After losing four of five starters and seven seniors from the team that made a surprising run to last season’s Division I state semifinals, Fairfield was expected to struggle through a rebuilding phase this season.

Instead, this year’s crop of Indians have picked up right where last year’s left off. They opened the season with a five-game winning streak, giving them 11 wins in their last 12 games over two seasons, before losing to Middletown, 65-59, last Friday in a Greater Miami Conference game.

Fairfield takes records of 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the GMC into Friday’s 7:30 p.m. conference home game against Lakota West. The Firebirds (4-2, 3-1) and Indians are among four teams tied for second in the GMC, all one game behind 9-0 and 4-0 Lakota East.

Junior Herman Brunis has been setting the pace for Fairfield. The 6-foot guard, who already has matched the total of six games he played last season, is averaging 18.0 points per game after scoring a season-low 13 in Friday’s loss to the Middies. He scored a career-high 23 in a 77-72 win at Sycamore on December 14. Lakota West lost, 61-46, at home to the Aviators on Dec. 18.

Brunis also leads Fairfield with an average of 7.0 rebounds per game.

Classmate Tim Fleming, Fairfield’s only returning starter, also is contributing. Fleming, another 6-foot guard, leads the Indians with averages of 4.0 assists and 3.2 steals per game, sparking a defense that ranks second in the 10-team GMC by allowing an average of only 49.8 points per game. At 10.8 points per game, Fleming is the only other player averaging in double figures in scoring.

The Firebirds are coming off a 68-56 win over Princeton on Dec. 21 that snapped a brief two-game losing streak. Senior Monty Boykins leads Lakota West with averages of 18.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Injured guard Tyler Williams (16.0) and guard Ali Barnes (13.0) also average double figures for the Firebirds.