Fairfield blisters Burlington

FAIRFIELD - The Trojan basketball teams were itching to get back on the floor after a couple of tough-luck losses in Albia on Monday, and when the time came to bounce back, both teams did with flying colors, as Fairfield High School celebrated senior night with a couple of Southeast Conference wins over Burlington.

The Fairfield girls romped to a 63-28 win to earn a season sweep over the Grayhounds. The Trojan boys avenged an earlier loss with a dominant 66-48 victory.

The Fairfield girls weren't messing around. The Trojans rushed out to a 13-4 lead after the first quarter and held a 30-12 halftime advantage. Danielle Breen was even with Burlington by herself, as she led the Trojans into the locker room with 12 points.

Fairfield continued to roll in the second half. Delaney Breen matched her twin's first half total with 12 points over the final two quarters, and the Trojans won the second half 33-15. 'We changed our defenses up over and over, and it led to easy baskets,” said head coach Pat Pacha. 'When we got the open baskets, it opened up some outside, and Danielle and Delaney hit shots.”

Danielle Breen finished with 21 points. Delaney Breen had 18. Olivia Jones, one of two seniors for the Trojan girls, scored 12.

'It's definitely really special to share that win with my team,” Jones said. 'I think we went out and executed really well tonight.”

Hannah Simpson scored five. Mallory Lyon scored three. Kelsey Pacha scored two, and Anna Westphal, the other Trojan senior, nailed a late shot to finish with two of her own.

'You probably saw me jump as high as I could go when Anna made that shot on the wins,” said Coach Pacha. 'Those kids have put in many years here for Fairfield.”

The Trojan boys had a chip on their shoulder against a team that beat them 73-39 ijust two weeks ago. Fairfield flipped the score by 52 points in a blowout win.

'We just take it day by day with these young guys and get better every day,” said head coach Mick Flattery. 'I thought we were very composed, and I thought we ran our stuff really, really well.”

Fairfield led 19-10 after one quarter, 39-21 at halftime and 56-34 after three quarters. The Trojans were relentless, never letting the Grayhounds get back in the game.

'We had a game last night where we were up by 20 points and lost by two,” said Max Weaton, who poured in a game-high 26 points. 'We came back here tonight with the same situation, and we were like, 'We've been in this situation. We're not losing.'”

Tate Allen added 15 points. JJ Lane and Evan Haines scored seven each. Blake Holden had six. Isaac Harris had three, and Joey Valdez scored two.

The Fairfield girls are now 7-5 overall and 5-2 in conference play. The boys are 3-9 overall and 2-5 in the SEC. Both teams host Keokuk on Friday night.