LAKOTA — The Fairland Lady Dragons have improved on the game Connect 4. It’s called Connect 5.
The Lady Dragons turned in a second straight strong all-around performance to go along with a stellar shooting effort as they cruised past the Versailles Lady Tigers 73-38 to win the Division 5 regional championship Saturday at Lakota East High School.
Bailey Russell scored 16 of her 26 points in the first quarter and the Lady Dragons made 14 of 28 3-point goals and shot 24 of 48 from the field overall for 50 percent in both shooting categories.
“The girls are playing really connected right now,” said Fairland coach Jon Buchanan, whose team is making its third straight Final Four appearance.
The Lady Dragons (21-5) will play the Portsmouth Lady Trojans (25-1) again and they are hoping the third time's the charm.
The state semifinal game is expected to be played at Ohio University. The day and time are still to be determined.
The Lady Trojans won 67-49 and 47-35 in their previous meetings this season.
Portsmouth reached the semifinals for the second straight season by rolling past Minford 49-32 in their regional championship game on Saturday at Logan.
Russell drilled six 3-pointers to go with 5 steals in a total team effort. Kamryn Barnitz had 15 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, Addison Godby 11 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, and Isa Taliaferro had 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Versailles (18-9) was led by Sarah Stammen with 12 points and Grace Osborne with 10.
The game was virtually over by the end of the first quarter when Fairland built a 22-5 lead. The Lady Dragons led 50-17 at the half and the second half was shortened by the running clock rule.
Fairland scored the first 7 points of the game before Kynnedi Hager’s layup at the 4:58 mark got Versailles on the scoreboard.
More Fairland scoring followed.
Russell hit a 3-pointer and 2 foul shots, Addyson Cornell hit a 3-pointer and Russell buried another triple for an 18-2 lead. Isa Taliaferro sank a foul shot and Russell hit her fourth 3-pointer of the quarter and it was 22-3.
It got worse quickly.
Barnitz had a cutback that put the lead at 29-9 with 6:42 left in the half. Taegan Leep, Russell, Cornell and Barnitz all hit 3-pointers for a 46-15 lead. Osborne sank a pair of foul shots that had Versailles down 46-17 but a layup and 2 free throws by Cornell opened up a 50-17 halftime cushion.
A 3-pointer by Barnitz at the 4:05 mark of the third quarter had the lead at 60-17 before Stammen’s layup with 2:56 on the clock got the Lady Tigers on the scoreboard in the quarter.
Godby drilled a trifecta with 4 seconds left in the quarter and it was 69-27 heading into the final quarter.
Fairland 22 28 19 4 = 73
Versailles 5 12 10 11 = 38
FAIRLAND (21-5): 0-0 1-2 0-0 3, Isa Taliaferro 0-0 0-2 0-0 0, Ava Layne 1-3 0-2 2-2 4, Addison Godby 2-2 2-2 1-4 11, Sierra Pemberton 0-1 0-0 0-0 0, Stella Whitley 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Kamryn Barnitz 3-4 3-7 0-0 15, Bailey Russell 2-5 6-10 4-4 26. Totals: 24-48 11-18 73. 3-pt goals: 14-28. Rebounds: 34 (Godby 5, Barnitz 5, Taliaferro 4). Assists: 18 (Godby 5, Layne 5, Taliaferro 4, Barnitz 3). Steals: 10 (Russell 5, Godby 2, Cornell 2, Layne 1). Turnovers: 8. Fouls: 10. Fouled out None.
VERSAILLES (18-9): Molly Phelan 0 0 0-0 0, Sarah Stammen 3 2 0-0 12, Isabel Barga 1 0 0-0 2, Elli Stammen 0 0 0-0 0, Grace Osborne 2 0 6-8 10, Katey Litton 1 0 0-0 2, Taylor Wagner 1 0 3-5 5, Rowan Schmitmeyer 0 0 0-0 0, Kynnedi Hager 2 1 0-0 7, Jenna Heitkamp 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 3 9-13 38. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.
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