By Wade Linville –

The Fayetteville-Perry Lady Rockets started their season off by winning their first five games that included three victories in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play, but this past week proved to be a tough one for the Lady Rockets as they suffered their first two losses of the season. Cold shooting on the road Dec. 14 resulted in a 39-34 loss at Batavia for the Lady Rockets, coming off a 49-39 loss to Bethel-Tate on Dec. 12.
Fortunately for the Lady Rockets, their cold shooting would come during two non-league contests, bringing them to a 5-2 overall record while they remained unbeaten at 3-0 in SHAC play coming into the Dec. 15 conference bout against the Eastern Lady Warriors, a game scheduled to take place at Fayetteville.
Fayetteville-Perry head coach Toby Sheets and his Lady Rockets aren’t letting the two non-league losses keep them down this early in the season.
“We understand the season is an endurance race not a sprint,we will regroup and keep plugging along,” Sheets said following Wednesday’s loss at Batavia.
The Lady Rockets, a team that usually shoots well from the field, managed to sink only 11-of-60 shot attempts while at Batavia, shooting only 18-percent.
They also struggled from the charity stripe in Wednesday’s match-up, connecting on eight-of-19 attempts for 42-percent.
The Lady Rockets remained unbeaten in Southern Hills Athletic Conference play by topping the visiting West Union Lady Dragons 77-54 on Dec. 8 at Fayetteville.
Two Fayetteville players racked up more than 20 points in the Dec. 8 win that upped the Lady Rockets’ SHAC record to 3-0.
Fayetteville senior Taylor Cornett shot 11-of-19 from the field, which included five-of-eight shooting from three-point range, to finish with 27 points. She also grabbed six rebounds and grabbed five steals.
Fayetteville’s 6’3” freshman center, Margo Thompson, buried nine-of-13 shot attempts to finish and sank four-of-four attempts from the foul line to finish with 22 points. She also pulled down 13 rebounds to record a double-double.
Fayetteville’s sophomore point guard Cecilia Murphy was the third Lady Rocket to score in double figures against the Lady Dragons, finishing with 12 points.
The Lady Rockets held a 16-14 lead at the end of the first quarter, but outscored the Lady Dragons 23-11 in the second quarter to hold a 39-25 lead at halftime.
The Lady Rockets came off halftime break to outscore the Lady Dragons 23-7 in the third quarter, expanding their lead to 59-32.
The Lady Dragons were able to outscore the Lady Rockets 22-15 in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Rockets were back in action on their home court Dec. 12, playing host to the Bethel-Tate Lady Tigers for a non-league contest.
It was the Lady Tigers coming away with a 49-39 victory, pinning the Lady Rockets with their first loss of the season.
Cornett led the Lady Rockets in scoring with 15 points. Thompson finished with 12 points, and Fayetteville’s Hannah Wiederhold ended the game with 10 points.
Leading all scorers was Bethel-Tate’s Allison Parks with 21 points.