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Indians prove too much for Braves

Host Talawanda limited to six points in first half before falling 69-30.

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3:22 AM Saturday, December 24, 2011

By Bob Ratterman

Contributing Writer

OXFORD—If it had been a football game, Talawanda High School might not have been in such a hole at halftime, scoring only a field goal in each of the first two quarters. It was a boys basketball game, however, and Fairfield led 33-6 at halftime on its way to a 69-30 win Friday over the Braves.

Talawanda (1-4) had three points in each of the first two quarters and the Indians were on top 17-3 after one quarter.

“I think our athleticism and speed gave them problems at the start,” Fairfield coach Tim Austing said. “Tonight, they did some really good stuff on offense. They got good looks, but we were a little quicker. If they had made some shots early it might have been different, but they would not fall.”

Fairfield (6-1) was coming off a disappointing 54-52 loss to Mason three nights earlier. Austing said that may have been at the back of his players’ minds.

“Any loss is disappointing but the way we lost (to Mason) made the kids hungry. They just wanted to play again before Christmas,” Austing said.

The Indians were led by senior Jeff Woods, who had 14 points including 2-of-3 from behind the 3-point arc. Senior Brandon Murphy gave Fairfield 11 points and Keon Benjamin was also in double figures with 10, also 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.

James Turner was Fairfield’s leading rebounder with six.

Talawanda’s Austin Davidson was the game’s leading scorer with 16 points, giving him more than half of Talawanda’s points. The junior hit two of his three shots from behind the arc, and had nine of his points in the fourth quarter. Talawanda equaled the Indians at 19 points each for the quarter.

Talawanda coach Bobby Lipps said he can see why the Indians are consistently voted among the top teams in the Cincinnati area.

“They were good on offense, good on defense and they shot the ball well,” Lipps said. “We were 11-of-41 from the field. We had wide-open shots and could not knock ’em down. I don’t think there was a really bad shot we took.”

Talawanda, which will host Monroe on Tuesday for its next game, could not take advantage of any good looks and just kept falling farther behind.

“I thought we came out and made shots early. That got the game going faster up and down,” Austing said. “We got it more the way we like it.”

Fairfield does not play again until next year. The Indians return to the Greater Miami Conference on Jan. 3 at Princeton.

Focus on boys basketball Fairfield at Talawanda

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