Kettering Fairmont Firebirds Boys’ varsity basketball team loses first game and goes 2-1 during the first week of Christmas break

Kettering, Ohio – When the final bell rang dismissing Kettering Fairmont High School students for the day Friday, December 17, 2021, it was the beginning of the school’s Christmas break. Students are out of classes until Monday, January 3, 2022. But it isn’t a complete break for Kettering Fairmont athletes as most winter sports have games and tournaments taking place over the holiday break. The first week of the Christmas break saw the Boys’ varsity basketball team play three games.

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Kettering v. Miamisburg:

The Firebirds’ first contest was just hours after that final bell dismissing classes when they took on the Miamisburg Vikings.

The Firebirds and Vikings played a tight first half. Fairmont took early control outscoring Miamisburg 15-13 in the first quarter. But in the second quarter, the Vikings fought back outscoring Fairmont 10-7. With the score 23-22, the Vikings held a slim 1 point lead at the half.

But the Firebirds controlled the floor and took control of the game in the second half. In the 3rd quarter, the Firebirds outscored the Vikings by 14 points, 20-6. The Firebirds added another 8 points to their 42-29 lead in the 4th quarter outscoring the Vikings 18-10. The 60-39 victory took Fairmont to 6-0 on the season and dropped the Vikings to 3-4.

Kettering had three players score in double digits on the night. Senior Forward #2 Dasan Doucet and Senior Guard #12 Anthony Johnson tied as the game’s leading scorers with 17 points on the night.

Doucet was 6 for 12 from the floor and 1 of 3 from 3-point range. Doucet also hit 4 of 5 free throws. Doucet also contributed 5 rebounds, 3 defensive and 2 offensive, 2 assists, and 1 block. Doucet committed 1 personal foul and had 4 turnovers.

Johnson was 5 for 11 from the field and 4 of 4 from 3 point range. Johnson also converted 3 of 3 from the free-throw line. Johnson also nabbed 11 rebounds, 7 defensive and 4 offensive, and contributed 3 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block. Johnson committed 2 personal fouls and made 1 turnover.

Junior Guard #11 Tyler Gentile also made double figures in scoring, coming off the bench to contribute 10 points. Gentile was 3 of 9 from the field making 2 of 6 3-point attempts. He also hit 2 of 3 free-throw attempts. Gentile had 3 rebounds, 2 offensive and 1 defensive, 3 assists, and 1 steal. He also committed one personal foul.

The Firebirds also received scoring contributions from 4 other players. Starters Junior Guard #1 Cadyn Hower scored 6 points, and Junior Forward #10 Eli Sherwood contributed 5 points. Coming off the bench, Junior Forward #14 Jamison Rountree added 3 points and Junior Guard #3 Logan Adams made 2 points.

The Firebirds shot 34.5% (19 for 55) from the field and 38.5% (10 of 26) from 3-point range. Kettering also shot 80.0% (12 of 15) from the free-throw line. The Firebirds nabbed a total of 32 rebounds, 17 offensive and 15 defensive. As a team, Fairmont had 14 assists, 14 steals, 1 block, 14 personal fouls, and 10 turnovers.

The Viking’s leading scorer was Senior Guard #2 Sam Boardwine. Boardwine scored 13 points hitting 4 of 7 from the field and 5 of 7 from the free-throw line. He had 7 rebounds, 6 defensive and 1 offensive, 2 steals, and 1 assist. Boardwine also committed 3 turnovers and 2 personal fouls.

The Vikings’ #0 Jackson McGohan was only a single point behind Boardwine scoring 12 points on the night. McGohan was 4 for 8 from the floor and missed his sole 3-point attempt. He hit 4 of 6 free throws. McGohan added 4 rebounds, 3 defensive and 1 offensive, 2 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal. He committed 3 personal fouls and turned the ball over 2 times.

Vikings’ starters Senior Forward #12 Anthony Coppock contributed 8 points, and Junior Forward #33 Peyton Taulbee scored 2 points. Junior Guard #4 Drew Copsey and Junior Guard #13 Gavin Morningstar came off the bench to contribute 2 points each.

Miamisburg shot 45.5% 15 of 33 from the floor and were 0 for 7 from 3-point range. The Vikings were 56.3% from the free-throw line. The Vikings also had 18 rebounds, 15 defensive and 3 offensive, 8 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks. Miamisburg also committed 15 personal fouls and turned the ball over 17 times.

