It was a celebratory night in the Falcon’s Nest Friday night as a standing-room only crowd saw Fairfield sweep all four games against visiting Westview.
In the spotlight was the boys varsity matchup with TV-46’s cameras all over the Nest. And the usual packed house saw Fairfield continue to remain undefeated, handing the Warriors another loss in a 45-38 slugfest.
Trailing by one at the half, Fairfield turned the table to take a one-point lead into the fourth. The Falcons made eight free throws in the fourth quarter to survive.
Tyson Frey led the way with 15 points and Brooks Custer provided 12 big points as the Falcons remained the only unbeaten in the NECC at 4-0.
The boys JV game was the closest of the lot, where Fairfield eeked out a 54-51 win in the auxiliary gym. Cole Knight dropped in 16 points and Ben Kio had 12 big points in the post as the Falcons knocked off their pesky rival.
The girls didn’t have a big to-do, as Fairfield has its sights set on bigger goals, but the Lady Falcons locked up at least a share of the NECC regular season title with its 51-35 win over Westview. In a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the score might indicate, Fairfield smothered Westview as the Lady Warriors didn’t break into double digits on the scoreboard until the third quarter.
Fairfield, which is 9-0 in the NECC with one game left Friday at West Noble, had Madison Jones record a big night in the middle with 14 points and four rebounds and Eva Herbert add 11 points and three steals.
The Lady Falcons’ JV outfit had no trouble crushing Westview in a 43-8 result. Eight different Fairfield players scored, led by Aubrey Wogomon’s nine points and Mykayla Mast’s eight points.
The JV turned around Saturday morning and claimed the honors winning the NECC JV Tournament played at West Noble.
A Hayden Minder free throw in overtime helped Fairfield escape Central Noble, 36-35, and the Lady Falcons would polish off Churubusco 45-25 in the final. Minder had a tournament to remember, scoring 13 against the Cougars and then a season-high 21 in the Busco win. Mast had 11 in the Central Noble game and Maddie Treat had seven in the Busco game. The JV sit at 17-2 overall heading into the final week of the season.
In related girls basketball news, the Fairfield seventh grade team claimed the title, winning the Concord Invite on Saturday.
A pair of free throws in overtime by Natalie Whitaker kept Fairfield undefeated in Northeast Corner Conference play with a huge 38-36 win over visiting Central Noble.
The points were the only ones of the night for Whitaker, but none bigger as the Lady Falcons were able to bounce back from a disappointing loss to Eastside in the NECC tournament final. Fairfield needed to rally to even force overtime, trailing by nine, 30-21, heading into the fourth quarter.
Kaylee Dillon led Fairfield with 16 points and the Lady Falcons had both Zoie Miller and Jones pull down four offensive rebounds apiece, the two adding five defensive rebounds to the output.
Fairfield’s JV once again suffocated its opponent on the defensive end in a 30-20 win over Central Noble. The Lady Falcons overcame a 4-18 performance from the free throw line by allowing just three Cougar field goals in the second half. Treat paced the hosts with nine points and Mast was right behind with seven points.
Fairfield had one champion emerge from the NECC Wrestling Championships, and it was Breckan Maran at 190 pounds.
Maran faced off against highly regionally ranked Chris Newby of Garrett in the championship, having already secured a pin and major decision in the bracket. Against Newby, Maran put away the Railroader with a pin at 3:49 to claim the bracket honors and add another huge win to his 27-3 season resume heading into the state tournament this weekend.
Fairfield had Matthew Senn at 138 and Ryan Noel at 175 both finish third, each collecting three wins on their days of work. Ethan Hochstetler and Dirk Rumfelt were both fourth and Aldahir Ortiz was fifth as fellow podium dwellers for the Falcons.