FAIRFIELD, Ohio — Fairfield senior guard Deshawne Crim couldn't wait to take the floor Friday night in front of a large crowd at Fairfield Arena.
"We got to defend that GMC title," Crim said. "Everybody was just amped up and ready to go."
Crim scored a team-high 19 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists as Fairfield defeated visiting Sycamore 64-54 Friday night. It marked the 22nd consecutive Greater Miami Conference home win for Fairfield.
"Our student section is tremendous," Fairfield coach DJ Wyrick said. "It was packed in there tonight. They really make a difference. They really give our guys energy that they feed off of. And our community really supports our team. And you see that every Tuesday and Friday night. And it's kind of something that's been built here and I hope it continues."
Fairfield (12-2, 9-0 GMC), which has won five consecutive games, had three other players who scored in double figures including senior guard Ray Coney (12 points), junior forward Mason King (11 points) and senior forward Aamir Rogers (10 points and 10 rebounds).
"All my guys helped me and supported me," Crim said. "I played rough in the first rough but other than that they got me together and I was able to finish it out."
Fairfield led 20-8 at the end of the first quarter but Sycamore wouldn't go quietly in the second half. Senior guard Austin Southerland's 3-pointer from the right corner put the Aviators within four points (51-47) before Crim's 3-pointer beat the buzzer to end the third quarter.
Southerland had a game-high 21 points including five 3-pointers. Senior guard Des Bolden added 17 points and six assists for Sycamore (9-3, 6-3 GMC).
Sycamore played without junior 6-foot-10 center Raleigh Burgess who suffered a leg injury during Thursday's practice. Burgess, who has several significant college scholarship offers, is ranked Ohio's No. 2 player overall in the 2024 class by the 247 Sports Composite.
Sycamore coach Tim Austing was emotional discussing Burgess Friday night. Austing said Burgess is the best player he's coached in 27 years in the profession.
"It's been a hard 24 hours," Austing said. "But the kids handled it well. We played hard. We did some good stuff. I told the kids two things - No. 1 that's going to be a great game no matter who we have out or who they have out. We miss Raleigh but the guys we had out there had chances and they played hard. We just came up short."
Fairfield plays Richmond Heights, the 2022 Division IV state champion, in the Beacon Orthopaedics Flyin' to the Hoop event at Kettering Fairmont at 11:30 a.m. Monday.
Sycamore plays host to St. Xavier Tuesday night.
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