Trojans start 2023 with a bang

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield boys basketball team came into Monday night’s non-conference game against Centerville hungry. They had plenty of reason to after showing promise in the first month of play but securing only three wins.

The Trojans, who had played five single-digit games in their first seven contests, made no bones about who was the better team on Monday, slashing Centerville 83-45.

“If you would have been at practice in the last five days, you would have been like, ‘holy smokes, this team has changed,’” said senior Max Weaton. “We’re coming into a big, big month, and we’re going in hungry.”

Fairfield looked plenty hungry in the first half. The Trojans led 19-13 after one quarter and 39-21 at the break, thanks in part to 13 first-half points by Tate Allen, and nine from JJ Lane.

“We were all just in our groove today,” Allen said. “We were passing that one extra pass that we didn’t have in games prior.”

From that point on, Fairfield dominated. The Trojans scored 23 points each in the third and fourth quarters to run away with a 38-point victory.

Weaton led the team with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Allen and Lane each scored 20. Riley Perkins and Noah McNamara ended with six each. Cooper Polonsky scored five. Ryan Higgins finished with three, and both Isaac Harris and Luke Konczal put in two.

Fairfield now sits at 4-4 overall, but it’s a 2-2 conference record that sits on the minds of the coaches and players. The Trojans sit one game back of Burlington, Mt. Pleasant and Washington, and they’ve got a second date with the Demons on Friday in Washington.

“Washington took something away from us here, and it was well-earned by them,” said Fairfield coach Mick Flattery. “We’re only one game out of the league, so now we’ve got to go do our job, and try to take something away from Washington.”

The game will be played at approximately 7:30 p.m., on Friday night, right after the girls’ game. It’s a shot for the senior-led Trojans to get right back into the SEC race, or with a loss, fall further behind.

“This is their last go-round,” Flattery said. “They only have two months left, so you hope they take advantage of it.”