Junior guard Deshawne Crim sank two free throws with 16 seconds left to give the Indians a 53-52 lead and two more with 5.6 seconds left after rebounding a missed Eagles shot to clinch Fairfield’s first district championship since the 2012 team reached a state semifinal.
That drought wasn’t talked about much in the days prior to the game, Crim said.
“Honestly, we just want to make it deeper in the tournament and play together,” said Crim, who led all scorers with 20 points. “We want to get as far as we can.”
Fairfield (22-4) will play Wayne (17-7) in a regional semifinal on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Xavier University’s Cintas Center.
The regional championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday at Xavier. Fairfield has won eight straight games since back-to-back losses at Princeton and at Sycamore by a combined three points.
Wayne advanced with a 53-36 win over Turpin in the second of Sunday’s four games. Fairfield edged Wayne, 71-70, on Dec. 23.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“It’s a familiar opponent,” Wyrick said. “That’s nice. We have two days to get ready. We’ll be up all night watching that one.”
Senior Logan Woods scored 19 points for the Indians, including their first eight of the fourth quarter to single-handedly keep Fairfield in the game.
“We try to put the ball in his hands,” Wyrick said. “It’s a blessing for a coach to have a player like that.”
Senior Kollin Tolbert added 13 for the Indians.
“Our guys played really hard,” Wyrick said. “They were resilient. I’m really proud of them. They made the some great plays at the end. They got some tough rebounds. It was a total team effort.”
Senior Max Poynter and sophomore Tyler McKinley each scored 15 points for Walnut Hills (23-3), a third seed.
Crim scored 14 points in the first half, including a 3-pointer that gave Fairfield an early eight-point lead, 12-4, with 4:56 left in the first quarter. The Eagles, who play in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference, came back to take a brief, 26-24 lead halfway through the second quarter, but Crim responded with another 3-pointer to help the Indians take a 31-29 halftime lead.
The game featured 11 lead changes.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Centerville 80, Lakota West 53: Lakota West coach Jim Leon had a good-natured complaint when reporters approached after his Firebirds were dismantled by Centerville, 80-53, on Sunday in a Division I boys basketball district championship game at the University of Cincinnati’s Fifth Third Arena
“What am I going to say,” he said with a smile. “We got our butts kicked.”
The Elks took a 24-4 first-quarter lead on the way to extending their winning streak to 42 games and staying on course for a second consecutive Division I state championship.
Senior Tom House connected on five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 24 points as Centerville led by as many as 35 points, 51-16, with 6:14 left in the third quarter.
Centerville (26-0) earned a fourth consecutive district championship and will meet Fairmont in a regional semifinal on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Xavier University’s Cintas Center.
Senior William Layfield scored 18 points to lead Lakota West. Junior Jason Lavender added 11 points and junior Nathan Dudukovich finished with 10, 16 below his average while dealing with a tough Centerville defense focused on keeping him in check.
“They took (Dudukovich) out of his game,” said Lakota West coach Jim Leon, who delayed knee surgery to stay on the bench. “No. 4 (junior guard Emmanuel Deng) did a good job denying him the ball. They had a good game plan.”
Lakota West (14-11), an 11th seed, advanced to its second district final in three seasons with a 73-59 upset of sixth-seeded and intra-district rival Lakota East in a district semifinal. That was the Firebirds second straight win and third in their last four games.
The Firebirds also lost to Centerville, 48-40, in 2020.
Lakota West responded to falling behind by 35 by outscoring Centerville, 25-18, in the third quarter.
“I was proud of our effort,” Leon said. “That’s a hell of a team.”
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