The Indians grabbed the lead early in the second half and never gave it up to claim a 64-55 win in the Division I regional semifinals Wednesday at the Cintas Center on the Xavier University campus.
FHS seniors Kyle Smith and Jeff Woods took over when senior teammate Brandon Murphy got into foul trouble. Smith was lethal from outside as he hit three of six 3-point shots and finished with 14 points. Woods was just as deadly from inside, scoring a game-high 20 points with several drives through traffic for inside scores. Teammate Tim Fleming also finished in double-figures, scoring 10 points.
Murphy had four fouls midway through the third quarter.
“(Woods and Smith) both have just been fantastic the whole tournament run,” FHS coach Tim Austing said. “Kyle’s really good at coming off screens and shooting from distance, and Jeff’s really good at finding creases in the defense, and he understands how to get fouled and how to take care of the ball at the end of the game.”
Woods said there was never any doubt that Fairfield had what it took to win — with or without their big man in the lineup.
“We’re a pretty deep team, so knowing that, we knew that no matter who was in the game, we could win this,” said Woods, who also led the team by hitting eight of nine free-throw attempts in the second half. He hit 13 of 14 for the game.
The Tigers (18-7) had leads of 9-3, 11-6 and 22-17 in the first half, but Fairfield found a way to battle back each time.
The Indians (20-5) reeled off a 4-0 run to tie things up 26-all at halftime.
They went on a 7-3 run to start the second half to grab the lead for good.
“I thought those were the two biggest points in the game for us,” Austing said. “Even our kids felt like we were losing at halftime, and I had to remind them that it was tied at 26.
“And then when we went on that little minirun in the second half, I thought that changed the game’s whole momentum. Those two minutes before the half, and two minutes after changed the whole outlook of the game.”
Kendall Beamon led Withrow with 13 points, Devin Williams had 12 and Tyler Jordan with 10.
Fairfield advances to face Greater Miami Conference foe Middletown in the regional finals at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Cintas Center. The winner will be the first GMC team to go to the state final four since Hamilton in 2004.
“This shows how great our league is,” Woods said. “We have one of the most talented leagues in the state, and this shows it.”
Withrow coach Ty Gibert was talking to his team long after the game and was unavailable for comment.
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