Gabe Clemmons chipped in with nine points and 14 rebounds for Fairfield, which shot 16 of 34 (47%) from the floor. Clemmons scored all nine of his points in the second half. Matthew Hilvert scored all nine of his points in the first half.
“Typically, if you look at our wins, we’re going to have four guys hovering around double figures,” Fairfield coach D.J. Wyrick said. “Matt got his early, and Gabe got his late. With Dav and Mike, it was kind of balanced with them.
“But balanced scoring is huge for us. We can’t have one guy getting 25 and a bunch of guys with three to six. We’re not winning that way. It was good that it ended up going that route.”
Fairfield split with Lakota East during the regular season. The Thunderhawks won 65-49 on Jan. 11, while the Indians won 51-46 on Feb. 7.
“We came in and we knew it was going to be a good game,” Clemmons said. “… We didn’t want to be done yet. We came out, and we played hard.”
The score was tied at 9-9 heading into the second quarter, but it was the Indians who owned a 23-15 at halftime.
Clemmons started the fourth quarter off with two quick buckets to put Fairfield up 38-25 — the largest lead of the night.
J.J. Smith knocked down a couple of 3s to keep Lakota East within striking distance, but Fairfield was able to hold on down the stretch.
Lakota East’s Trey Perry, who finished with a game-high 18 points, walked out of the locker room Wednesday night and gave his coach one last embrace.
Perry wrapped up a stellar career and will play at Miami University next season. The 6-foot-2 senior guard led the Greater Miami Conference with 22.3 points and 4.3 assists per game.
“That’s a young man that cares,” Adkins said of Perry, the District 15 Player of the Year. “He cares about the game, cares about his team, cares about his program. It’s heartbreaking. This is the worst day of the year.”
Lakota East (17-8) graduates Trey Perry, Michael Akindele, Enzo Tchetgnia, Gabe Gaither, Ibrahim Kebe, D.J. Samuels and Carson Springmeyer.
“It’s a special group of young men who got us back to Sweet 16 Day,” Adkins said. “Obviously, we’re going to miss them. They’re good basketball players, but more importantly, they’re awesome people.”
LAKOTA WEST 36, ST. XAVIER 29
Tyson Davis scored 13 points, Bryce Curry had 10 and Lakota West beat St. Xavier 36-29 in a Division I regional semifinal on Wednesday night at Xavier University’s Cintas Center.
The Firebirds (20-5) will face Fairfield in a regional final at noon on Sunday at Cintas Center.
“First of all, I’m so proud of these guys,” Lakota West coach Kelven Moss said. “We knew it was going to be a grind-out game. We prepared the last few days with a minute 30 possessions. So, we knew what we were getting into.
“Our biggest thing was preaching patience on both ends of the floor. A few possessions we had this internal shot clock where we jacked it up pretty quick. But for the most part, we executed, and we guarded our butts off tonight.”
Lakota West has won eight in a row, including its 61-56 regular-season finale against St. Xavier on Feb. 15.
St. Xavier (19-6) was led in scoring by Brayden Reilly, who had a game-high 14 points. Bombers leading scorer Donovan Waleskowski, who averages 12.8 points a contest, was held to one point.
“Our goal was to limit Waleskowski as many touches as possible and force other people to beat us,” Moss said. “If they’re going to beat us, they’re going to have to beat us with tough stuff.”
The Firebirds moved out a 13-7 first-quarter lead before the Bombers came back to tie it at 16-16 heading into the halftime break.
Lakota West outscored St. Xavier 20-13 in the second half and was able to hang on. The Firebirds shot 13 of 24 (54%) from the floor for the game.
“We’ve been here before,” Moss said. “I’m super confident in my guys. I knew we would either close it out at the free-throw line or execute someway, somehow — and we finished it out.”
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