FAIRFIELD — Freshman Regan Freland and senior Kayla Jennings combined for 31 points, and three other Mustangs scored at least six points as Prairie City-Monroe’s girls basketball team rallied for a big road over Class 4A No. 14 Fairfield on Thursday night.
Senior Lexi Timmins hit a contested layup with about 15 seconds to play to give the Mustangs a final lead in a 55-54 victory in non-conference play.
“This is one of those wins that has eluded us in the past few seasons,” PCM coach Jeff Lindsay said. “We’ve progresssively gotten better against the really good teams, and the girls found a way to break through.”
Fairfield (9-4) led by one after one quarter and outscored PCM 22-16 in the second to lead 34-27 at the break. The Mustangs (11-3) made some adjustments in the second half and rallied with a 14-6 advantage in the third. Both teams scored 14 points in the final quarter.
PCM trailed 54-52 with a minute to play. Senior Katie Vande Wall trimmed to deficit to one when she made 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.
With 20 seconds to play, while attempting to foul, Fairfield turned the ball over.
Players from each team chased after the loose ball, and it eventually wound up in the hands of Timmins after bouncing off senior Kaylee Townsend’s back.
Timmins corralled the ball, drove to the bucket and connected on a contested shot in the lane. She adjusted her body during the shot and banked it in to give her team a 55-54 lead.
Fairfield turned it over again on its next possession, but PCM missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Townsend though got the rebound and was fouled. Another miss on a 1-on-1 gave the ball back to Fairfield but time expired before it could get off a potential game-winning shot.
“We were playing pretty good in the first half,” Lindsay said. “We kept our composure, made some nice adjustments defensively and mixed some things up. Offensively, we have gotten much better with spacing and recognition.”
Freland finished with 16 points, two assists and two steals, while Jennings added 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and five steals.
Vande Wall chipped in eight rebounds and three assists, Townsend collected six points, five rebounds and three steals and Timmins finished with seven points and eight rebounds. Senior Rachel Stafford contributed three points, three steals and two assists.
The PCM boys defeated Fairfield 62-45. The Mustangs improved to 8-4, while Fairfield dropped to 3-7.
PCM hosts Collins-Maxwell/Baxter at 6 p.m. Friday in Monroe.