The Fayette and Harrisburg girls’ teams seem to be on separate trajectories as the regular season nears its end with the Class 2 District 7 Tournament on the horizon. Harrisburg spoiled Fayette’s senior night, 56-24, on Friday, to win their third straight game, and their 10th in the last 12 matchups. Fayette, on the other hand, lost their second straight, and their fifth over the last five games, as the Lady Falcons continue to adjust after losing starting junior Paige Vroman for the year after an injury on Jan. 26.

Harrisburg is finishing off the regular season with a boost of momentum. On Monday, the Lady Bulldogs soundly defeated former Lewis & Clark rival Salisbury 72-25 to improve to 19-5 overall with their final game of the year tonight (Wednesday) against Class 1 Higbee (RV). They will then have a full week off before facing their first opponent of the postseason. Harrisburg drew the first seed in next week’s seven-team district tournament and opens with a first-round bye. The Bulldogs won’t play until the semifinals on Feb. 25 against either fourth-seeded Glasgow or fifth-seeded Salisbury.

Harrisburg coach Jaryt Hunziker said his team is clicking really well as the season nears the district playoffs, highlighting his motion offense and team defense.

He praised his players for getting the job done early against Fayette on Friday, holding the Falcons to just 24 points on the night, despite some illness going around the lineup.

“We did a good job. We’re battling a little sickness. We weren’t as quick as we wanted to be, and the gym was hot tonight,” he said. “We were there defensively. But offensively, we didn’t have the production we wanted and didn’t have the guard play that we wanted.”

Hunziker also gave a shout-out to the pep band. With a healthy rivalry between two schools separated by just 14 miles, the pep bands joined forces for a bombastic night on the Fayette stage.

“It’s cool what they did, joining tonight. There’s nothing better than a good pep band to get you going,” Hunziker said.

Despite some players still a little under the weather, the Bulldogs showed up on defense, holding Fayette to just four points in the first quarter and nine in the first half. Fayette freshman Julia Young has earned a starting role in the absence of Paige Vroman and sank the Falcons’ only field goal of the first period, a 3-point shot with 6:39 on the clock. Down 5-3, Fayette cut the lead to one point on a free throw by sophomore Rylan Roberts.

But that would be it for the Falcons in the opening frame. Harrisburg, meanwhile, mounted a 13-point run, with five points coming from senior Lorelai Hunziker and six by senior Audrey Arnold.

“Those two stepped up and hit some shots,” Hunziker said of his two leading scorers.

Arnold would go on to pace the Bulldogs with a game-high 18 points, followed by 17 from Hunziker and 10 from senior Jaidyn Stephenson.

The second quarter was much of the same, with Fayette scoring just five points. Senior Browyn Eubanks knocked down a triple, and freshman Bergen Gregory added a bucket from the paint.

Harrisburg scored another 14 points to lead 32-9 at the break.

“We didn’t take care of the ball in the first quarter. And we just dug ourselves a hole in the first half. I told the girls at halftime that we had to make better choices and play tougher,” said Fayette coach Rachel England.

Fayette narrowly won the third quarter 10-9, but the separation was too severe to overcome. Seven of Fayette’s 10 came from sophomore Eastin Hill, who led the Falcons with nine total points, including a 3-pointer.

“We came out in the second half a lot stronger. We went on a little run, and we’re very good defensively. But we were still down 20. We just dug ourselves too big of a hole in that first half,” said England.

The Falcons struggled from the field, shooting 20% (9-45), and went 2-for-8 from the free-throw line. Fayette also turned the ball over 25 times, leading to 27 points for the Bulldogs, who committed just 10 turnovers all night. Harrisburg also outscored Fayette in the paint 30-6.

Fayette finished the night with five players in the scorebook, led by Hill’s nine points. Young posted seven points with a pair of threes, followed by five by Eubanks, Gregory with two, and Roberts with one. Eubanks led Fayette on the glass with seven rebounds to go along with two steals and two assists.

Fayette opened its final week of the regular season with a 50-33 loss to former Lewis & Clark rival Marceline on Monday in a a pre-district game. The Falcons hosted South Callaway in their final home game in a Central State 8 contest on Tuesday after the Advertiser went to press. They conclude the regular season on the road at Jamestown on Thursday.

Fayette, now even at 12-12 overall, drew the sixth seed in next week’s Class 2 District 8 Tournament, and will face third-seeded Marceline in the opening round at 8 p.m. on Monday in Glasgow. It will be the second game between the two former conference rivals inside of a week, with the end of the season on the line.

A loss at home to Salisbury on Feb. 2 dropped Fayette to the sixth seed. The decision gave the Lady Panthers the fifth seed in the seven-team bracket, matching them up against fourth-seeded Glasgow in the opening round on Monday.

“It hurt us last week losing to Salisbury,” England said. “They don’t have a better record than us, but we gave up a district game. It’s one we should’ve had, granted we had three starters who were sick and still chose to play. I felt like we should’ve been fifth. But you can’t argue with the loss to a district opponent.”

See brackets below.