Indians beat ’Hawks, 60-41

Fairfield, with 13 wins, will host Colerain in GMC game Friday.

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1:12 AM Wednesday, February 1, 2012

By Mark Schmetzer

Contributing Writer

FAIRFIELD — Brandon Murphy returned to the Fairfield lineup for Tuesday night’s Greater Miami Conference boys basketball game against Lakota East, but it was the Indians’ balance that paid off.

Senior Keon Benjamin maintained his recent hot hand, scoring a game-high 17 points, but no other Fairfield player carded more than eight as the Indians eased to a 60-41 win over the visiting Thunderhawks.

Murphy, who missed Fairfield’s last two games while serving a suspension after drawing a technical foul, and classmates James Turner and Kyle Smith each scored eight points for Fairfield, which has won five of its last six games.

“We showed we can all step up and hit shots at different times,” Turner said.

Coach Tim Austing agreed.

“It makes us really hard to prepare for,” he said.

The Indians (13-3, 7-3 GMC) have reached 13 wins and seven conference wins for the first time since the 2007-2008 team finished 14-6 and 9-5, according to the conference website.

Fairfield, which went into the game tied with Lakota West and Princeton for third place in the GMC, is scheduled to host Colerain in a GMC game Friday.

Lakota East (5-11, 2-8 GMC), which started three freshman, has lost six straight going into its GMC game Friday at Hamilton. The Indians feasted on the the Thunderhawks’ youth, outscoring Lthem 14-2 on points off turnovers in the second half.

“There were some physical situations that occurred during the game that hurt us,” said Thunderhawks’ coach Wally Vickers, who saw his team outrebound Fairfield, 24-19. “We played well in spurts. You’re going to get that with young kids at this level.”

Junior Robbie Harpring led Lakota East with 16 points.

Benjamin, who’d scored a combined 44 points in Fairfield’s previous two games and was averaging 9.8 for the season, scored the Indians’ first 10 to lead them to a 13-12 lead going into the second quarter.

They widened it to 26-18 by halftime, helped a five-point possession resulting from an East intentional foul. Smith sank both free throws before Jeff Woods connected on a 3-pointer with 1:14 left in the half.

“We showed we can all step up and hit different shots at different times.”

James Turner

Fairfield basketball player

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