The Fairfield girls basketball team’s season came to an end Saturday, February 14th, falling to conference rival Washington 63-21 in the first round of the Class 3A Region 5 Substate Tournament.
Washington completed the season sweep of Fairfield, winning all three matchups between the conference foes. The Demons won the first meeting 53-29 in Fairfield on December 12th, took the second 62-36 at Washington on January 29th, and closed out the series with Saturday’s victory.
Game Breakdown
Fairfield struggled early, falling behind 8-0 before finally getting on the board at the 3:22 mark of the first quarter. The Trojans battled back to cut the deficit to five points at 10-5 with 2:34 remaining in the quarter, but Washington led 16-8 after one period.
The Demons extended their lead to 35-18 by halftime and 48-19 after three quarters before cruising to the 63-21 final.
Adalyn Long led Washington with 13 points.
Fairfield Unofficial Stats
Anna McAvan led Fairfield with six points and one assist. Faith Jones added four points, two assists, and six rebounds, while Emma Metcalf contributed four points, one assist, two steals, and one rebound. Lauren Martin scored three points, and both Elyse Setterstrom and Haylee Eklund chipped in two points each.
Setterstrom also grabbed four rebounds, while Vanessa Kessel added two assists and two rebounds.
A Season of Progress
Despite the loss, Fairfield head coach Brian Witzenburg reflected positively on a season that showed improvement and resilience.
“Of course, we wish that we would have had more than four wins on the season, but at the same time it’s been a long time since we had four wins,” Witzenburg said. “Just a lot of good stuff still happened with this team. So, right now, we tell these kids that we just keep riding the rollercoaster and it’s going to go up. We’re going up. We’re on the uphill climb.”
The Trojans finished 4-17, matching the combined win total of the previous two seasons. The team achieved several notable accomplishments:
- Best conference finish since the 2021-22 season
- Got as many wins as the last two seasons combined
- Swept Mount Pleasant for the first time since the 2018-19 season (when current assistant coaches Destiny Gridley and Shay Drish were playing)
- First home conference win since 2022
“It was good to beat Mount Pleasant twice, and on our floor, we haven’t done that for a while since 2022,” Witzenburg said.
Witzenburg praised his seniors for their commitment to the program through challenging times.
“For them to just stick with this thing and go through three head coaches, it’s tough. They enjoy each other, they’re great kids. It made it easier to get through the season because of the people that they are,” he said.
The coach acknowledged the team faced significant challenges beyond basketball.
“A lot of ups and downs for this team, trials and tribulations, and getting through some tough, really tough life stuff,” Witzenburg said. He mentioned it was great that the team was still able to have fun despite the adversity.
Looking ahead, Witzenburg sees reasons for optimism. The JV team went 11-6 this season, earning double-digit wins while developing the program’s playing style.
“Our JV, we went 11-6, double-digit wins, and just working on doing the stuff that we do, our press, and just making other opponents uncomfortable and taking care of business,” he said. “I think we have a lot of sophomores, and if we can keep them out, and maybe gain a couple of juniors here or there for next year for our senior class, a lot of good things can happen for this program.”
The incoming eighth-grade class also has Witzenburg excited about the future.
“We hope that there’s at least eight of those that stay out and come out,” he said. “We’re going to the state tournament on March 5th with these young kids and just kind of letting them see basketball that we want to play.”
The program also plans to attend a team camp in Ames during the summer, with a focus on shooting and playing the game of basketball together.
Looking Ahead
Washington improves to 12-10 and advances to face 11th-ranked Tipton in a rematch from the regular season that saw Tipton come out on top.
For Fairfield, the season ends at a 4-16 record with signs of progress and hope for continued growth under Witzenburg’s leadership.
Photography courtesy of Angela Jones.
