02-23-05
BY JACK BULLOCK
MOUNT CARMEL - In the second semifinal game at the Mount Carmel Class A Regional, two very familiar foes met to determine Webber Township's opponent on Friday night.

Fairfield and Carmi-White County had played three previous contests this season as the two Black Diamond Conference rivals hooked up for a fourth battle.

But as had been the case in two of the previous three meetings, the Mules on this night did the things that they needed to do to win the contest.

Dressing just nine varsity players due to injury and illness, the walking wounded known as the Fairfield Mules pulled away late in the game, outlasting CWC 61-50 in the Wednesday night nightcap.

Sixteen markers from Todd West and 13 from Kenny Basnett helped extend the Mules season as they head into their second consecutive regional final.

While in foul trouble for most of the night, Coach Wade Thomas' Bulldogs couldn't hang with Fairfield in the second half as the Mules pulled away late for their 20th win on the season.

CWC finished what appeared at the beginning to be a promising season at 14-15.

Keegan Dennis topped the 'Dawgs with 14-points while Mark Healy and Tyler Choate added 12 and 10 to the total.

However a 19-of-48 performance from the field wasn't good enough on this night as they watched Fairfield take advantage of the moment to keep its season alive.

"We have had the injury bug this year and the kids hung in there and the other players sustained the season until we got healthier," said Fairfield coach Tim Pearison, who dresses just nine players due to injuries. "We had a really good effort by everyone that played tonight and I am proud of the way they stepped up in a big game."

Using a 10-2 spurt to finish the first half, Fairfield got the lead back from Carmi-White County for good.

CWC could get no closer than six points in the second half as the Mules stingy defense kept the Bulldogs from making any inroads into the Fairfield point spread.

Carmi-White County started the game out by hanging close to the Mules.
Mark Healy, the Bulldogs' 6-foot-3 junior center, hit a couple of shots on a nice move in the lane and on an offensive rebound.

Keegan Dennis also made a steal on the defensive end and his fast break resulted in a slam-dunk to cut the Fairfield early lead to just 5-4 with 5:16 to go.

But an offensive rebound by Kyle Robson and a 17-footer from Tim Ukena from the left wing with :03 to go made it 11-7 at the first horn.

The Bulldogs best run of the evening came at the beginning of the second quarter.

Two fast breaks resulted in quick points and a tie game with just barely a minute gone by in the frame.

Jake Higginson and Dennis scored on breakouts. Dennis matched his initial slam-dunk with another one-handed jam to even things at 11-all with 6:54 left.

However the Mules finished the quarter strong with a pair of Robson buckets and two 3-pointers by Ukena and Todd West to close out the half.

Robson took a West pass on a back door cut for a score to give the lead back to Fairfield at 13-11.

A 3-pointer by Higginson after a Fairfield miss gave CWC its only lead of the contest at 14-13.

Then the previously mentioned 10-2 run put the Mules in command.

Ukena and West both hit key 3-pointers sandwiched around a Robson rebound 'stick-back.'

After Carmi turned the ball over with :41 seconds to go, Fairfield held the ball for a final shot in the period.

West found himself with an opportunity from the left wing and drilled home a 3-pointer, which sent the two teams 'locker room bound' at 23-16 Fairfield.

"We got down at halftime by seven and we felt like we needed a big run to start the third quarter, but they (Fairfield) came out and got good quality shots early," said Carmi coach Wade Thomas. "Fairfield did the things that they needed to do tonight to win the game on both ends of the floor tonight.

The Bulldogs made one last stab and the Mules in the third quarter.

A Chase Kittinger basket, a Healy shot in close and a drive to the basket and finish by Dennis cut the Fairfield lead to 34-28 with 3:54 to go in the third.

However Fairfield, as they did all night, had the answers to the Bulldog questions.

Kenny Basnett got into the scoring act, hitting for seven third quarter points.

His only 3-pointer of the night coming off of a screen on the left wing extended the Fairfield advantage to 44-32 with 1:10 left.

A Kittinger 3-pointer from the top of the arc closed out the period for Carmi, however the Bulldogs faced an uphill climb heading into the final eight minutes.

Josh Braddock, who is sometimes unselfish to a fault, hit a basket to start the final quarter for the Mules.

"Josh (Braddock) grew up as a point guard and the hardest thing about coaching him is to get him to shoot the ball more," Pearison explained. "He is so unselfish sometimes it has taken me forever to convince him to take more shots."

West then hit a couple of shots in a run that 'sealed the deal' for Coach Pearison's club.

A 3-pointer and a drive to the basket made it 51-39 with 4:29 remaining.

Back-to-back 3-pointers from Choate closed the gap briefly for the Bulldogs.

When his second 'trifecta' found the mark, the scoreboard read 55-47 with 2:41 to go.

But that was a close as CWC could get as Fairfield finished off their conference rivals by hitting 4-of-6 free throws in the final 1:54.

"I told the kids today that there is no other team that practices or plays as hard as we do," added Pearison. "Good, positive things happen to teams that work hard and it paid off tonight."

Fairfield out rebounded Carmi 25-20 as each team committed eight turnovers.

But a 13-of-19 free throw accuracy and a 6-of-10 performance from behind the 3-point line was good enough for the Mules to advance.

"Our philosophy is always to not give up easy baskets," Pearison said. "We stress to the kids to get back on defense and make teams work for everything they get. Last Friday night (a Carmi 68-48 win) we didn't make Carmi work but tonight I thought Josh (Braddock) did a good job on Dennis and Tim Ukena did a good job on Choate and when you can make the other teams' best two scorers work hard you can be successful. It has been a total team effort this season."

After West and Basnett, Robson added 12 points while Braddock finished with nine.

Carmi was 5-of-10 from behind the 3-point line, but inside the arc the Bulldogs were just 14-of-38 (37 percent) which spelled the end of the CWC season.

"We got back close a couple of times but we didn't make enough shots when we needed them," added Thomas. "I think our kids played hard but didn't shoot the ball as well as we did that last couple of nights. You just got to tip your hat to Fairfield. Without question they were the better team tonight."

Fairfield must now deal with an athletic Webber team that has caused 25 opponents this season to leave the floor without a victory.

"They pose some match up problems for us but I think that we have some kids that they will have problems with also," finalized Pearison. "I tell the kids each year that the postseason is what we play for and work hard for all season."

Carmi-White County (50) - Ch. Kittinger 3 1 0-0 9, Choate 1 2 2-2 10, Higginson 1 1 0-0 5, Dennis 4 1 3-4 14, Healy 5 0 2-4 12, Jones 0 0 0-0 0, Kress 0 0 0-0 0, Cl. Kittinger 0 0 0-0 0, Pyle 0 0 0-0 0, E. Rice 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-14, 3FG-5, FT-7-10, PF-19.
Fairfield (61) - Braddock 4 0 1-3 9, West 1 4 2-3 16, Thomason 2 0 0-0 4, Basnett 3 1 4-4 13, Ukena 1 1 2-2 7, Robson 4 0 4-7 12.
2FG-15, 3FG-6, FT-13-19, PF-10.
Fouled Out - Ch. Kittinger, Choate-Carmi-White County.
Technical Fouls - None.