Top of the Mountain! Lady Eagles bring home gold
The Holliday Lady Eagles are state champions.
Holliday topped reigning champion Fairfield 58-47 on Saturday in the Alamodome to win the school’s first championship game in school history.
“I’m ecstatic,” Lady Eagles head coach Derek Winn said. “I don’t think it’s set in just yet.”
Jalynn Bristow took home MVP honors after putting up 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting with 14 rebounds, two assists, three blocks and three steals.
Playing the defending champs, Holliday trailed for just 45 seconds. A hot start paired with a tremendous defensive effort, the Lady Eagles built a 28-20 lead at the intermission. Fairfield shot just 4-of-26 in the opening 16 minutes, a meager 15.4% from the floor. A 10-for-10 first half performance from the free throw line kept the opposing Lady Eagles in the contest.
“It always starts on the defensive end, especially for us,” Bristow said. “We have a solid defense. Not every team sees a 2-3 zone. When our whole team is getting stops and we’re scoring, it’s tough to stop.”
Turnovers haunted Holliday early in the second half. Of the team’s 10 total turnovers, four came over a three minute stretch that allowed Fairfield to put up eight points and trim the Lady Eagles’ lead to five, 39-34.
Fairfield led for just 34 seconds in the fourth quarter. McKinna Brackens put Fairfield ahead 44-43 with 3:29 to play, capping a 10-2 run by the Lady Eagles. Brackens finished with a game-high 22 points while her cousin Shadasia Brackens added 20. The rest of Fairfield’s team accounted for five points.
Bristow had previously competed with the Brackens on a club team and admitted, the history had some advantage.
“You just know strengths and weaknesses after playing with them for two years. They know mine too. They’ve developed since the last time I saw them but I had a feel for what their game is and that obviously helps when they’re Fairfield’s two best players.”
After Fairfield took the lead, Holliday never blinked.
On the ensuing possession, Katy Piper found Bristow for an easy layup to put the Lady Eagles on top for good, sparking a 15-3 run to end the contest and going 11-of-12 from the free throw line.
“When everyone comes together and we all get hype in the locker room, we’re all connected, Bristow said. “As soon as that music comes on we’re all one. Once we hit the court, we’re all family. These are my sisters. No words have to be said. We go out there and play our game for however many rounds it took to get to this point.”
On a team with countless unsung heroes, Kenna Wood shined the brightest today. The junior finished with 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including a pair of treys early to spark the quick start.
“I just let it rip,” Wood said of her hot-shooting first half. “It felt good off my hand.”
“Kenna was tremendous,” Winn added. “She’s one of our unsung heroes. She doesn’t get a lot of the glory but she’s one of the best ones on this team. I knew if she had a good game and Katy had a good game then we were going to come out and win it. She did a great job taking care of the ball with only two turnovers, one of those was called by the Fairfield coach. She played phenomenal.”
In a Michael Jordan flu-game-esque performance, Piper left it all on the court. The senior sharpshooter added 11 points, seven boards and three dimes while clearly battling a stomach bug.
“We came out really hot. We’re pretty good at that. We start really fast and were going pretty fast when I slowed it down a little by throwing up. We’re a really good team. Even though I was dying, everyone was there to pick me up. During every timeout, everyone was rushing to get me something trying to help me. I help the team but they help me a lot more. We would not be who we are without everyone and we showed that in this game.”
Holliday truly ran the gauntlet to win the first championship game – in any sport – in school history. From bringing down No. 15 Wall to topping No. 6 Peaster in a game people will be talking about for years to come to avenging the last two postseason trips against No. 2 Jim Ned, the Lady Eagles beat them all. None bigger than the Goliath slain on Saturday in the defending champs and No. 1 team in the state.
“There are a lot of good teams in all the regions, but I think Region I has a lot more.” Winn said of the Lady Eagles’ road to the title. “You are truly tested every time you step on the court. I also credit us going to the Caprock and playing in a tough tournament over the Christmas break that helped us get a lot better.”
While this group of girls – particularly this year’s senior class – has conquered mountains not previously achieved by Lady Eagles in all sports, this Holliday team will forever be known as state champions.
