Joshua Tyson scored a team-high 20 points, LJ Green added 17 and the Lakota West Firebirds ran away with a 70-47 victory over the Fairmont Firebirds at the 22nd Annual The Beacon Orthopaedics Flyin’ to the Hoop Invitational on Monday night at Trent Arena.
“We’re super connected right now,” Lakota West coach Kelven Moss said. “That makes a difference. These guys are enjoying playing with each other and want to play for each other. I’m enjoying it.
“Our practices have been amazing the last two weeks. The last few games they’ve just been locked in. They know what’s at stake. They’re just ready to attack it. We’re always ready to compete — one game at a time.”
Lakota West (11-3) has won four in a row and avenged last season’s 57-43 loss against Fairmont on Jan. 16, 2023 at Flyin’ to the Hoop.
Fairmont (5-7) has lost its last two games, including a 54-46 contest at Wayne on Thursday.
Fairmont went exactly a month without playing inside Trent Arena following a 58-50 loss to Alter on Dec. 20.
“I think we’re at a crossroads right now to be quite honest — including myself, our coaching staff, our players,” Fairmont coach Kenny Molz said. “We’ve got to do some inner soul searching with just who we are and accepting roles.
“I feel like some of us are worried about the wrong things right now. We’ve got to get back to playing unselfish basketball for each other and buying into the game plan — understanding what we do philosophy-wise, culture-wise. It’s one of those things where until that happens, it’s going to be at best an up and down rest of the second half of the season.”
Fairmont senior Evan Gentile had a career-high 27 points — shooting 11 of 23 from the floor — and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.
Lakota West moved out to a 16-11 lead after one quarter and outscored Fairmont 22-6 in the second to separate things. The Fairmont Firebirds weren’t able to chip away at the deficit.
“Matching the same intensity or surpassing it. We just didn’t do that,” Molz said. “Effort-wise, after the first quarter, I thought we lost all of our energy and competitiveness — which is disappointing. I knew that yelling and screaming wasn’t going to do anything at that point.”
For Lakota West, it was “ball movement, body movement,” Moss said. “We’re shooting the ball pretty well right now. The last few games our percentage has been pretty high.”
Isaiah Meade-Moss scored 15 points for Lakota West, which has shot 58% or better from the floor in their last four wins.
“I still think we’ve got another level to get to,” Moss said. “I think we’re a tough team to defend when we’re clicking because we’ve got so many offensive pieces that we can go to.”
Both teams get back to action Friday night. Lakota West hosts Greater Miami Conference and crosstown rival Lakota East, while Fairmont welcomes Springboro.
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