The third-seeded Fayette girls upset first-seeded Salisbury 49-33 Friday night for the Class 2 District 7 championship. It marked the Lady Falcons’ first district final appearance since 2006 and their first district title since 2004.

“It was a big deal to get back to the championship game,” said Fayette coach Daryl Betts, who called the win a milestone and a turning point for the program. “It was pretty incredible, and it was a team win.”

This season is Betts’s second as a head coach and second year at Fayette. Last year, Fayette finished even at .500. This year, the Lady Falcons have won 21 games with a district title. “I was really proud of them. It was one of the happiest times in my coaching career. I’ve never been that happy after a win,” Betts said.

Fayette entered the championship game as the third seed and gutted out a win over sixth-seeded Sturgeon, the home team, 41-36, in the opening round on February 19. Two days later, Fayette scored its first upset of the tournament against second-seeded Westran.

The Lady Falcons completed the district sweep with the win over Salisbury on Friday.

After sitting out the opening round as the top seed, Salisbury eased past Harrisburg 52-27 to advance to its first championship game since winning the title in 2022.

Betts suspected the first-round bye may have actually hurt Salisbury. “I don’t think it made them as ready,” he said. “We played three tough games, and by the third game, I think we were ready for a tough game. We survived Sturgeon and survived Westran. This is how it’s supposed to be.”

Fayette fell to both Westran and Salisbury in the regular season on back-to-back nights when the team was hampered by injuries and illness. Salisbury ended up winning the Lewis & Clark Conference regular-season title, but Betts said he would gladly accept a district title anytime.

“Our size, getting those girls back we didn’t have last time, was really our redemption,” he said.

Fayette was without its two tallest players, senior Kay Sullivan and junior Oakleigh Hill, in the first meeting on January 29.

Hill is the team’s leading scorer, and she was sidelined that game with a shoulder injury. On Friday, she once again paced Fayette with 18 points on stellar 4-for-9 shooting from the 3-point line.

Sullivan dominated inside defensively, pulling down 10 rebounds. She also had three key blocked shots.

Another shocker for Salisbury was the outstanding offensive performance from Fayette junior KeBrea Fair, who finished with 18 points in her best game of the season.

Fair put her team in front by double-digits on a six-point run in the second quarter. She then scored the first six Fayette points of the fourth quarter to finally give Fayette a double-digit lead that would stand for the rest of the game with 5:53 on the clock.

“KeBrea Fair went nuts,” Betts said. “We utilized her a lot in isolation. She did a great job.”

Fayette started the game fast, scoring on a layup from sophomore Browyn Eubanks five seconds after winning the tipoff.

Salisbury answered with a 3-pointer by Taylor Nolke and a bucket by senior Tori Ricketts. But Fayette battled back. Sullivan and freshman point guard Addy Gibbs scored to put Fayette back in the lead by six. It would be the final lead change of the game.

Betts credited his team’s defensive adjustments with the quality start. After watching the Lady Panthers rattle off three straight 3-pointers against Harrisburg at the beginning of their semifinal game, he didn’t want to show his zone too early.

“In our first substitute group, we went in with Addison Powell and Maddox Wells. They were the ones who changed the dynamic of how we were going to guard,” he explained. “We changed throughout the game how we wanted to guard them. They really did a great job and kept them off guard.”

Salisbury came as close as one point late in the first quarter. But Hill sank back-to-back threes in 31 seconds to put Fayette on top 14-7 after eight minutes.

After allowing a quick basket from Salisbury, Hill sank another three early in the second quarter to kick off a 9-2 run that gave the Lady Falcons a 10-point lead at halftime, 23-13.

“I was nervous about that. I wanted to be up by 100,” Betts said.

Salisbury amplified its press in the second half and was able to cut the lead to seven points. Not to be stopped, Hill hit another triple two minutes into the third quarter to once again put her team in front by 10.

“Oakleigh got hot between the end of the first and the beginning of the third quarters,” Betts recalled. “We were working the ball in well; we were attacking them. We shot really well from the floor.”

