FAIRMONT –The Lady Golden Tornadoes used a big first half to open a comfortable lead against visiting West Bladen and seal up a 67-48 Three Rivers Conference win on Friday.

The loss drops the Lady Knights to 0-2, 0-1 this season, while Fairmont improves to 2-1, 1-0.

The Lady Tornadoes pumped in 16 points trough the first quarter of play, doubling the output by West Bladen and taking a 16-8 advantage into the second quarter.

Fairmont only ratcheted up the offense through that second stanza, heating up the scoreboard for 24 points. The Lady Knights couldn’t keep pace, again getting doubled up and looked at a 40-20 deficit going into halftime.

With some adjustments in hand coming out of the intermission, West Bladen outscored the Lady Tornadoes by a 12-9 margin and cut into the Fairmont lead by the end of the third quarter, 49-32.

But the Lady Tornadoes put the offense back to work in the fourth quarter, pumping in 18 points across the 8 minutes and wrapping up the 19-point win.

Eleven Lady Knights scored in the game, led by Carley Dawson’s nine points, while Mikayla Winebarger contributed seven points and Elizabeth Allbright had five.

The Lady Knights will travel to face Red Springs in a Three Rivers Conference game on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Staff report