CINCINNATI — Lakota West’s boys basketball team is beginning to find its identity under first-year coach Kelven Moss.
Meanwhile, Fairfield hasn’t yet put together the pieces in a seemingly sluggish start to the season.
Isaiah Meade-Moss, LJ Green and Josh Tyson each scored 11 points, and the Firebirds went 12 of 14 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter to pull away with a 63-56 victory over the Indians on Thursday night in the LaRosa’s Holiday Hardwood Classic at Xavier University’s Cintas Center.
“That was one of our struggles early on in the season,” Moss said of the Firebirds’ performance at the charity stripe. “We’ve been really locked in between each drill — free throws, free throws. We try to have the right lineup in to finish off games.”
Lakota West (4-3, 3-2 Greater Miami Conference) bounced back from Wednesday’s 76-70 loss to Beavercreek and has won two out of its last three. The Firebirds snapped their three-game losing streak against Fairfield.
“We came off a tough loss, and we just wanted to flip the switch fast,” said Meade-Moss, who was named Thursday’s Player of the Game. “We didn’t want to dwell on that too long.”
Fairfield (1-7, 1-4 GMC) is on a four-game losing streak. The Indians defeated Hamilton 48-36 on the road on Dec. 12 for their only win this season.
Cash Ingram (13), Kam Sanders (12) and Gabe Clemmons (10) led the way in scoring for Fairfield, which is off to its worst start in over 20 years. The Indians started out 1-6 during the 2018-2019 and 2005-2006 seasons.
“We’re obviously way too talented to be 1-7,” Fairfield coach DJ Wyrick said. “The schedule is tough — but that’s not why we’re 1-7 by any means. … We’re good when things are going well. We look really good. But when things get tough, and we have to come together, we’re not connected enough to do that.
“The kids work hard, and they get after it. We have good practice. They compete,” Wyrick added. “We’re inexperienced in the fact that we just don’t understand why or how we’ve won a lot of games the past few years.
“We’ve been in every game this year, but when the game gets close and during crunch time, you’ve really got to come together. You’ve got to have five dudes on the same page. We’re just not there yet.”
Fairfield led 14-10 after one quarter, but Lakota West used an 8-0 run that spanned into the second quarter to take a 16-14 lead. The game went into the halftime break tied at 24-24.
An alley-oop dunk by freshman Bryce Curry gave the Firebirds a 36-29 advantage with 4:20 left in the third quarter, and Lakota West was able to hold on to the momentum by closing it out at the free throw line.
“We kind of put pressure on ourselves tonight,” Moss said. “We knew we needed this GMC win. It’s a funny league this year. We put ourselves in second place with a 3-2 conference record. We’re going to have to control our destiny. But right now, we’re just going to continue to come out and compete and embrace the moment.”
Lakota West’s Isaiah Tyson chipped in with 10 points, while Curry finished with nine. The Firebirds went 20 of 27 (74%) from the line for the game.
“We’re a very unselfish team,” said Meade-Moss, a junior guard. “We move the ball very well, and that just shows how well we play together as a team. We have a lot of scorers — we’re really deep — and it’s starting to show.”
UP NEXT
Both teams get back to action on Saturday in the Butler County Backyard Bash at Fairfield Arena. Lakota West takes on Mount Healthy at 4:30 p.m., while Fairfield faces Ross with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