Betts said his team got into the heads of the Salisbury players defensively, and that kept the Panthers from scoring in transition.

“We kept changing back and forth from our soft press to man and give them a lot of trouble,” he said. “They only had two points in transition the whole game.”

Salisbury pushed back and would cut the lead to single digits throughout the second half but came no closer than seven points. And every time, the Falcons had an answer, whether it was a 3-point shot from Hill or a three-basket run.

Fayette allowed only one Salisbury player to finish in double figures. Julia Sloan led the Panthers with 10 points, all in the second half. Ayla King added eight points, and Ricketts finished with five.

“I knew if we kept Ricketts and Sloan out of double digits, we were going to win this game,” said Betts.

For the Falcons, Hill scored a game-high 18 points, followed by 17 from Fair. Eubanks added eight points, followed by Addy Gibbs with four and Sullivan with two.

“KeBrea dominated offensively and physically. Oakleigh shot the heck out of the ball. Kay blocked tons of shots, and rebounded and played her heart out. Gibbs dribbled through everybody and kept the offense alive. Powell did the same and played some great defense. Maddox Wells had some big passes in transition. It’s things like that that matter.”

On Monday, Fayette got an early preview of its new conference, the Central State 8, that it will help form starting next fall. The Lady Falcons faced District 8 champion and perennial powerhouse Tipton in the state sectional at Tipton.

The Cardinals proved why they are the defending state champs with a 62-32 win to end Fayette’s season at 21-9. 

“They can win state again,” said Betts after the game. “If we play any other team than them or Skyline right now, I really feel like we can compete, and we can do it.”

Tipton is currently 26-3, having won its seventh straight district title last Friday. This Friday, the Cardinals will face Clopton (22-6) in the state quarterfinals. A win there would advance them to the state semifinals at Mizzou Arena.

Tipton’s unrelenting defense held Fayette without a field goal through nearly the entire first half. It’s not that Fayette was unable to shoot. The shots were put into the air but didn’t fall. It was not until under the three-minute mark in the second quarter that the Falcons sank anything but a free throw.

Over a span of two minutes, Fayette looked like they had all year. Hill sank a 3-point shot from the left side. A minute later, freshman point guard Addy Gibbs knocked down a triple. Thirty seconds later, senior Kay Sullivan made it to the line, sinking the second of two free throws.

But by the time Fayette found its footing, Tipton had already racked up more than 30 points, and led 39-11 at halftime.

“To be honest, that first quarter, I thought we played really good defense. We just couldn’t make a shot,” Betts said. “And they played really, really good defense.”

The second half proved more of the same. Tipton now moves one step closer to defending its Class 2 state title, while Fayette wraps things up, albeit with the most successful season in two decades.

But the end of a season marks the farewell of the seniors. Fayette bids adieu to Kay Sullivan, Addison Powell, and Maddox Wells.

“Kay just makes everything happy and special,” Betts said after the game. “The kid is just pure joy. She’s pure heart and toughness. And it just makes me proud to have coached someone like that.

“Addison Powell really figured out this year how to help us be dominant,” he said. “And it wasn’t maybe the role she would want as a junior, as a sophomore, or even to start in her senior year. But her defense, her hustle, and her heart are never questioned. And that kid makes you so proud.

“Maddox Wells has come so far in the sense of her ability and her confidence,” Betts continued. “And her passing’s great. She sees the floor better, and she makes great passes. And she really got good and dominant at being a great team defender. We found a niche to get her more minutes with that defense and her size and athleticism. She really became a player you can rely on to be tough when you needed someone tough.”

Betts looks at his team’s record and the district title not just as feats during a great season but as a symbol of a changing culture in Fayette girls’ basketball.

Before this year, Fayette had not posted a winning record since 2012 and twice finished at .500 in 2019 and 2023.

“What they did today, and what they’ve done this postseason, is create a culture that wants basketball in Fayette. And the fact of the matter is that we are setting standards. So the culture of skill and being able to play at this is great. This is fun to coach. This is big-time basketball.”