Led by Thompson, red-hot Fairfield Union blitzes Tri-Valley in the second half

RUSHVILLE – Fairfield Union sophomore Christian Thompson, with her athletic ability, length, and high motor, is a problem for opposing teams.

That was on full display Thursday night against visiting Tri-Valley, and the Scotties did not have an answer for her. Thompson spearheaded a defense that was relentless as she came up with steals, and if she didn’t get the steal, it seemed at every turn, she was deflecting a pass.

Simply put, Thompson wreaked havoc the entire game and it helped the Falcons to a dominating 55-36 non-conference win and give Fairfield Union a ton of momentum heading into the tournament.

The Falcons closed the regular season on a seven-game winning streak. They have won nine of their last 10 games to 13-9.

Thompson finished with 17 points, 18 rebounds, eight steals and six assists. She went 9 of 12 at the free throw line.

Thompson’s aggressive play in the Falcons’ pressure defense hindered the Scotties the entire game as they finished with 28 turnovers, including 17 in the second half, and were just 13-for-42 from the field.

“We want to create havoc on defense and make them speed up and force them into shots they don’t want to take,” Fairfield Union coach Ryan Montgomery said. “Over the last two weeks or so, that’s what we have been doing, and everything starts with Christian. She created havoc, got her hands on everything, rebounded the basketball, scored, had assists. We put her in the middle of their zone, and she just tore that up and they had to get out of it. She is such a versatile player and it’s hard for teams to game plan for someone like that.

“She is just playing at a whole different level right now and basically taking over games. We go as she goes, and we are feeding off her energy that brings every night and I think that is the biggest reason we are having so much success right now.”

The Falcons were playing back-to-back games after defeating Logan 45-34 Wednesday night. Thompson scored 20 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and had four assists in that game. She and her teammates showed no signs of fatigue against the Scotties (17-5).

“We were tired, but we wanted to win this game for our seniors. We were playing for them,” Thompson said. “We know we have a week off before our next game, so we just wanted to come out and play as hard as we could and give it everything we had. We did a great job of trusting each other at both ends of the court.”

After Fairfield Union jumped out to a 15-8 first-quarter lead, the Scotties seem to settle in and were able to cut the deficit to 22-19 at halftime. They were able to cut the margin to two in the opening seconds of the second half on a layup from PD Moore.

However, from that point on, Thompson basically took over the game. As it turned out, that would be the only field the Scotties would make in the quarter. They also had 11 turnovers in the third quarter as Thompson continually deflected passes.

It helped the Falcons to go on an 11-0 run, but the turning point came with Fairfield Union leading 7-21 midway through the third quarter. Junior guard Elly Lewis hit a 3-pointer, and then after a Thompson steal, she found Lewis, who hit another 3, and just like that, the Falcons had built a 33-21 lead and Tri-Valley never recovered.

“It’s a credit to them because they did speed us up, and up, but up to this point, we have been able to handle pressure and actually score off it, but that wasn’t the case tonight,” Tri-Valley coach Kurt Kauffman said. “(Thompson) is a really good player. She is long and athletic, she gets her hands on a lot of balls, she makes a lot of things happen and she plays carefree. It was a frustrating game for us all night. We didn’t shoot the ball well and we turned the ball over way too much.”

The Falcons’ Nicole Terry had a solid game, finishing with 15 points and five rebounds and Lewis added 14 points, including a 6-for-6 showing at the free throw line.

Lexi Howe led the Scotties with 15 points, including a 9 of 10 showing at the free throw line, and she had 12 rebounds. Moore chipped in seven points.

Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on Twitter @twil2323.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Led by Thompson, red-hot Fairfield Union blitzes Tri-Valley in the second half