At tournament time, the Fayette Lady Falcons always seem to provide a game that offers heart-stopping action. Friday night’s third-place game did just that as the Lady Falcons defeated the Pilot Grove Tigers 61-58 in overtime.

Throughout the first quarter, neither team looked as if it wanted to win the game as turnovers were abundant and the quarter ended at 8-7 in favor of the Tigers. One might have questioned at that point if either team would put up more than 30 points as very few shots were finding the bottom of the net.

The second quarter proved to be more beneficial to both teams. Fayette was able to put in 13 points and Pilot Grove scored 15 to take a 23-20 lead heading into the locker room.

Pilot Grove maintained its lead in the third quarter, outscoring Fayette 18-15. One could sense the Lady Tigers were licking their chops in anticipation of a victory with the 41-35 advantage. The Lady Falcons had other ideas, though. 

Coming out of the huddle, Fayette seemed to be on a mission, and reeled off six points at the beginning of the fourth quarter to tie the score at 41 and make it a new ballgame.

The teams battled back and forth until the game looked out of reach, as the Lady Falcons trailed by two with one second on the clock. It was then that Pilot Gove committed an ill-advised foul on junior Hannah Quint, who had already put up 19 points for Fayette. She stepped to the charity stripe and knocked in both free throws to tie the game at 51-51 and send the game into overtime. 

“It was crazy,” said Quint. “I was shaking a lot, but I was able to calm my nerves, which was nice.”

By this point, the Lady Falcons were were showing new determination to win. After the tipoff to start the extra period, they went on a 7-0 run to take a commanding lead. Pilot Grove was not willing to roll over and came back to make the score 61-58 with 8.7 seconds left on the clock. Fayette coach Brian Spielbauer helped to stir the crowd in Fayette’s favor with shouts of “Defense, defense.”

Quint was able to block a Lady Tiger shot that led to a jump ball. With the possession arrow pointing in the direction of the Lady Tigers, a three-point shot would send the game into its second overtime. But the Fayette defense held strong and Fayette was able to take the 61-58 win and the third-place trophy.

When asked about his cheerleading abilities, coach Spielbauer said, “Yeah, I’m a little bit of an excitable fellow. I’m glad our crowd responded and I think it really helped us. It was a fun and exciting game and I hope that becomes normal and not unusual.”

Fayette spread the wealth with nine players tallying points in the scoring column. Quint lit up the board with 21 points including the crucial free throws to put the game into overtime. “I told my mom that I got 21 points off of Pilot Grove, but I also hit two home runs off of them during softball season,” said Quint. “I’m very excited, our team played the hardest I’ve ever seen up play, and we played the best defense I’ve ever seen us play. We knocked down shots. It was so much fun.” 

Senior Sydney Spielbauer added 12 points while freshman LaSaydra Jackman put up 10, including two 3-pointers. Senior Laci Fuhlage added eight points, six of which came during the fourth quarter to help put the game into overtime. Fellow senior Emma Chew and sophomore Kaylea Felten each added three before Chew left the game with a rib injury late in the game. Sophomore Maddox Wells added two while her classmates, Addison Powell and Kay Sullivan, put in one point apiece to round out the Fayette scoring. 

“It was a very good game, it was an exciting game,” said coach Spielbauer. “I thought we fought hard the whole time and stayed close enough to come back at the end and made some big shots, and played good defense when it mattered. It’s hard when you’re not used to winning, to fight through those things, that’s why becoming a winner is difficult.”

Coming into the game Pilot Grove was 9-1 overall. “

Now they’re 9-2, so I’m really proud of what our girls did,” said coach Spielbauer.

Fayette, now 4-7 on the season, returns to Lewis & Clark Conference action Friday at home against Knox County. Tip-off is at 6 p.m.