BOUNCE: In time, can Fairfield become the Jay County of the NECC?

Yeah, it kind of seems like a weird thing to ask, doesn’t it? Compare a burgeoning dynasty in one conference to a long standing one in another.

But the way that Fairfield has started to take care of business feels awfully reminiscent of what Jay County has done in the ACAC and that goes for the boys and the girls sides. The boys stay very competitive, sometimes overpoweringly so. And the girls are just dominant, though Fairfield has more blips on their radar than you want to be a Jay County just yet. That is what the Patriots have done to the ACAC and that is exactly what Fairfield is on the verge doing in the NECC after capturing the boys conference tournament title on Monday, with the girls reaching the finals.

Jay County girls have been the benchmark in not only Northeast Indiana, but the state, in how to control your conference. Since the Patriots joined the ACAC in the 2014-2015 season, they have lost just four times to ACAC schools, twice in the regular season and twice in the ACAC Tournament.

Nobody other than Woodlan and South Adams have ever beaten Jay County as an ACAC school. With an overall record of 82-4 against ACAC teams in their time in the conference, Jay County has not lost to another conference school since a January 14, 2020 loss to Woodlan in the tournament; their last regular season ACAC loss was November 29, 2019 to that same Woodlan team.

Fairfield doesn’t have that kind of dominant streak, but they are showing how well they can work toward something similar. Prior to Monday’s NECC Tournament title loss, the Falcons had not lost to a NECC opponent since a January 11, 2022 tournament game against Eastside; their last regular season NECC loss is still January 4 of that same year to Garrett. Meaning that in that two year span, the Falcons had won 30 straight against the NECC prior to Monday’s loss, a 23-0 mark in the regular season against the conference since that last loss and a regional round win over Eastside in 2022.

Even on Tuesday, in what felt like a trap game after Monday’s title game letdown, Fairfield fought hard to get the job done, beat Central Noble and maintain their edge towards a NECC Regular Season title.

If that doesn’t feel like a young Jay County, what does?

Fairfield girls too have been able to maintain their success after graduating arguably the single best player in program history. Jay County did it with the loss of Renna Schwieterman after last season and still are cruising in the conference this year by committee. And Fairfield, well they lost Brea Garber and are coming off a state title year where more than just Garber was lost to graduation, yet they are 18-3 overall. Both schools are also operating under a new coach who was around the program in the past, showing a seamless transition where it matters who is on the sideline sure, but the tradition of winning may matter more.

Sustaining success with player and coach turnover is the mark of a program that’s whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Kaylee Dillon has been the most vaunted holdover from the championship team, but Eva Herbert has broken out to have one of the best single seasons in all of the NECC. And this Fairfield girls team doesn’t even need her to be the best because their depth is built for big moments. Madison Jones and Macy Worthman have both had their own big moments throughout the season, including in last week’s NECC Tournament.

On the boys side, things were built up for this season. The Class of 2024 have been a benchmark for coach Derek Hinen since he took over the program in 2021, coming off a two win season for the program when the current group of seniors were freshmen. His first year in charge, the Falcons won 15 games and last year they were a very tough out despite winning just eight contests. Neither time did they win a first round NECC Tournament game or string together more than six straight wins. They’ve done both this season with Monday’s title win being their eighth win in a row: five against the NECC, one over a NIC foe and two wins over SAC schools.

And while Fairfield doesn’t play SAC schools very much ever, they had lost their last three to the SAC coming into this season.

For Hinen, it was an ability to mold this group in his image, to play just how he wanted to coach and to play a lot like how he played. Seniors Noah Mast, Tyson Frey, Mitchell Miller, Carson Smith and Alex Hofer have become massive cogs in a machine like appearance for the Falcons. The seniors, along with the underclassmen, function as one. They make the right play, they take the time to break down defenses and they move with stunning purpose.

Their dismantling of the NECC all week, winning three games in three days before a two day break prior to the title game, was never unimpressive. Wednesday’s win over a Fremont team that can get really hot shooting the ball was smothering for the first half and it allowed the Falcons to build a lead that would be insurmountable no matter how good Fremont was in the second half. The Eagles actually won the second half of that game by a single point, but the 23-8 advantage Fairfield built, including a 21-0 start, negated a second half run from the feisty Eagles. Systematically, Fairfield picked them apart with distinct offensive gameplay; basically the same way the Falcons did so to North Side just before the new year in an eye opening experience. Thursday was more of the same; Westview held pace through a lot of the game, but Fairfield’s ability to start quick and maintain means that once teams are down, it is just hard to catch back up.

What the future of Fairfield holds is still in question. Can the girls side maintain as coach Kyle Hartman continues to push excellence? With some rebuilding to happen next season, will Hinen and the boys team be able to sustain success in the same way the girls side has?

We don’t know all of that. But what we do know right now is that Fairfield is, from both sides, the best basketball school in Northeast Indiana. Debate it if you want, but no other school is currently 17-1 against their own conference this season.

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