Lewis scored a game-high 22 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists to help lead the Indians past the La Salle Lancers 65-46 in a season opener at Fairfield Arena on Tuesday.
“There’s a lot of motivation,” Lewis said. “I was going to be a big role at this school, so I had to step up and do what’s best for us.
“We had three good practices coming in — moving around at practice, very active, talking. I came in and stepped up today and got us the win.”
Fairfield’s defense set the tone early. It forced La Salle into low-percentage shots nearly all game long. The Lancers fired 19 of 53 (35%) from the floor.
“We put a huge emphasis on not getting back-cut,” Indians coach DJ Wyrick said. “When you do that, you’re going to be sagging off a little bit, and you’re not going to create as much in the passing lanes. But we thought, ‘Let’s take that away.’ We’ll just stay consistent with our D that way. Our guys really bought in.
“We spent three days of guarding that stuff — over and over and over. They executed. They did a great job.”
The seniors led the way for Fairfield from on offensive standpoint. Guard Daviawne Crim had 18 points, and Gabe Clemmons tossed in 16 points and had a game-high 10 rebounds.
“It was definitely a good night,” Clemmons said. “We wanted to come out — especially after losing last year to La Salle — and make a big statement win and start out hot.
“We had a great summer. We’ve worked really hard in the offseason. I feel like the difference this year is we’re a lot stronger together. I feel like every one of us has our back on the court. We’re a strong team this year, and working hard during the offseason, we deserved to win this game. We deserve to have a good season because we’ve worked really hard.”
The Indians owned an 11-7 lead after one quarter and led 31-21 at the halftime break. Fairfield used an 11-0 to pull away in the second half.
Patrick McLaughlin paced the Lancers (0-1) with 14 points, and Max English added 10.
“I thought it would be really tough — especially with the situation that we’re in — and it was,” said La Salle first-year coach Kevin Higgins, who coached at Hamilton the previous six seasons.
“I thought they might be able to get us out of control. It was tough. We were hoping we could hang in there, but yeah, they’re pretty good. They’re a little bit above us. This is a process, and I’m not too worried about it though.”
Lewis said one of the main goals the Indians set before the season was to win every game they play against a Greater Catholic League opponent.
Fairfield is 1-0.
“We have our goals — win every GCL game,” Lewis said. “Talk on defense and be a great defensive team.”
Sharp-shooting seniors
The Indians shot 25 of 46 (54%) from the floor — including 7 of 12 from Crim, 8 of 14 from Lewis and 7 of 12 from Clemmons.
“They just stepped up and played like seniors are supposed to play,” Wyrick said. “We got the nerves out early on — a little loose with the ball. Once we settled in, I thought they did a good job of executing. I’m really proud of them.”
Coach quotable
“I thought we did a good job of getting out in transition,” Wyrick said. “When we got out in transition, whether it was Dav or Mike attacking the rim, I think we’re really hard to guard when we do that. Then obviously they’re helping off of Gabe. They’re dumping down to Gabe, and he’s finishing at the rim. He’s getting offensive rebounds — getting us some extra possessions.”
Up next
Fairfield travels to Oak Hills on Friday. La Salle visits Wyoming on Saturday.