The crowd was hyped for the Fairfield Central boys basketball team Friday night and the stage was set.

Playing in front of an electrified audience, the Griffins opened region play Friday against their arch rivals, the Chester Cyclones.

The Griffin’s Anthony Craig stole the spotlight with another monster performance, scoring a season-high 30 points as FC pulled away in the third quarter to knock off the Cyclones 79-66.

The Cyclones jumped out to an early 6-point advantage in the first, holding the Griffs potent offense to just three points in the first five minutes. FC battled back and took a 13-12 lead after one on a buzzer-beating lay-up by Craig.

“We did exactly what we wanted to do. We played our style of defense and a controlled style on offense. We wanted to play under control,” said Grffins head coach Miguel Burns.

The two teams battled hard in the second period, exchanging leads three times before Fairfield took the lead for good with 1:05 to play before the half. FC led 40-33 at the break.

The Cyclones were trying to save face in the second half behind the 3-point shooting from their guard Darren Williams, who scored a team-high 29 points for the Cyclones.

Chester, however, had no answer for Craig as he continued to weave through the Cyclones defense and give Fairfield Central their 10th win on the season. The Griffins were clinging to a 56-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was more like the Craig/ Williams’ show as the two battled back and forth, giving the packed gymnasium a reason to stay out of their seats for the majority of the period.

The two combined to score 26 points in the final period. In the end it was Craig and the Griffins who got the last laugh.

“When it’s a guard-type game like this one was tonight, I feel confident that my guards will come out on top. We didn’t have any special plans for (Williams). We didn’t just want to concentrate on him,” Burns said. “Our main thing was to play solid defense. If we play good defense then the game will take care of itself.”

Stand-out senior Mikel Trapp dropped in 13 points while NyJahwan McKinstry added 8. Senior Shaquille Crumpton assisted, scoring 9 points in the win.

The Griffins improve to 10-4 on the season and are 1-0 in the region.