ELKHART — After watching his team force 31 turnovers with an aggressive, in-your-face defense, Elkhart coach Ken Hunt had one thought.
"There should have been more.''
But those 31 forced turnovers was a big part of the Lions' 41-31 victory over Fairfield on Tuesday, in the season-opener for both teams.
"I have 10 girls I have confidence in, so we will push the pace and I will play everyone,'' Hunt said. "I love the way we played defense tonight and I thought we caused a lot of problems for them. I just wish we'd have hit a few more shots.''
Hunt has a point, as the Lions were just four-of-28 from 3-point range on the night and 16-49 total from the field.
The two middle quarters would doom Fairfield, as coach Kyle Hartman's team scored just six points in the 16 minutes, hitting just three-of-15 from the field, while missing four straight free throws, before Madison Jones canned two in in the third quarter.
"We won't see that kind of defensive pressure for quite awhile,'' Hartman said. "We'll see teams that will pressure us, but it won't be as chaotic as what we saw tonight.
"Believe me, that's nothing against Elkhart. They forced 31 turnovers and we just weren't able to handle their defensive pressure.''
After trailing 12-9 after one quarter, the Lions would open a 30-18 lead heading into the final stanza.
But despite all their offensive woes on the night, the Falcons had one more run left in them.
Senior Eva Herbert, who was scoreless up to that point, buried a 3-pointer to cut the lead to nine. Layups by Paige Park and Macy Worthman made it 30-25 with 5:15 left and brought the Fairfield crowd back into the game.
But Elkhart senior Trenyce Harris then hit the game's biggest shot, nailing an open 3-pointer to stop the Falcons' run and push the lead back to eight.
Senior Shaniyah Stout then went to work, hitting two free throws and a tough layup in traffic and the Lions' lead was back to 12.
Fairfield would get to single digits only one more time, when Jones scored with 22 seconds to play to make it 39-31. But two more free throws from Stout would close it out just five seconds later.
"If we had just been able to hit some of those 3-pointers in the first half, we might have been able to put them away a little earlier,'' Hunt said. "But hey, it's the first game and I'm sure there were a lot of nerves.''
Stout led a balanced Elkhart offense with 10 points, while starting guards Aaniyah Bonner and Jordynn Johnson each added eight.
Jones scored 13 points to lead the Falcons, while Park chipped in six and Herbert five.
"I don't think the girls were in as good of shape as I thought we were,'' Hartman said. "We made the run in the fourth quarter, but I thought we were wore out after that. We only have seven kids right now and with some foul trouble tonight, it was even tougher.''
————
ELKHART 41, FAIRFIELD 31
FAIRFIELD: Eva Herbert 2-5 0-0 5, Madison Jones 5-16 3-6 13, Paige Park 2-7 2-7 6, Jenna Fought 1-2 0-0 3, Macy Worthman 1-2 0-0 2, Maddi Treat 1-2 0-0 2, Delaney Garrett, 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 12-34 5-13 31.
ELKHART: Anniyah Bonner 4-6 0-2 8, Shaniyah Stout 3-12 4-4 10, Jordynn Johnson 3-7 0-0 8, Sueann Watt 1-6 1-2 3, Taylor Higgins 1-4 0-0 3, Brendayah Dale 0-2 0-0 0, Isis Robbins 1-3 0-0 2, Aaliyah Martinez 0-2 0-0 0, Trenyce Harris 3-7 0-0 7, Nashae Joiner 0-0 0-2 0. Totals: 16-49 5-10 41.
Scoring by Quarter
Fairfield;12;2;4;13;—;31
Elkhart;9;11;10;11;—;41
3-point goals: Fairfield (2-6) — Herbert 1-2, Fought 1-2; Elkhart (4-28) — Johnson 2-6, Higgins 1-4, Harris 1-5. Turnovers: Fairfield 31, Elkhart 16. Total fouls: Fairfield 17, Elkhart 13. Fouled out: Bonner, Treat. J.V. score: Elkhart 28, Fairfield 22. Varsity records: Elkhart 1-0, Fairfield 0-1.
