L. MeMay 0-0-0. Totals 4-1-9.
The Fairbanks junior varsity squad won its game, 49-9.
Rachael Hoover led the Jr. Panthers with 11 points. Liz Reinhard and Anna Mueller both tallied 10.
Olivia Hall led Triad’s jayvees with four.