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Fairfield 8th-Grade Basketball Team Riding High

FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Dwight Vaughn has been coaching the players on the eighth-grade Fairfield Police Athletic League for several years. Although the team has been a consistent winner, the squad has really taken flight this year in the Fairfield County Basketball League.

Fairfield handed Stamford its first league loss Saturday, 57-40. Fairfield also defeated Norwalk, 57-53, and Easton, 97-48, in a busy weekend of basketball. Fairfield is 11-4 overall and 4-0 in its division in the league.

“These guys have really stepped it up to the next level,’’ Vaughn said. “You can tell who really wants to play basketball. They’ll be playing high school basketball next year, and they’ve really improved their skills over the years.”

That was evident in Saturday’s win over Stamford. Giacomo Brancato scored 18 points to lead Fairfield, while Chris Howell added eight. Nine players scored for Fairfield, which also did a nice job defensively against a strong Stamford team.

“That’s what we’ve been telling them,’’ Vaughn said. “Defense is the most important thing at this level. They’re really starting to focus on that.”

Mason Rush, Hunter Rempe, Paul Nicholson, Conor Gallagher, Mark Schwartz, Jared Collier, Will Keresey, Riley Larson, Mark Schwartz and Chris Smaldone round out the Fairfield team. It led 26-20 at halftime before Brancato, who scored 13 in the second half, led a late surge that helped Fairfield pull away.

Two of Fairfield's losses came in a November tournament to West Haven, including a two-point setback after losing by 22 in their initial meeting. Fairfield also has nonleague losses to New Canaan and Waterbury. Its last loss, however, was Dec. 9. The team brings a seven-game winning streak into Saturday’s game against Ansonia/Seymour. The game Fairfield has circled on the calendar is a Feb.  11 meeting against Madison (15-4), which is 5-0 in the league.

“These guys have come along a lot further than I expected,’’ Vaughn said. “They’re starting to realize what they can do, but that they have do it by working hard.”

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