Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
LEESBURG — Fairfield has been through the ringer this season.
The program has dealt with season-ending injuries as well as missed games for various reasons. The result has been a lopsided win-loss record — and not a in a good way.
In fact, the Lions came into Saturday’s game with Portsmouth Clay with just six active varsity players.
Yet, none of that mattered once they hit the floor.
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
After holding a double-digit lead throughout most of the contest, they fended off a late rally to nail down a 51-44 victory over Clay in the Chad Hodson Classic.
“Being down two starters and our sixth man, it was a challenge. But the girls stepped up big,” Fairfield coach Jennifer Blue said. “It was awesome to see. We told the girls on Thursday when we had practice that it’s a new year, which means a new start. We treated this game like we were 0-0 coming in and starting 2025 at 1-0 is great.”
Limited numbers led to unlimited opportunities, and that allowed Addison Cannon to make the most of her minutes on the floor.
The freshman forward was selective with her shots, but made them count, holding her own on the glass while finishing with 11 points and eight rebounds.
“She’s such a hard worker,” Fairfield’s Rilee Quickle said. “Constantly watching film, getting extra reps in practice and it’s definitely been showing with her play on the court.”
Speaking of Quickle, she finished with a game-high 19 points alongside eight rebounds. But it was her defense that made the biggest impact.
Having the task of guarding Clay’s Emma Emnett, the junior guard kept the Panthers’ leading scorer in check and held her without a field goal on the evening.
PHOTOS: Images from Fairfield’s win over Clay
“Rilee is a defensive stopper and she gives it 110 percent every single time she takes the court,” Blue said. “She has a way of getting into player’s heads because she’s so disruptive with her hands and how quick she is.”
Clay held a 3-0 lead early on. Madison Penix scored three points the hard way, but from that point on, it was all Lions.
Paisley Stahlhut and Kassi Miller led a 6-0 run before Vivan Henniger scored the next five points to put Fairfield (2-8) ahead 11-5. Quickle later buried a triple and Cannon hit two free throws, giving them an 18-7 lead after the first.
For the first six minutes of the second, each team only scored two points. However, Miller and Quickle connected on back-to-back 3’s to push the lead to 26-13 at halftime.
“We hit five 3’s in the first half and that was such a welcome sight to see,” Blue said. “Even going back to practice over the past few days, we’ve been shooting the ball pretty well and trying to take that confidence from practice into the game, and it really showed.”
That double-digit lead remained throughout the third, but the Panthers (7-4) slowly began to close the gap.
Fairfield’s lead swelled to as large at 31-17, and later 34-21, following a bucket and a foul from Quickle. But Sophia Craft and Ava Demorest led a 9-4 Panther run to end the frame, cutting the deficit to 38-30.
Demorest was just heating up and put the team on her back.
She canned a pair of deep triples and connected inside on a pair of buckets as well, scoring 10 of Clay’s 14 points in the final eight minutes.
At one point, Clay managed to cut Fairfield’s lead to 46-41.
However, the Lions had a response for every one of Demorest’s shots — whether it was Quickle, Henniger or Cannon from the field or the free throw line.
That trio allowed Fairfield to seal the deal on the Lions’ second win of the season.
“This is a crazy month of games for us. We have 2-3 games every week in the month of January, so we’re going to be challenged,” Blue said. “Play the game, rest, regroup and prepare for the next one. So we’ll enjoy this one for a little bit and get right back to it. But this was a great win for the girls and I’m proud of how they played.”
Alongside Quickle and Cannon’s final numbers, Henngier added eight points and 10 rebounds. For Clay, Demorest finished with a game-high 20 points, and Craft had a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Fairfield returns to action on Wednesday at home against Miami Trace, while Clay travels to Green for SOC I play on Thursday.
SPONSORED BY ROMAN FAMILY HEALTHCARE
