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MADISONVILLE -- Shana Taylor said her team "came together."
The Lady Mustangs did it by running past seventh-ranked Fairfield in 61-49 victory Tuesday night at Mustang Gym. The victory tied Madisonville for the District 19-3A lead with Fairfield with both teams holding 5-1 league records.
"Wins are great, and that's what we wanted," said Taylor, the Lady Mustangs' head coach. "Tonight we looked like a team, and that's the most important thing."
It was only the second loss on the season for the Lady Eagles (24-2), who won the opening match between the teams 58-52. Madisonville improved to 18-11 overall.
Fairfield made a second-half run, closing a 24-19 halftime deficit to 40-38 on a Joyce McElroy bucket early in the fourth period. Fairfield scored just one more bucket and five total points after that, while the Lady Mustangs finished the game off with a 15-0 run.
Madisonville senior guard April Ford blew past a Fairfield defense in the second half, attacking the Lady Eagles who had built much of their early success on steals. Ford outran the Lady Eagles for 15 second-half points to finish with a game-high 24.
"April is the Fairfield stopper," Taylor said. "She has the most awesome games when we play them."
Despite Fairfield's 19-point third quarter, Madisonville held true to its defensive strategy. The Lady Mustangs wanted the ball kept out of the hands of the Lady Eagles' top scorer, Choicetta McMillian. It worked. McMillian was held to five points at halftime, but forced two fouls on Madisonville post Unique Johnson, requiring a minor change in strategy.
"We wanted to shut down [McMillian] and had planned to run a diamond-and-one [defense]," Taylor said. "We had to change. [Johnson] is young and goes 500 miles an hour and never knows when to quit. We had to protect her with a 2-3 zone."
Chasity Young, the Lady Mustangs' sophomore center, had 10 points, but her success came on follow shots. She hit just three but helped lead a 44-31 advantage in rebounds with Young getting 14. Ford had 10.
Johnson rebounded from her early foul trouble to score 16, going 6 of 6 from the free-throw line.
Fairfield had just one steal in the opening half but finished with six for the game to help fuel their comeback run.
"We were trying to make [Madisonville] shoot outside because we don't think that's their strength, but they outran us down the floor in the second half," Fairfield coach Tommy Fadal, whose Lady Eagles hit only 4 of 28 3-pointers. "We got a few steals and hit a few 3s, but give them credit. They are as quick as lightning. They looked like they had fresh legs, and we didn't.
"We bounce back, take the challenge and will be fine. We are certainly a better basketball team than that. We are not as good as our record was, and we're not as bad as that game was."
Madisonville 61, Fairfield 43
FAIRFIELD (24-2, 5-1 in 19-3A) -- Choicetta McMilliam 5 5-6 4 15; Joye McElroy 4 0-0 2 10; Taylor Haynes 1 1-2 3 3; Denise Brown 2 0-0 4 6; Courtney Marti 3 0-0 2 6; Josh Reeves 0 3-4 1 0. TOTALS: 15 9-12 16 43.
3-pointers: McElroy (2), Brown (2).
MADISONVILE (18-11, 5-1 in 19-3A) -- Tiara Mourning 3 1-4 1 6; Unique Johnson 5 6-6 2 16; April Ford 9 6-6 3 24; Adriana Gilbert 2 0-0 0 4; Chasity Young 3 4-6 2 10 April Curtis 0 0-0 1 0. TOTALS 22 17-22 9 61.
Fairfield 7 8 19 9 -- 43
Madisonville 6 18 16 21 -- 61
