BOULDER — A low-scoring, defensive battle in the first half saw the Fairview girls basketball team leading slightly over Lakewood, but a hot shooting performance from the Tigers in the third quarter changed the complexion of the game in its entirety.
Lakewood outscored Fairview 25-12 and went from trailing by one point at halftime to leading by 12 going into the fourth quarter. Lakewood would go on a run late in the fourth quarter as well to stop a comeback attempt by Fairview, winning the nonleague game 68-56 on Thursday.
“We didn’t get out on their shooters (in the third quarter), and we know they have a lot of shooters who can knock it down,” Fairview coach Rod Beauchamp said. “They hit some threes to get their lead.”
After trading buckets to start the quarter, Lakewood (4-7) went on a 13-4 run thanks to shots from Juliette Fillion and Nadia Trevizo-Medina from the perimeter. The shots began to fall and then the defense followed by pressuring the Fairview ball handlers into turnovers to help set up chances to run and score in transition.
The 25 points scored in the quarter was more than Lakewood had in the entire first half as Fairview (7-4) used its press to get some steals early, with Izzy Munson the early beneficiary of layups and fast break points. Even though Lakewood got offensive rebounds and multiple looks on a number of possessions, the Tigers were unable to convert while Munson and Kailey Page pushed the Knights to a one-point lead at the half.
With his team down going to the final quarter, Beauchamp urged FHS to fight and get back in the game. His team answered the call with a 10-0 run that took less than two minutes to start the quarter and gave Fairview new life it had not seen in the second half.
“We hit some threes to get back within two,” Beauchamp said. “We told them 12 points is nothing in an eight-minute quarter. We had to take it one possession at a time, get a defensive stop and then a good offensive possession.”
Makena Englund and Haley Sommer hit a pair of 3-pointers and were followed by Munson getting a put back and Englund scoring again in the paint for the 10-0 run. It was enough to get Fairview back in the game, but Lakewood would never relinquish the lead in the quarter. Lakewood answered with an 11-0 spurt that got the lead back to double figures.
“We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Beauchamp said.
Munson found multiple ways to score and led Fairview with 28 points, while Page added 12. Each player also had 12 rebounds to finish with double-doubles. For Lakewood, Trevizo-Medina led a balanced attack with 18 and Mariah Ramos had 11, with the Tigers getting nine players to contribute points.
Thursday was a chance for Fairview to surpass its win total from last season, but that will be delayed at least a day. The Knights make an immediate return to the court with a league game against Mountain Range (7-4, 1-1) on Friday and will look to stay at the top of the Front Range League standings.
“It’s tough to play three games in a week and play a back-to-back, but we’ll see how we bounce back (Friday),” Beauchamp said. “We have a pretty solid opponent in Mountain Range. We have to forget this one. We have a league game … and it’s a little more important.”
