2025-26 Girls Basketball Preview: Raiders rolling with deep roster

The music finally stopped in Westwood.

While Fairview’s girls have been busy playing basketball on the court, a game of musical chairs keeps happening on the bench between seasons.

For the first time since 2021, the Eagles have the same head coach for a second straight year.

Tim Pierce said he had a goal of establishing more sideline stability.

“Four different coaches in four years is tough,” Pierce said. “This year, I can already tell chemistry is better, and they know what to expect — myself included; I know what to expect from the girls now, too.”

Pierce has some new assistants, including Patrick Ewing, who played at Ashland in the early 2000s. Ewing has been the Ashland Area YMCA’s aquatics director. Amber Loving, who played at Fairland (Ohio), is on the staff.

“It’s been all about trust with the girls,” Pierce said. “Last year, I got the feeling, it was like, yeah, Coach is here and we trust him, but is he really going to stay?”

Fairview managed just half a dozen wins in 27 games in 2024-25, but the Eagles collected three triumphs in their final six contests.

Emma Pierce, the coach’s daughter, paced Fairview in scoring at 9.8 points per game. Madison Loving (8.4 ppg) and Bre Moore (8.2 ppg) were second and third on the team in scoring. Pierce and Moore are seniors. Loving is a junior.

“I’m hoping this year we can get more of a consistency out of those three,” Tim Pierce said. “We’ve been talking a lot about them being our big three.”

Emma Pierce pushes the pace, her father said.

“She’s the engine to get this car running,” Pierce said. She brings a high motor defensively, the coach said, and can jumpstart Fairview’s transition game.

At 5-foot-6, Moore possesses athleticism — “she can jump out of the gym,” Pierce said — and she’s active in passing lanes. It’s difficult for opponents to throw over top of her.

Pierce likes the leadership he’s observed from the trio. He said Emma Pierce has taken eighth-grader Katie Stewart under her wing, while Loving has done the same with eighth-grader Kylie Parks.

Loving led the Eagles with 8.5 rebounds a game last year.

“She’s going to bring that physicality underneath,” Pierce said. “She’s strong. She has good post moves and good hands.”

Glasswork is a point of emphasis for the guard-heavy group, the coach said.

“We got beat up on the boards last year,” he said. “We really have to box out.”

Fairview averaged 62 shots per game in 2024-25 — a pleasing number for Pierce — but made only 21.4% from the floor.

“The shot selection wasn’t bad; we had pretty good looks,” Pierce said. “We worked on a lot of shooting this summer.”

Olivia Meade and Madison Caskey round out the senior class.

Meade hasn’t played since her freshman year, but she’s surpassed expectations so far, Pierce said.

Caskey is back in uniform after deciding to call it quits following 11 games last season. She is capable of knocking down shots from the perimeter and has had a good mindset this preseason, Pierce said.

Sophomore Paige VanBibber should be a factor as well, according to her coach.

Fairview faces a strong schedule out of the gate — with East Carter, Greenup County and Ashland all visiting Westwood the first week of December.