The final week of the regular season has come and gone, and with it, a little heartbreak for the Fairfield boys basketball squad.
The JV capped its season with an exciting 43-40 win over visiting Central Noble. Fairfield led by just one, 34-33, after three quarters but held on late. Grady Garber led the Falcons with 18 points and Cole Knight chipped in seven points.
The varsity contest saw Fairfield fall behind by as many as 16 points, but had the tying shot fall short in a 57-54 loss to the Cougars. A key stretch in the fourth had Fairfield miss a three that would have put them down one, only for Central Noble to hit a basket on the other end and soon extend the lead to eight on its next possession.
Five missed free throws were key for Fairfield in the fourth quarter, but the Falcons still had the ball for the final shot, which Carson Smith was short on the three attempt as the Cougars grabbed the rebound to spoil Fairfield’s attempt to clinch a share of the Northeast Corner Conference title.
That went to Lakeland, which beat Angola on a last-second shot to finish at 9-1 in the NECC, Fairfield falling to 8-2 and runner-up.
Smith finished with 16 points, Mitchell Miller had 13 points and Tyson Frey had 12 points in the regular season finale.
Fairfield finishes the regular season 17-6 overall and will play West Noble Friday in the first game of the Lakeland Boys Basketball Sectional semi-finals. Lakeland and Wawasee open on Tuesday, with defending Class 3-A state champion NorthWood awaiting the Tuesday winner in Friday’s second game.
Tuesday night, Fairfield headed up SR 13 to Northridge to take on the Northern Lakes Conference champs. Fairfield hung around with the Raiders until the fourth quarter, where the Northridge three ball was too much in a 61-49 Ridge win.
Northridge hit eight of its 11 three-pointers in the second half, two by Kam Radeker in the fourth as the Raiders pulled away. Brady Scholl scored eight of his 19 in the fourth, and Mason Bales also scored 19 for Ridge.
Smith kept Fairfield in it with 20 points and Noah Mast had 15 points, but the Raiders held one of Fairfield’s top scorers, Mitchell Miller, scoreless throughout the contest.
An entertaining JV game saw Fairfield’s rally fall short in a 46-43 loss to the Raiders. The Falcons trailed 39-33 entering the fourth but couldn’t get a tying bucket as time expired. Ben Kio led the visitors with 15 points and Knight had 14 points.