FAIRFIELD — DJ Wyrick may not have seen a better string of practices from his seventh-ranked Fairfield High School boys basketball team than this past week.
“Our practices are incredibly competitive,” Wyrick said. “And when you can practice like that consistently, these are the results that you’re going to get.”
The result Friday night was the Indians’ first-ever Greater Miami Conference three-peat.
Deshawne Crim scored a game-high 19 points, Ray Coney had 16 and Aamir Rogers had 10 as Fairfield handed Hamilton a 61-37 defeat to secure its third-straight league title in a row.
The Indians (16-4, 13-1 GMC) didn’t waste any time recovering from their first GMC loss of the season.
“It was just a learning lesson,” Crim said of Fairfield’s 52-48 loss at Middletown on Tuesday. “Everybody needs a setback. Unfortunately, our loss is our setback. But we’re just going to bounce back and keep playing.”
Fairfield held Hamilton (8-11, 4-10 GMC) scoreless for 9:35 in the first half and used a 20-2 run that was capped off by a Crim bucket — which gave the Indians a 20-4 lead with 4:30 left in the second quarter.
Hamilton senior Davis Avery hit a 3-pointer to halt the Fairfield surge and give the Big Blue their first points in over a quarter stretch.
Davis finished with 10 points to pace Hamilton, which fired 4 of 31 (12.9%) in the first half.
“We pretty much didn’t have a chance from the get-go,” Big Blue coach Kevin Higgins said. “They’re a heck of a lot better than us. They proved it. We don’t have a chance if we don’t make any shots. We don’t have a chance in the world.”
Rogers threw down two monstrous dunks in the second half to put Fairfield’s Senior Night crowd in a ruckus.
His first one came at the six-minute mark of the third quarter, which gave the Indians a 35-13 lead. The second one extended the margin to 61-33 with two minutes left to play.
“We love feeding our big man,” Crim said of Rogers, who also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds. “Again, he’s the best big man in the league. I’m going to forever preach it.”
Wyrick said there were discussions prior to the start of the season about his squad being able to clinch its third league title in a row.
He credited his seniors for making it happen.
“It’s big for us,” Wyrick said. “We talked about it going into the season. It’s the first time in school history. For me, it’s being really proud of the seniors for what they’ve been able to accomplish. They’ve done a lot here. They’ve earned it. They put in a lot of time and a lot of effort. They’re great kids and they’re great teammates. I’m just really proud of those guys and the rest of the team.”
Fairfield outscored Hamilton in the paint 42-16 and fired 26 of 59 (44.1%) from the floor on its way to a fifth straight win over its rivals.
“The credit goes to our guys,” Wyrick said. “The work they put in. The senior class is incredible. You just hope that with this momentum, we can continue to build off it for years ahead.”
Coney added eight rebounds and six assists. Crim also dished out six assists.
Andrea Holden had six points and eight rounds for Hamilton, while teammate Cooper Matthews had six points and six boards.
UP NEXT
Both teams get back to action on Tuesday. Fairfield hosts Colerain, while Hamilton travels to Lakota East.
