Fayetteville’s Margo Thompson muscles her way up for a score in the Lady Rockets’ Dec. 21 game at Bethel.

By Wade Linville – 

After suffering losses in their first three games to start their winter season of high school hoops, the Fayetteville-Perry Lady Rockets were able to find their rhythm to win three of their last four games going into the Brown County Holiday Classic Tournament set for Dec. 28-29.
In a dominating court performance, the Lady Rockets cruised to a 79-23 victory over the visiting squad of Cincinnati College Prep on Dec. 20.
The Lady Rockets got off to an 18-4 lead in the first quarter of play and outscored CCP 22-2 in the second period of play to hold a comfortable 40-6 lead at halftime.
The Lady Rockets went on to outscore CCP 39-17 in the second half to cap off the 56 point win.
Fayetteville’s 6’3” sophomore center Margo Thompson racked up 22 points and 10 rebounds to record a double-double in the Dec. 20 win.
Fayetteville’s junior guard Cecilia Murphy shot for 15 points in the win over CCP, sinking four-of-five attempts from beyond the arc.
Also reaching double figures in scoring in the Lady Rockets’ Dec. 20 win at home were junior Hannah Wiederhold (11 points) and freshman Brinli Crosley (10 points). Crosley also hammered the boards for nine rebounds.
The win over CCP marked the third straight for the Lady Rockets, but their winning streak would end with a Dec. 21 loss to the home standing Bethel-Tate Lady Tigers.
The Lady Rockets jumped out to a 22-9 lead in the first quarter while at Bethel on Dec. 21, but were outscored 21-6 in the second period.
The Lady Rockets trailed the Lady Tigers by only two points at halftime, 30-28, but the now 7-1 squad of Bethel heated up in the second half to claim a 59-43 victory.
The Lady Rockets were without Murphy, one of the teams top scorers, for their Dec. 21 non-league contest at Bethel, as the junior point guard was said to have been out due to illness.
A bucket by Bethel’s Reagan Leonard started off scoring in the second half, lifting the Lady Tigers to a 32-28 lead.
Then it was Leonard putting up a score on transition to expand the Lady Tigers’ lead to 34-28.
The Lady Tigers capped off a 7-0 run to start the third quarter with a three-pointer by Grace White, leaving the visiting Lady Rockets trailing 37-28.
It was Fayetteville senior Haley Moore draining a three-pointer to end the Bethel run early in the second half, but the Lady Tigers would go on to outscore the Rockets 16-9 in the third quarter to hold a 46-37 lead going into the fourth frame.
The Lady Tiger defense held the Rockets to just six points in the fourth quarter, while on the other end of the court the Bethel offense managed 13 points in the period to secure the 16 point victory.
Moore buried her third three of the night in the fourth quarter to finish with nine points.
Wiederhold also shot for nine points in the Dec. 21 game at Bethel, as did Fayetteville’s junior guard Kasey Wallace.
Leading the way in scoring and rebounding for the Lady Rockets was Thompson with 14 points and 10 boards, recording two double-doubles in as many nights.
Leonard led the Lady Tigers in scoring with 19 points.
Bethel’s Allison Parks finished with 16 points.
Also shooting for double figures was White, who finished with 10 points to aid the Lady Tigers in the win.
The Lady Rockets stood at a 5-5 overall record following the loss at Bethel and were scheduled to face the Western Brown Lady Broncos in round one of the Brown County Classic Holiday Tournament at Fayetteville-Perry High School Dec. 28.

FPHS 22 6 9 6 – 43
BTHS 9 21 16 13 – 59

Fayetteville (43): Thompson 4 6-7 14, Wallace 2 3-4 9, Moore 3 0-0 9, Widerhold 3 3-6 9, Lockwood 1 0-2 2. Three-pointers: Moore 3, Wallace 2. Team: 13 12-19 43.

Bethel-Tate (59): Leonard 9 1-4 19, Parks 7 0-0 16, White 3 1-2 10, Bee 1 0-0 2, Gardner 1 0-0 3, Burton 2 0-0 4, Stolz 1 3-4 5. Three-pointers: White 3, Parks 2, Gardner 1. Team: 24 5-10 59.