Allen, Weaton combined for 52 in Fairfield win

WEST BURLINGTON — For Fairfield’s Tate Allen and Max Weaton everything was clicking on the offensive end on Monday night against West Burlington.

Allen poured in a game-high 28 points, connecting on seven shots from deep, while Weaton thrived inside with 24. Both were two of three players to score in the second half.

“We’re dangerous,” Allen said of himself, Weaton and fellow guard JJ Lane. “I don’t think there’s a team in the state that can handle us three when we’re all on and all playing well. It’s a great game to watch. It’s fun to be out there and have two other great athletes in my grade playing with me. We’re finally playing to our team’s level. All these other games this year we’ve been playing to the other team’s level. We finally got it to the point where we’re playing to our skill level. I feel like we’re playing our best basketball of the year.”

It only took the Trojans one quarter to find their rhythm against the Falcons. The two teams were all knotted up after the first quarter. Fairfield dominated inside, but West Burlington was able to keep it tied with four 3-pointers.

Fairfield went to work in the second. After an Allen converted and one made it a 16-14 game, Fairfield never trailed again. The Trojans outscored the Falcons 24-12, making it a 36-24 game at halftime. Allen started to find his stroke scoring nine in the quarter.

Both teams fought hard in the third, but it would be Fairfield coming out on top again, 16-13. The Trojans had just two players score in the quarter, those being Allen and Weaton. Allen popped off for 11 points with three of his seven deep balls, while Weaton scored five. Fairfield led 52-37 after three quarters.

“It was a good night,” Allen said. “I was feeling it and I just kept shooting. I didn’t feel on in warmups. But I just kept shooting. Once I started hitting them it just kept flowing and I kept getting open looks from my teammates. That’s all I can ask.”

It was much of the same narrative in fourth quarter. Allen got Fairfield started with another shot from deep, while Weaton went on to score 12 straight for the Trojans. Allen capped off his night one final three to make it 70-44.

Fairfield head basketball coach Mick Flattery said looking at the results, the team is playing some of its best basketball near the end of the season.

“Looking at the results only, yeah,” Flattery said. “This is now three in a row for us. That’s when you want to be playing your best. We could see it coming. That’s why we play such a good scheduled, because it’s going to get us ready for the postseason. We had different guys scoring, and we’ve been waiting for Tate to take off. That’s what we need.”

With his 28 points, Allen also dished out five assists. Weaton tallied himself a double-double with 14 rebounds to go with his 24 points. Joey Valdez scored seven. Evan Haines added five points. JJ Lane and Ryan Higgins finished with four. Hunter Cecchini ended with two.