Girls basketball: Fremont returns favor, tops Davis at home to share Region 1 title with Darts
-
- Fremont’s Charli Hunt, right, drives against Davis’ Olivia Lifferth on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
-
- Davis’ T’maea Etuati, left, and Fremont’s Charli Hunt fight for a loose ball on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
-
- Davis’ Avery Dain (20) drives against Fremont’s Sierra Eddie (12) on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
-
- Davis player Kendra Kitchen, left, tries to operate against Fremont’s Aly Coombs (21) on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
-
- Fremont’s Kaidance King, left, surveys the floor against Davis on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
-
- Fremont players celebrate during a game against Davis on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
-
- Fremont’s Sierra Eddie looks to pass against Davis on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
-
- Davis head coach Anne Jones claps in front of her team’s bench in a game at Fremont on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
-
- Davis player Kate Richards, left, dribbles up court as Fremont’s Sierra Eddie pursues on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
-
- Fremont’s Charli Hunt swing around in a game against Davis on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
-
- Davis player Kate Richards drives up the floor against Fremont on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
-
- Davis player Kendra Kitchen (30) passes against Fremont’s Charli Hunt (11) on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
-
- Fremont’s Sierra Eddie (12) drives past Davis’ Avery Dain (20) on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in Plain City.
PLAIN CITY — Fremont High senior guard Sierra Eddie said that the Silverwolves did not have their game against Davis on Thursday circled on the calendar.
Sure, there was the revenge factor after the Darts ended Fremont’s 73-game region win streak last month. But there were still a lot of things to play for before the rematch.
“We treat every team the same; obviously we had a ton of games before we eventually played them again, so I think we were just kind of preparing ourselves each game and when we finally got to them, we were all really locked in,” Eddie said.
Locked in and apparently loaded.
Fremont needed a win against Davis to capture a share of what was a sixth straight Region 1 championship and did that convincingly with a dominant, 47-33 defeat of the Darts.
“Everyone was excited and was focused on what was at stake. Everyone came and played their hardest and gave it their all to win this region championship,” Eddie said.
While Fremont (17-6, 11-1 Region 1) has now won six titles in a row, Eddie has played for the Silverwolves since being a freshman, so she has had a hand in four of them.
“It feels really crazy. It’s really hard to win four. It’s a really cool accomplishment to win those for our seniors,” Eddie said. “It was great that I could hit shots to get us started and step up for my team like this.”
Eddie scored 19 points, 13 in the first half, making four 3-pointers and shooting 3 of 5 from the free-throw line.
On the Davis side of things, the Darts (18-2, 11-1) had a chance to win the region championship outright but still claimed a piece of their first region crown since 2013.
“Ours is a very young team after losing seven seniors from last year, so I’m really proud of this group; we came out and we’re co-region champions. You can’t ask for more than that,” Davis coach Anne Jones said. “Nobody can take that away from you. This was a tough loss tonight, but we have to move on and get ready for the postseason.”
In an interesting start to the game, Fremont led 11-7 after the first quarter in which coach Lisa Dalebout used 10 players.
“It was just rotation; I think she trusted everyone off the bench that they could do their part. Everyone did amazing,” Eddie said.
The Silverwolves went up 25-13 at the half and Eddie scored 10 straight of their points between the 5:39 mark and the closing seconds of the quarter before Charli Hunt made a basket on a drive with 33 seconds remaining.
“We weren’t trying to play selfish; we were trying to share the ball around, but once it got in my hands, I didn’t want to hesitate. If I was open, I was going to shoot it,” Eddie said. “I didn’t want to hold myself back, because obviously it was for a region championship and I didn’t want to have any regrets.”
Kendra Kitchen was quiet for the Darts in the first half but heated up to open the third quarter. Kitchen had scored 10 points by the time the clock hit 2:48 but Davis still trailed 31-23. That margin didn’t improve as Davis was down 36-27 after three.
Kitchen scored a game-high 22 points for the Darts, 16 in the second half.
She added a free throw and a basket from the right angle to open the final frame and Davis looked to make a run, closing the gap to 37-30 with 5:22 left to play.
While Eddie’s 19 points might be what stands out for Fremont, it was a play she made on defense with 4:37 left in the fourth quarter that may have put the game in the win column for the Silverwolves.
Davis had the ball again, looking to cut the lead when Eddie intercepted an errant pass that turned into a five-point possession. Her steal led to a basket by Aly Coombs, who then missed the chance for an and-one on a missed free throw.
But Fremont got the rebound and Eddie buried a 3-pointer to give Fremont an insurmountable 42-30 lead with 3:58 left.
“Once we got that score it calmed everyone down and we just focused on our defense possession by possession the rest of the way,” Eddie said.
Defense played a big part for the Silverwolves as they held Davis to single digits in three of the four quarters.
“We really work on our defense and getting stops; everyone is all in on defense,” Eddie added.
Coombs checked in with 12 points for Fremont.