Hayes and junior Kobi Crim each scored a team-high 11 points, senior Kayla McCoy added 10 and Fairfield used a third-quarter burst to beat Greater Miami Conference rival Hamilton 40-29 on Wednesday night at Fairfield Arena.
“It was amazing,” Hayes said of exacting revenge against the Big Blue. “Because first of all, we lost to them last time. So we had to get our game back, and I was just so glad to see everybody on the floor.”
Hamilton knocked off Fairfield 48-37 on Dec. 20, which halted the Indians’ 13-game winning streak against their rival dating back to the 2016-17 season.
Fairfield (5-16, 3-12 GMC) has won two out of its last three games.
“With this being a backyard battle, it’s just one of those games where we knew they beat us last time,” Indians first-year coach Jerome Nelson said. “It’s what the seniors say, ‘We needed to get our lick back.’ It was already a momentum thing. Our energy was there all day.”
Hamilton (5-15, 3-12 GMC) has lost seven in a row and will look to bounce back with home games against Middletown on Saturday and Monroe on Monday. Big Blue enters tournament play versus Mount Notre Dame on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 7:30 p.m. at Lakota East.
“It’s just who we are,” HHS first-year coach Kimar Morris said. “Sometimes you’re haunted by ghosts of the past, and it’s tough. Here’s where our girls are at. They’ve hit a wall in terms of we’ve probably practiced more than they’ve practiced in all of their career. Practice has to go a certain way. You have to earn the right to win, and we haven’t earned the right to win. That’s what it boils down to.
“You’ve got to be willing to do the little things. You’ve got to be willing to get dirty. We don’t have enough floor burns. We don’t get enough 50-50 balls. … Those mistakes and those things rear their face.”
Hamilton led 6-0 to start things out, while holding Fairfield without a point for nearly five minutes. Hayes knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to tie it up later in the opening quarter.
Big Blue owned an 8-6 lead after one period before taking a 17-10 advantage into the locker room.
The Indians exploded on a 17-1 run in the third quarter — which gave the hosts more than enough momentum to close it out.
“That can’t happen on any given night,” Morris said. “That’s a part of the process of rebuilding — restoring a program — and they just don’t understand how hard it is to win.”
Hamilton senior Ah’Marionya Kirkland registered a double-double with game-highs of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Fairfield (15 of 48) shot 14 more shots than Hamilton (9 of 34) and won the rebound battle 35-28.
“Tonight, we really dug deep, and our seniors were a very big part of that,” Nelson said of Hayes, McCoy, Danielle Marsh, Emma Willis, Brittany Leahr and Maliah Jett. “Our girls were actually ready to receive the ball and make a play.”
The Indians host Princeton on Saturday before having 11 days off. Fairfield faces Sycamore in a postseason opener on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 6 p.m. at Lakota East.
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