Gabe Clemmons scored a game-high 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Michael Lewis had 13 points and Daviawne Crim added 11 points to help the No. 20 seeded Indians capture a 62-34 Division I sectional victory over the No. 22 Harrison Wildcats on Friday night at Princeton.
“It was a good night,” said Clemmons, a 6-foot-10 center. “We wanted to come in and set the tone early in the tournament in order to make a deep run.”
Fairfield (11-12) has won three of its last four and faces Greater Miami Conference rival Hamilton on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Princeton.
Junior Kam Sanders, who averages 14.7 points a game, sat out the regular-season finale against Princeton last week and missed Friday’s tournament opener due to a minor injury.
Indians coach DJ Wyrick said he hopes Sanders will be back in the lineup against the Big Blue. Fairfield knocked off Hamilton both times in the regular season.
“It’s kind of a day-to-day thing,” Wyrick said of Sanders. “But it’s trending in the right direction, so I hope so.”
The Indians took a 21-10 lead into the locker room before storming out of the third-quarter gate on a 25-9 run. Fairfield owned its largest lead at 55-24 midway through the fourth.
“Our gameplan going in was to take away the 3,” Wyrick said. “I thought our guys did a good job of that. They were 0 for 8 in the first half from 3, which was really good for us because they can really shoot the ball. They’ve got three or four guys shooting over 35% from 3. Our guys really committed to taking that away.”
Fairfield, on the other hand, shot 21 of 36 (58.3%) from the field — including 8 of 16 (50%) behind the arc — and 12 of 14 (85.7%) at the free throw line.
“It was a big win,” Lewis said. “Just getting ready for the second round. This is a warm-up game — just trying to come into the next game and do better and play at the same intensity every time. Gabe stepped up for us big. We’re just going to go out here and get the next dub.”
Tucker Ward scored 13 points to lead Harrison, which shot just 12 of 42 (28.6%) from the field — including 3 of 17 (17.6%) beyond the arc.
“They’re a great team,” Wildcats coach Andy Marx said. “We knew how athletic and how big they were. We had a really good week of practice. We were prepared for them. They just did a really good job of executing.
“I thought we got some really good looks early. We just didn’t knock shots down, and they shot the ball really well. Their speed and quickness and athleticism kind of overwhelmed us sometimes.”
Lakota East 65, La Salle 40: Trey Perry scored a game-high 31 points and Lakota East rolled to a Division I sectional victory over LaSalle at Fairfield.
The Thunderhawks (11-12) snapped a three-game losing skid and take on another Greater Catholic League South opponent — St. Xavier — on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Fairfield.
“I just wanted to get the win,” said Perry, who went 12 of 17 from the floor and 6 of 7 at the line. “It’s been an up and down season. A lot of our seniors, they’ve been through it for three or four years — a lot of blood, sweat and tears put into the program.
“So I just feel like, rough regular season, come into the tournament with some grit. Come out into the first game and handle the business. Now we’ve got a tall task with St. X, but I think we’re going to get it done. I think we’ve got a good matchup.”
Lakota East has won its tournament opener every year since the 2011-2012 season, when it fell 51-50 to Western Hills.
The Thunderhawks led 19-8 after the first quarter and 36-17 at the half. They used a 21-2 run to extend their lead, fired 22 of 39 (56.4%) from the field, assisted on 17 of their made shots and only turned the ball over five times.
“It all starts with taking care of the basketball,” Lakota East coach Clint Adkins said. “We say it to our guys all the time, if we take care of the basketball, we’re going to get good shots. They’re patient, and they’re very unselfish as you can see with how many shots we assisted and how many we made. So tonight, we did a good job of taking care of the ball against their pressure.
“Defensively, the last three days, I thought our guys were locked in on the scout. For the most part, there were a couple breakdowns. But I’m really proud of our preparation and how they executed.”
Ty Smyers had 10 points for the Thunderhawks, who shot 16 of 20 (80%) at the line.
Patrick McLaughlin, Drae Arnold, Bradin Daley and Jack Schroer each had six points to pace LaSalle (8-15).
Middletown 74, Northwest 47: Middletown cruised to a Division I sectional victory over Northwest at Princeton.
The Middies (16-7) have won five of their last six and face Western Hills on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Princeton.
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