Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Fairmont comes up barely short in Semifinals

(Columbus) - The Lady Firebirds couldn't quite close the deal on Friday night, as they fell, 61-55, to the Toledo Waite Indians in a state semifinal at the Schottenstein Center. Fairmont finished its season with an outstanding 22-3 record.

Fairmont trailed by seven at the half, but behind Cassie Sant made an impressive comeback to pull close in the fourth quarter. However, Holly Carey's go-ahead three-point attempt with about a minute remaining went in and out of the net, and the Firebirds wouldn't score the rest of the way in the defeat.

Sant was nearly unstoppable in the lane, hitting 10-of-16 from inside the arc en route to a 25-point night. The University of Dayton bound senior outscored Ms. Ohio Natasha Howard, who finished with 22 points despite sitting out a quarter due to foul trouble.

Carey, saddled with foul trouble early in the contest, played a wonderful game with 13 points in just 18 minutes of action. Her ability to make the three-point shot forced Waite to stretch their defense and opened the lane even more for Cassie.

The group of four seniors finished their careers with back-to-back district titles, two regional final appearances, and one trip to state. In the process, they blazed the path for the future of the Fairmont program, which looks very bright with an outstanding freshman class coming in next year. Not to mention, an outstanding core group of Kelly Hart, Chelsea Welch, Alona Skipper, and Devin Farley to build upon.

Head coach Tim Cogan earned every coach of the year honor possible, including Division 1 State COY. Cogan improved to 168-69 in his coaching career.

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