By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — By all accounts, from those who know her best, Dyaisha Fair’s performance over the first three quarters of Thursday night’s sectional quarterfinals didn’t match her usual standards.
The fourth quarter, though, was vintage Dyaisha Fair.
With the game and career of one of the most prolific scorers in Section V history hanging in the balance, Fair strapped the Edison Tech Inventors on the shoulders of her 5-foot-5 frame and willed them into the Class AA semifinals.
“It’s just great to have a player that gets us out of holes,” Edison Tech head coach Jack Palmeri said after the Inventors downed Hilton 61-52 in Section V Class AA quarterfinal action. “It’s great to have somebody bail us out like that.”
Trailing by 10 late with less than 2:00 remaining in the third quarter, Fair sparked an 11-2 run to cut the gap to one entering the final eight minutes of play.
“At that point we had to get the game back to our pace,” Fair said. “We had to play at our pace. We were playing down theirs. That’s why we were down early in the fourth.”
Dyaisha Fair hits the pull-up to close the 3rd. @LadyCadetsHoops 35 Edison 34 pic.twitter.com/uXPj3vBiJW
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 21, 2019
Early in the fourth, her runner tied the game at 39 with 6:33 left on the clock.
What happened next was the stuff of legend. Fair scored 11 points on the next four possessions. She nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing, then the top and finally a third triple from the left. Teammate DJ Thiam then fed her on a two-on-one break for a layup and a 50-42 Edison advantage.
“I mean it’s just I got to get another one, and another one and another,” Fair said of her mindset during the run. “If it’s not me, it’s got to be one of my teammates getting one. We wanted to finish it, so we had to keep our foot on the gas.”
Dyaisha Fair connects on her second of three straight 3s. 4:30 remaining Edison 48 @LadyCadetsHoops 42 pic.twitter.com/MQwy9IA2Nv
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 21, 2019
Hilton’s Meaghan McGwin hit a baseline jumper, and Meghan Schiano converted two of three from the free throw line to cut the deficit to two at 50-48.
Meaghan McGwin hits the free throw line jumper but @LadyCadetsHoops trail Edison 56-50 with 49.3 to go. pic.twitter.com/2NvRl59Re4
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 21, 2019
Fair was just getting started.
She connected from 3-point land for the seventh time on the evening then converted a traditional 3-point play before sinking 4-of-4 from the free throw line to seal the victory.
“It was our fault that we fell behind earlier,” she noted. “We had to do what we do best – run and gun, get back to our game plan, and we were fine.”
The University of Buffalo commit finished with 24 points in the fourth quarter – part of an overall performance which saw her score 46 points.
“She really had an off game for the most part,” Palmeri commented. “Third quarter she was trying to get out of that rut and I said ‘just keep going to the hole. Start shallow and then get to the deep end.’ She did. She started getting it in. They got in foul trouble, and that was key. It was big for her to start and get some confidence in her and then move it back. That’s when she started hitting.”
Hilton scored 12 straight to take what looked like a commanding lead in the third quarter. Trailing by two, Linzee Reyes scored from underneath. Schiano hit two from the charity stripe, and McGwin connected on back-to-back trips down the floor. Schiano threaded a diagonal pass through the Edison zone to Reyes for an easy deuce, and Hilton led 33-23.
McGwin finished the game with a team-high 18. Reyes added 14, and Schiano had 11. Megan Letta scored five. Olivia Strauss and Sydney Carpenter had two apiece for the Cadets (14-8).
“We dug ourselves a pretty hole in the third quarter,” Palmeri explained. “I switched the defense up, and she (Dyaisha) was just feeding off that. It’s great to have her. She gives the ball to the right girl at the right time in the right position and light it up as well.”
Fair ran her season total to 715 and career mark to 2,084 points with Thursday’s effort.
DeDee Ackers added eight points for Edison (18-3). Rhonda Thomas scored three points. Tatiana Duvielle and Shamaria Burrows had two apiece.
Edison advances to meet Bishop Kearney in the Class AA semifinals. Toya Baker scored 23 to lead Kearney past Victor in other quarterfinal action. The same two teams met earlier this season with BK coming out on top 70-54. Kearney eliminated Edison the past two years in the sectionals.
“Three years in a row,” Palmeri said. “It will be a great game. I can’t wait to play against them because their our nemesis. They’ve beat us. They beat us at our place. They beat us at their place. Now we’re going to a neutral site. I think this is our best opportunity. Sometimes you got to fall before you get up. Hopefully, that’s what happens.”
Edison and Kearney will play next Wednesday, February 27th at Gates-Chili.
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