The Fairfield Trojan girls fell to visiting Oskaloosa 42–28 on Tuesday night, December 2nd. The Indians opened the game with a strong early run and maintained control throughout, dropping Fairfield to 1–2 on the season while Oskaloosa improved to 1–0 in its opener.
Game Recap
Oskaloosa struck first and fast, jumping out to a 7–0 start and taking a 17–6 lead after the first quarter. Both offenses sputtered in a sluggish second frame, and Fairfield entered halftime trailing 23–13. The Trojans showed improvement after the break, but Oskaloosa extended the advantage to 36–22 through three quarters before closing out the 42–28 victory.
Fairfield Stats
Starters
Elyse Setterstrom led the Trojans with twelve points and six rebounds on five-of-ten shooting. Faith Jones contributed six points and six rebounds. Vanessa Kessel finished with one rebound, two assists, and one steal, while Maddy Martin added one point, three rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Lauren Martin added two points, four rebounds, and one assist.
Bench
Emma Metcalf came off the bench with a strong performance, scoring seven points, grabbing four rebounds, and adding two assists and three steals while shooting three-of-four from the floor. Additional minutes were logged by Lenora Felt, Aubrey Ryan, Anna McAvan, and Emma Septer.
Fairfield shot 12-of-40 from the field and 0-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Oskaloosa was powered by key contributions from Porah Cole, Naomi Cole, Loghan Edgar, and Leah Cohrt, who helped fuel the early momentum that carried through the night. Their whole team stepped up defensively with their press, as they created havoc for Fairfield getting into an offensive rhythm.
Coach Witzenburg’s Perspective
Fairfield head coach Brian Witzenburg said the team showed noticeable improvement after halftime thanks to better movement and an increased emphasis on getting the ball inside.
“In the second half, just some better ball movement and some getting it into the post is really what worked for us in the second half,” Witzenburg said. “Collectively as a whole we are getting better. Fort Madison brings another challenge as they’ve got a couple left-handed players that we’ve got to make sure we are aware of. I really like the way our defense is coming around, and that will create more on offense for us as we continue to get better at those things.”
Looking Ahead
Fairfield will look to regroup as they prepare for their next matchup against Fort Madison on Friday, December 5th, where they hope continued defensive progress will spark stronger offensive production.
