By Thomas Grant Jr.
Friday’s home doubleheader sweep of Lexington moved Dutch Fork a step closer to region title goals.
The Lady Silver Foxes took sole possession of first place following the 45-31 victory. Michaela Fairwell scored 12 points and the Lady Silver Foxes forced 20 turnovers in avenging the 68-66 loss on Jan. 17 to the Lady Wildcats.
“For us it was all about coming out fast and working as a team to be able to get in first place in the region,” Fairwell said.
Dutch Fork (19-2, 7-1) jumped on Lexington early, scoring the first 12 points of the game. The defense held Lexington without a field goal until the 3:24 mark of the second quarter.
“I always tell them we’ve got to make our defense turn into our offense,” Dutch Fork head coach Candace Bush said. “So, I think they’re finally getting it. That’s what I’ve been trying to get them to do all season. But, as the season progressed, we started to pick up on things that we’ve trying to work on the entire season.
“So defense, pressure has always been a thing we’ve harped on since Day One. So, they’re finally getting it and it’s finally clicking.”
The Lady Silver Foxes took a 28-6 halftime lead Lexington managed to only get within 16 points after outscoring Dutch Fork 25-17 in the second half.
Sydni Anderson had a game-high 14 points for the Lady Wildcats.
The Lady Silver Foxes looked to clinch the region title with a win Tuesday against River Bluff. Meanwhile, the boys looked to stay within a game of the Gators with a 70-47 win over Lexington.
Like the girls’ game, Dutch Fork jumped out to an early lead. It broke the game open in the second quarter, leading as many as 30 points.
Bryson Taylor scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the first half. Caleb Garner finished with 15 points, Samajee Govan had 14 points and Justus Bell added 13 in the win.
Channing Wood scored nine of his 16 points for Lexington in the third quarter. Kyler Hazenwinkel had 11 points for the Wildcats, who remained winless in the region.
Dutch Fork (17-6, 7-1) looked to avenge the 49-48 loss to the Gators on Jan. 28 in The Swamp. A 3-pointer by Cooper Jones, the nephew of Silver Foxes’ head coach Brett Jones, with less than three seconds left decided the outcome.
Feature photo by Thomas Grant Jr. – Dutch Fork center Claire Howard with the putback against Lexington.
