Just one night of basketball on the slate this past week, but it was an important contest for Fairfield.
A big second quarter put Fairfield up 15 at the half, allowing the Falcons to stay ahead of Churubusco in a 61-50 final Friday night in Turtletown. The Falcons held just a six-point lead, 19-13, after a quarter, but a 15-6 burst in the second put the visitors out of reach.
Carson Smith led Fairfield with 17 points in the first half and 23 points overall, hitting four three-pointers along the way. Tyson Frey had 10 second-half points and 14 points overall and Noah Mast finished with eight points.
The JV throttled the Eagles, 77-16, with five Falcons getting into double digits for the night. Drew Beachy led the way with 15 points, Grady Chupp had 14 points, Brady Park had 12 points, Ben Kio had 11 points and Cole Knight had 10 points.
The win moves Fairfield to 8-1 overall in the Northeast Corner Conference standings, in a flat-footed tie with Lakeland. Fairfield hosts Central Noble Friday night in hopes of claiming at least a share of the NECC title to go with its tournament championship from January. Fairfield will need help from the team it beat in the tourney championship, Angola, which visits Lakeland Friday night. Westview (7-2 NECC) still has an outside shot at a share of the title and would need to beat Fremont on the road and have both Fairfield and Lakeland lose.
Fairfield (17-4) closes its regular season this week at Northridge on Tuesday, and Friday night’s contests with Central Noble will feature a Riley giveback night. Fairfield will have a bake sale, donation stations, a Royal Court and more as part of a fun-filled evening to help Riley Children’s Hospital.