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McKinna Brackens led the Lady Eagles with a double-double in the state semi-final matchup
The Lady Eagles are back in the Alamo City and they are back to the state title game.
Fairfield knocked off Idalou 54-35 in the Class 3A state semifinal Thursday at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The Lady Eagles will play at 10 a.m. Saturday against Winnsboro, which defeated Bishop in the other semifinal game.
Idalou featured a three-point shooting team that Fairfield head coach Sally Whitaker countered by adding Avery Thaler to the starting lineup.
“It was a matchup decision,” Whitaker said. “She moves fast and has some length to her. Wanted to make sure we had the right matchups to defend that three point shot.”
The adjustment paid off as Idalou went 4-of-17 (23.5%) from behind the line. Idalou did not hit its first three-point shot of the contest until 3:09 remaining in the second quarter.
The Lady Eagles perimeter defense was so good it would have made Davy Crockett proud.
Despite its shooting woes, Idalou kept close with Fairfield, who entered the halftime break with a 23-16 lead.
Shadasia Brackens was quiet on offense in the first half with only two points. In the third quarter she broke out for seven points. Five of those points came on back-to-back possessions.
First, after a turnover, McKinna Brackens found Shadasia Brackens open for a mid-range jumper. On the ensuing inbound, McKinna Brackens stole the ball and slipped the ball to Shadasia Brackens, who drove into the paint and was fouled on the way up for a layup. The shot fell earning her a trip to the free throw line, and she knocked it in to increase the Fairfield lead 32-20.
At the postgame press conference Shadasia Brackens said she didn’t expect the layup to go in.
Despite her third-quarter offensive outburst, Fairfield remained with a seven-point (37-30) lead entering the final period.
In the fourth quarter Idalou attempted to shoot its way back into the game but only went 1-for-6 in the final period,
“We tried to keep the pressure on them as much as we could; it finally paid off for us,” Whitaker said.
Whitaker said the pressure made Idalou play faster .“It affects those three-point shots eventually,” Whitaker said. “Hopefully tiring them out so they aren’t so accurate. The girls did a good job cleaning up the boards afterwards.”
McKinna Brackens finished with a double-double, 10 points and 10 rebounds. Breyunna Dowell also had a big night on the boards, pulling down seven to accompany her team-leading 17 points.
Other scorers were: Shadasia Brackens, 13 points; Jarahle Daniels, 7; Emori Thaler, 6; and Addie Cox, 1.
The Alamodome is a cavernous site for a basketball game and the vocal McKinna Brackens adjusted to it.
“I’m very vocal,” McKinna Brackens said. “They think I’m yelling at them. I’m just trying to talk loud, because it’s a loud gym.”
After last season’s state final loss, Dowell described the feeling akin to somebody dying.
On Thursday, the Lady Eagles showed they are quite alive and are four quarters away from being crowned state champions again.