By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PORTSMOUTH — The Fairland Lady Dragons dug themselves a hole.

And even though they came back to take a lead, the basket wasn’t big enough of a hole for the cold-shooting Lady Dragons.

Unable to hit their usual shots against the Portsmouth Lady Trojans’ defense, Fairland fell behind 11-0 to start the game and rallied to take a lead before losing 47-35 on Monday in an Ohio Valley Conference showdown.

“We had a little bit of a shock to start the game. I didn’t call a timeout because I thought we were getting great shots. We were just missing them,” said Fairland coach Jon Buchanan.

“Whenever Bailey Russell and Kamryn Barnitz are getting open shots, we probably can’t create a better shot than that. We just weren’t making them. I wasn’t too worried. Hey, we’re getting great shots, so let’s just keep doing what we’re doing.”

The unbeaten Lady Trojans are now 20-0 on the season and finish 14-0 and champions in the OVC.

Fairland falls to 16-4 and 11-2 in the league with a home game against Chesapeake remaining on the league schedule.

After Portsmouth opened the game with an 11-0 run, Fairland closed to within 12-9 at the end of the quarter.

A 3-pointer by Russell got Fairland within 20-18 only to have Sienna Allen hit a trifecta for Portsmouth.

Ava Layne banked in a 3-pointer for Fairland but Daysha Reid answered with her own bomb for the Lady Trojans.

Barnitz made a layup before the buzzer and it was 26-23 at the half.

Fairland came out in the second half and took a 28-26 lead on a 3-pointer by Layne with 5:32 on the clock.

But Keke Woods made a layup to give the Lady Trojans the lead for good at 29-28 with 3:37 left in the quarter. Allens got a layup and Hayven Carter’s layup off a pass from Allen made it 33-28 to end the quarter.

“I thought we made them adjust. They’ve been running that zone all year long. We did a great job but we just didn’t get great shots in the second half,” said Buchanan.

“They’re really good and really fast. Everything they do on offense we’ve got to be a little stronger,  little quicker, because they close out fast.”

After Portsmouth went ahead 36-28 to start the fourth quarter, Russell hit a pair of technical free throws and Layne knocked down a 3-pointer to get within 36-33.

But the Lady Trojans held Fairland to just two free throws the rest of the game as they closed with an 11-2 run.

“Down the stretch they were better than us. I thought there was a part of the game we outplayed them. All the credit to them. They had a great job all year,” said Buchanan.

“They had a great crowd and they did a great job, but our kids were focused. I didn’t think we paid attention to (the crowd). They were really locked in. We just couldn’t make enough plays. That’s a well-coached team. Amy (Hughes) and Mike (Hughes) do a great job.”

Layne scored 12 points to lead the Lady Dragons who were held well below their 65 points a game average.

Allens scored 17 points and Woods had 15 for Portsmouth.

Fairland     9 14 5 7 = 35

Portsmouth 12 14 7 14 = 47

FAIRLAND (16-4, 11-2): Taegan Leep 1 0 1-1 3, Ava Layne 1 3 1-1 12, Addison Godby 1 0 1-2 3, Kamryn Barnitz 4 0 0-1 8, Bailey Russell 0 1 3-4 6, Addyson Cornell 0 1 0-0 3, Sella Whitley 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 7 5 4-6 35. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: Godby (4th 0:05)

PORTSMOUTH (20-0, 14-0): Sienna Allen 3 2 5-8 17, Daysha Reid 1 1 0-2 5, Keke Woods 6 0 3-6 15, Hayven Carter 4 0 0-0 8, K.K. Mays 1 0 0- 2, Salem Allen 0 0 0- 0, Bry Shannon 0 0 0-0 0, Sky Mays 0 0 0-0 0, Savannah Cantrell 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 3 8-16 47. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.