By JIM WALKER

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

ZANESVILLE — A high school basketball game takes 32 minutes to play. The Fairland Lady Dragons needed about one-fourth of that time.

The Lady Dragons made quick work of West Muskingum to start the game as they took an early 14-point lead and blew past the Lady Tornadoes 63-22 on Tuesday in the Division 2 regional semifinals.

“We did shoot the ball well,” said Fairland coach Jon Buchanan. “They’re more of a defensive team. That’s kind of their calling card. But I thought we guarded really well. Outside of some first quarter rebounds, I thought we did a really good job.

“Everyone thinks of us as a good offensive team and we can score. But we play good defense. I’ve always said you have to play good defense to beat good teams. Our girls have been locked in the last couple of games.”

The win sends Fairland (25-1) into the regional finals for the second straight season as they face Sheridan (26-0) at 7 p.m. Friday with a berth in the Final Four at stake.

Sheridan beat Carrollton 59-42.

“We’ve got to do a good job on Friday as well. Sheridan is a pretty big, strong team so we’ve got to rebound well against them as well,” said Buchanan. “They have better offensive players than West Muskingum.

Fairland came out of the game with a 10-4 run and then got a layup by Kamryn Barnitz and 3-pointers by Bailey Russell and Isa Taliaferro to make it 20-5.

West Muskingum’s Laney Johnson made a layup and a 15-footer and cut the deficit to 20-9, but Barnitz sank a free throw and Addison Godby rebounded the missed second free throw and scored with 4 seconds  left for a 23-9 lead.

Jayden Thornton scored to start the second quarter and it was 23-11, but Russell drilled a 3-pointer, Bree Allen, Godby and Kylee Bruce all made layups and suddenly the lead was 32-11.

Antonetz stopped the bleeding for a moment but Russell made a layup and Barnitz finished out the half with a free throw and then a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left and it was 38-13 at the break.

The Lady Dragons didn’t break stride coming out of the locker room as Russell hit back-to-back 3-pointers and it was 44-13.

The Lady Tornadoes (23-4) finally scored on a pair of free throws by Thornton at the 4:09 mark, She also made a layup with 1:52 left in the quarter only to have Bruce drill a trifecta.

Lyla Johnson made West Muskingum’s only 3-pointer but Barnitz drove for a layup and Fairland led 51-20 at the end of the third quarter.

Bruce hit a pair of 3-pointers, Allen followed with one of her own and Taliaferro converted a 3-pointer play as the lead grew to 63-20.

Thornton’s baseline shot with 20 seconds left capped the scoring as most of the fourth quarter was played with a running clock.

Bruce scored 20 points to go with 6 rebounds and 4 assists to lead a balanced Fairland attack. Russell got 16 points while Allen had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.

Barnitz had a game-high 9 rebounds while Godby had 8 assists and 4 steals.

Fairland shot 23-of-50 from the field for 46 percent and connected on 12-of-26 from behind the arc for 46.2 percent.

Thornton had 11 points to lead the Lady Tornadoes.

W. Muskingum    9 4 7 2 = 22

Fairland           23 15 13 12 = 63

WEST MUSKINGUM (23-4): Debra Allen 0 0 2-2 2, Laney Johnson 2 0 0-0 4, Teriauna Bradford 0 0 0-0 0, Lydiah Huey 0 0 0-0 0, Lyla Johnson 0 1 0-0 3, Hannah Roberts 0 0 0-0 0, Taylor Spung 0 0 0-2 0, Addy Antonetz 1 0 0-0 2, Jayden Thornton 4 0 3-4 11. Totals: 7 1 5-8 22. Fouls: 7. Fouled out: None.

FAIRLAND (25-1): Addison Godby 2-6 0-0 0-0 4, Bree Allen 1-3 2-4 2-4 10, Kamryn Barnitz 1-4 1-5 2-4 7, Bailey Russell 2-3 4-9 0-0 16, Kylee Bruce 4-6 4-5 0-0 20, Teagan Leep 0-0 0-1 0-0 0, Isa Taliaferro 1-2 1-2 1-1 6, Haliegh Miller 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Sierra Pemberton 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Katie McIntyre 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Avery Byers 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Taylor 0-0 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 23-50 5-9 63. 3-pt goals: 12-26. Rebounds: 34 (Barnitz 9, Allen 8, Bruce 6). Assists: 19 (Godby 8, Allen 4, Bruce 4). Steals: 12 (Godby 4). Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.