The second-seeded Fayette girls roared into the title game of the Harrisburg Tournament after securing a double-digit win over Fulton and an eight-point defeat of the third-seeded host team in the first two rounds for a chance to bring home the title.

But an injury to the shoulder of junior Oakleigh Hill in the semifinals left the Lady Falcons without their top scorer heading into Saturday’s final against the first-seeded Centralia Lady Panthers, who successfully defended their tournament title with a 56-25 win. 

“Without Oakleigh, we are smaller everywhere,” said Fayette coach Daryl Betts. 

But he also saw Hill’s absence as an opportunity for the rest of his players to step up and shine.

“Our girls got the opportunities to show some things,” he said. “Our hustle and rotations were very good. We turned them over a lot. It was really good for us to learn a lot.”

With or without Hill in the lineup, the Falcons faced a tall task against Class 3 Centralia. Both teams entered the game with 13-3 records. After a first-round blowout of Marshall and a 10-point semifinal win over Blair Oaks, the Lady Panthers were primed to defend their title against a burgeoning and scrappy Class 2 Fayette team.

Betts said there were three things his team had to do to defeat Centralia. The first was to win the battle of turnover points. The second was to beat them on second-chance points. And the third was to limit them to 10 or fewer transition points. “We lost all three of those goals,” he said.

Turnovers were a problem for Fayette throughout the game and allowed Centralia to take a 10-5 lead after one quarter. The Lady Falcons made it a three-point game after junior KeBrea Fair sank a pair of free throws early in the second quarter.

But that’s as close as Fayette would come. Centralia responded with 11 straight points and outscored the Lady Falcons 18-6 in the second quarter to take a 28-11 lead into halftime.

The second half would prove to be more of the same, as Centralia eventually led by enough to trigger a continuous clock late in the fourth quarter. The Lady Panthers kept their starting five on the court almost the entire game, even after Fayette had ploughed the depth of its bench to allow for younger players to earn coveted varsity minutes. 

Despite the lopsided loss, Fayette had bright spots upon which to reflect. Topmost was a breakout performance from Fair, who faced a physical inside battle against a sizeable and aggressive opponent that often led to trips to the free-throw line. She led her team with 14 points and sank six of nine shots from the line.

Betts said he liked how Fair took charge in the paint against a larger opponent and expects that experience to pay off down the stretch. “I was happy with KeBrea’s play. She’s figuring it out a little bit.”

Fair’s contrubutions all week led to a spot on the All-Tournament alongside Hill and sophomore Browyn Eubanks.

Although Eubanks scored just two points before fouling out in the third quarter of Saturday’s final, Betts said her defense and sheer athleticism earned her the recognition.

“I thought Browyn gave great effort. We can really feel that our defense is off when she’s not on the court. She made the tournament team because people recognized her defense and her athleticism. I was really proud of her.”

Fayette, 13-4 overall, returned to regular-season action with a demanding three-game week against three teams with winning records, starting with a home matchup against Lewis & Clark Conference rival Salisbury on Monday. Once again Fayette was without Hill. Another big missing piece was the absence of senior forward Kay Sullivan, who was out sick for the game. Fayette lost 47-18.

On Tuesday, the Lady Falcons traveled to Huntsville to face Westran after the Advertiser went to press. They return home to face North Callaway in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday.