The Fairmont Firebirds have been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They fell 61-51 to Warrensville Heights on Sunday.
Despite the loss, Fairmont saw an underclassman step up: Kaylah Thornton scored 23 points along with five rebounds and five steals. Thornton has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Kenzie Roark, who scored nine points along with three blocks.
Warrensville Heights had a senior duo take command as Leilani Mcneill scored 21 points along with five rebounds and three steals and Chelsea Johnson scored 11 points along with eight rebounds. Mcneill also posted two blocks for the first time this season. Another player making a difference was Demarionna Branch, who scored six points.
Fairmont's loss dropped their record down to 9-4. As for Warrensville Heights, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won nine of their last ten contests, which provided a nice bump to their 12-2 record this season.
Fairmont won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Brush at 4:30 p.m. on January 15th. Brush presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Fairmont in Ohio (Brush is ranked 28th, while Fairmont is ranked 94th). As for Warrensville Heights, they will be playing at home against Shaker Heights at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Shaker Heights is hoping to put an end to a five-game streak of away losses.
