Middletown High School honored the greatest basketball player and coach in school history prior to Friday night’s season finale against rival Hamilton, and the current Middies put on a display fitting of both Jerry Lucas and the late Paul Walker.

With a newly hung banner honoring Walker and his 695 wins and five state titles hovering over the floor renamed Jerry Lucas Court for the school’s all-time leading scorer, Lucas watched from the front row as Middletown beat Big Blue 89-66.

The win, coupled with Sycamore’s loss at Princeton, enabled the Middies to earn a share of their second consecutive Greater Miami Conference championship, splitting it four ways with the Aviators, Lakota West and Fairfield.

“It’s fabulous for our kids because we have great kids, and the community has shown great support,” Middletown coach Josh Andrews said. “A lot of great players, great teams and great coaches have come through here and didn’t get a chance to hang that banner. That’s two years in a row this group of guys has been able to do it.”

Energized by the pregame festivities, Middletown (12-10 overall, 9-5 GMC) raced out to a 14-4 lead four minutes into the game, but Big Blue (8-14, 4-10 GMC) managed to stay close until midway through the third quarter when the Middies went on an 11-0 run.

“We were so pumped to start the game,” said senior Mark Fayne, who scored 20 points and grabbed five rebounds in his final game on the home floor. “We were focused, but we were definitely into it. Everybody just wanted to have fun.”

Senior Jalin Marshall added 14 points, and junior Vincent Edwards led the team with 21 while grabbing a game-high 17 rebounds.

The Middies’ final point total of 89 was the program’s highest since a 90-48 win against Hamilton on Feb. 17, 2009, marking a positive way for Fayne, Marshall and fellow seniors Heshimu Jones (five points), Denarius Dean (four points) and Ryan Smith (three points) to wrap their Miller Gym careers.

Hamilton junior Christian Jones led all players with 22 points, while sophomore Jamil Daniels added 13 to go along with a team-high nine rebounds.

Seeded 12th in the Division I sectional tournament, Middletown will play No. 25 Kings at 7 p.m. Friday at Oak Hills.