With 26 points on Monday night, Abbey Conrow helped Fayette (3-7) advance to the semifinals of the New Franklin tournament with a 62-46 win over Bunceton/Prairie Home (7-5). The Falcon senior also reached a milestone, scoring the 1,000th point of her career in the first quarter.

“It means a lot. I remember thinking during my freshman year that it wouldn’t be possible and this year… it’s here,” Conrow said. “It’s an accomplishment that I’ve always wanted to do, it’s a really good feeling.”

After a slow start cost Fayette in a loss three days earlier, the Falcon offense was ready to go on Monday, jumping out to a 29-11 lead in the second quarter behind 17 points from Conrow. Emma Chew added six points in the first half and Fayette took a 36-23 lead into halftime.

“I think we just got our flow back,” Conrow said. “Coming off the break, you’re a little unsure when you haven’t played in a while, so I think collecting ourselves and playing together as a team really helped us this time.”

In the second half, the Dragons tried to deny Conrow the ball, face-guarding her where ever she went. She only scored eight points in the second half, but her teammates took advantage of the open floor without the help defender. Six different players scored two points in the third quarter as Bunceton/Prairie Home cut the lead to nine points with eight made free throws.

Sydney Spielbauer had the first basket of the fourth quarter, followed by a Kenzie Felten 3-pointer that put the Falcons ahead 53-39.

“I think our offense was much better, we worked more as a team,” coach Valerie Foland said. “We started to lose it and things got a little crazy in the third and fourth, but we started with the momentum that we’ve needed in the past few games.”

Chew finished with 10 points and Felten had seven. Spielbauer had five. Jordyn Ball and Kylea Hoover each added four as Fayette snapped a four-game losing streak.

“We’ve worked our tails off for a win and we just needed it,” Foland said. “Everybody was really determined to get one.”