BENTON — The three seniors on the Fairfield Falcons all played like leaders on Friday night in an NECC high school boys basketball game with the visiting Churubusco Eagles.

The trio combined for 29 points and 24 rebounds as the Falcons posted a 61-42 league victory.

“It was nice to send the seniors out this way,” Fairfield coach Troy Beachy said.

Six-two senior Garrett Scott scored a team-high 15 points, 6-5 senior Brad Lantz added nine and 6-2 senior Alex Miller five.

“Awesome, there is no other way to explain winning at home on senior night,” Scott said. “It’s fun being out there with your friends. There is good chemistry on the team both on and off the court.”

Scott skipped his junior season to focus on baseball.

“This is my senior year and you only get one shot at that,” he said. “I didn’t want to have any regrets. But all the glory goes to God since he is the one who gave me the skills and abilities to do this.”

Scott netted 13 of his 15 points in the second half.

The three senior were in the starting lineup and the Eagles opened a quick 6-2 lead as 5-11 sophomore Blake Gross and 6-0 junior Brent Simmons drilled 3-pointers for the visitors.

“Since we went with a bigger lineup to begin the game we started off in a zone,” Beachy said. “We didn’t want to play much zone in the game and Churubusco took advantage of it when we did. Our close outs were not very good.”

The 6-2 score was the last time the Eagles led. Miller scored a basket at 6:09, Scott one at 4:40 and when 5-7 sophomore Josh Stephens swished a trey the Falcons were up 9-6 at 2:48.

Fairfield went on to lead 14-8 at the end of the opening period and took a 10-point lead into the locker room at halftime (27-17) on a ‘3’ by 6-2 junior Marcus Rodes.

The Falcons began the second half with an 11-4 run and 6-2 sophomore Joe Line converted a layup at 5:15 the hosts were up 38-21.

“We got moving more and played more like a team in the second half,” Scott said. “We were more aggressive in the second half.”

Stephens had a good game for the Falcons, scoring 11 points. He was 3-of-5 from 3-point range.

“Josh is a gamer,” Beachy said. “It’s getting hard for me to take him off the floor. He may not look like it but he is one of our more physical players. He doesn’t shy away from contact.”

Miller was a key from the start for the Falcons, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds in the first quarter.

“Alex had some injury problems in the first half of the season and is just now getting back onto form,” Beachy said. “He was more aggressive than normal tonight.”

The three seniors helped Fairfield controlled the boards, 32-15. Lantz grabbed 12 rebounds, Scott nine and Miller three.

“It didn’t feel like we were rebounding, but the statistics say otherwise,” Beachy said.

Line chipped in with nine points and Rodes seven for the Falcons.

“We are trying to build depth,” Beachy said.

“We got contributions from a lot of different people. I like to see balanced scoring. It has taken a little time, but the players are buying into the team concept. When we share the ball we can be an okay team.”

Six-one freshman Brock Geoglein came off the bench to score three points and grab two rebounds.

“Brock did some nice things,” Beachy said.



Fairfield 61, Churubusco 42

Churubusco — Blake Gross 6-12 2-4 16, Brent Simmons 5-12 0-2 13, Luke Lillimars 2-4 1-2 5, Corey Sarrazin 2-4 0-1 4, Hayden Kilgroe 1-1 0-0 3, Beau Barkley 1-3 0-0 2, T.J. Campbell 0-2 0-0 0, Garrett Simmons 0-0 0-0 0, Landon Pence 0-0 0-0 0. Team: 17-38 3-9 42

FAIRFIELD — Garrett Scott 4-9 5-6 15, Josh Stephens 4-6 0-0 11, Joseph Line 4-9 0-0 9, Brad Lantz 3-3 3-4 9, Marcus Rodes 3-5 0-0 7, Alex Miller 2-6 1-4 5, Brock Geoglein 1-1 0-0 3, Mitch DeWitt 1-2 0-2 2, John Stack 0-2 0-0 0, Jake Blackburn 0-0 0-0 0, Nate Miller 0-0 0-0 0. Team: 22-43 9-16 61

Churubusco    8    9    15    10    —    42

Fairfield    14    13    17    17    —    61

3-point goals: Churubusco 5-16 (Simmons 3-6, Kilgore 1-1, Gross 1-4, Sarrazin 0-1, Barkley 0-2, Campbell 0-2). Fairfield 8-14 (Scott 2-2, Stephens 3-5, Geoglein 1-1, Line 1-2, Rodes 1-2, Stack 0-2).

Fouls: Churubusco 16, Fairfield 11.

Rebounds: Churubusco 15 (Simmons 7). Fairfield 32 (Lantz 12, Scott 9).

Assists: Churubusco 9 (Gross 4). Fairfield 11 (Lantz 3, Scott 2, Stephens 2).

Steals: Churubusco 5. Fairfield 9 (Scott 2, Stephens 2).

Turnovers: Churubusco 14, Fairfield 13.

Officials: Dean Martin, Jeff Carmichael and Gary Chambers.

Records (next games): Fairfield (10-10, 6-3 NECC) at Jimtown Tuesday.

JV score: Fairfield won 34-24. (Fairfield: Jake Blackburn 15, Sam Brown 11, Cody Haab 4. Churubusco: Drew Buffenbarger 6, Chance Gallmeier 5, Josh Howk 5).