By GARY KAUFFMAN
A six-point third quarter lead for Fairfield’s turned into an eight-point deficit in just a matter of minutes Saturday night.
The 14-0 run by Fremont boosted the Eagles to a 49-37 win over the Falcons for the Northeast Corner Conference tourney championship.
Fairfield held a 32-26 lead with just over 2:00 remaining in the third period when Fremont began its run. By the 5:20 mark of the fourth quarter, the Falcons trailed 40-32.
“We didn’t move our feet defensively, we didn’t help each other defensively, we got brushed off on screens,” Falcon coach Steve Proctor said.
Many of the things Fairfield had done well in the first three games of the tournament didn’t work Saturday.
The Falcons had been solid at the free throw line during the tourney but went only 15-for-26 against Fremont. They also shot only 22 percent from the field, including 2-for-26 in the second half. Fremont outrebound the Falcons 14-8 in the fourth quarter.
Proctor said his team played tentatively in the final quarter.
“We played scared,” he said. “We went out to not to lose instead of going out to win.”
He said the fear factor was a contributing factor to the poor shooting.
“We were altering our shots,” he said.
After trailing 17-14 at the end of the first quarter, the Falcons took a 25-22 lead into halftime.
Despite poor shooting from the field in the third, Fairfield earned enough trips to the free throw line to push ahead by six.
But Renee Frantz scored on a drive to the basket at 2:03, and a minute later hit a 3 to cut the lead to 32-31 heading into the final quarter.
After Natalie Knisely scored to give Fremont its first lead since the second quarter, Frantz nailed another 3. A basket by Caitlynn Smith at 5:20 capped the 14-point run.
“The Frantz girl really stepped up,” Proctor said. “They’re a senior laden team and their seniors wanted it worse than we did.”
Even though they scored only 37 points, the Falcons had three players in double figures. Jaime Stack scored 12, Haley Bechtel 11 and Emily Waits 10.
