Fairfield’s Dequan Weldon (1) lays in two for the Griffins. (Photo/Joe Seibles)
WINNSBORO – The Fairfield Central basketball teams closed out their regular seasons Monday night with both the boys and girls trouncing the Knights from North Central, locking in their playoff seeds in Class 2A.
The Lady Griffins, who humiliated North Central 56-6 Monday, will sit at the top of the 2A upper state bracket. As the number 1 seed, Fairfield is slated to host Indian Land Thursday night (Feb. 20) at 6.
“Winning the region for the first time in history really relieves a lot of pressure,” Lady Griffins head coach Cedrick Simpson said. “Now we can go into the playoffs and go after a state title. Right now, we’re just enjoying the moment.”
Simpson said his girls are healthy and well-rested after the snow days disrupted their normal scheduling and they are focused first on an Indian Land team that finished in fourth place in Region IV. In spite of the Lady Warriors’ 8-12 overall record, Simpson said he is not looking ahead to Saturday’s potential second round game (also at home, with a tip time of 7 p.m.).
“Anything can happen at any time,” Simpson said. “You just get one game. You’ve got to play your best every night.”
The boys, meanwhile, showed North Central the door Monday with a 96-47 drubbing and hold the number 2 seed in the upper state bracket. The Griffins host Chesterfield Thursday night following the girls’ matchup. The Golden Rams finished third in Region IV and bring a 10-13 overall record into Winnsboro.
“A two-seed isn’t bad at all,” Griffins head coach Devin Liferidge said. “(Chesterfield) is a pretty feasible matchup that we should be able to control fairly well.”
Barring an upset by the Rams, the Griffins will likely be on the road for round two at Indian Land Saturday for a 7 p.m. tip. If the brackets play out as predicted, the Griffins are on target for a round three showdown against region rivals Keenan on Feb. 26. It would be their third attempt at bringing down the heavily favored Raiders this season.
“Everybody is healthy,” Liferidge said. “We’ve won 13 of our last 15 games. We’re hitting our stride at just the right time. I feel like we’re rolling.”
Of those last 15 games, the two losses were at the hands of Keenan, making a round three rematch even more ominous.