Fairmont v. Centerville:

On Monday, December 21, 2021, Kettering traveled to Centerville to take on the Elks. The Elks and Firebirds played a tight game. The two teams played to an 11-11 tie in the first quarter. Then Centerville managed to outscore Fairmont 9-7 in the second quarter to take a slim 20-18 halftime lead. But Centerville outplayed the Firebirds in the second half. In the 3rd
quarter, the Elks expanded their lead by outscoring Kettering 15-8. This gave Centerville a 35-26 lead going into the final period. The Elks then outscored the Firebirds 13-10 in the final quarter to hand the Firebirds their first loss of the season by a score of 48-36. The Firebirds dropped to 6-1 while the Elks went to 5-0.

Centerville’s Senior Guard #12 Atom House was the games leading scorer with 16 points. House was 5 of 12 from the field hitting 3 of 8 3-point attempts. He was also 3 of 3 from the free-throw line. House had 3 assists and 2 defensive rebounds. He did not commit any personal fouls or turnovers.

Elks’ Senior Forward #24 Rich Rolf also reached double digits with 15 points. Rolf was 5 of 9 from the floor and missed his one 3-point attempt. Rolf had 3 rebounds, 2 defensive and 1 offensive, and 2 assists. Rolf also did not commit any personal fouls or turnovers.

Every player who played for Centerville against Kettering put some points on the board. The Elks received contributions from #0 Gabe Cupps – 8 points, Senior Guard #1 Quinn Hafner 3 points, Junior Forward #4 Emmanuel Deng – 2 points, Senior Forward #10 Ryan Keifer – 2 points, and Junior Guard #21 Kyle Kenney – 2 points.

The Elks shot 41.7% (15 of 36) from the floor and 26.7% (4 of 15) from 3-point range. The Elks converted 82.4% (14 of 17) from the free-throw line. Centerville also had 12 rebounds, 10 defensive and 2 offensive, 11 assists, 4 steals, and 4 blocks. They also turned the ball over 3 times but did not have any personal fouls.

The Firebirds only had one player reach double digits in scoring. Johnson put 11 points on the board against the Elks. He was 4 of 7 from the floor hitting 1 of 3 3-point attempts. Johnson was also perfect from the free-throw line hitting 2. Johnson had 2 defensive rebounds, and 1 assist. He also turned the ball over twice and had 3 personal fouls.

The remainder of Fairmont’s scoring came from Doucet – 9 points, Rountree – 7 points, Junior Guard #22 Aden Marrero – points, and Hower, Sherwood, and Gentile with 2 points each.

As a team, the Firebirds shot 51.9% (14 of 27) from the floor hitting 18.2% (2 of 11) from 3-point range. They were also a perfect 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Fairmont also managed 15 rebounds, 13 defensive and 2 offensive, 9 assists, and 2 steals. Kettering also had 14 turnovers and 13 personal fouls.

Fairmont v. Troy:

Following their first loss of the season, the Firebirds looked to rebound with their December 23, 2021 matchup at home against the Troy Indians. The Firebirds took control early and didn’t look back. They outscored the Indians by 10 points, 19-9, in the 1st quarter. Then in the 2nd
quarter, the Firebirds added another 11 points to their lead by outscoring the Indians 17-6. This gave Kettering a massive 21 point lead (36-15) at halftime. The Indians tried to curtail Kettering’s lead in the 3rd quarter, but the Firebirds’ outscored them 15-11, making the score 51-26. With a 25 point lead entering the 4th
quarter, the Firebirds again outscored the Indians by 9 points, 17-8, to secure a 34 point victory, 68-34. The rebound win brought the Firebirds to a 7-1 season record.

Kettering saw three players reach double digits against Troy. Doucet was the team’s leading scorer with 24 points. Doucet hit 10 of 15 from the floor and 1 of 2 from beyond the 3-point line. He also made 3 of 4 free-throw attempts. Doucet grabbed up 10 rebounds, 6 defensive and 4 offensive, had 4 assists, made 3 steals, and had 1 block. Doucet also committed 2 personal fouls and turned over the ball once.

Johnson was Kettering’s second highest scorer with 13 points. He shot 6 of 11 from the field and 1 of 4 from 3-point range. Johnson also had 9 rebounds, 6 defensive and 3 offensive, 3 assists, and 3 steals. Johnson also had 1 turnover and 1 personal foul.

Sherwood came off the bench to contribute 10 points. He was 4 of 5 from the floor hitting 2 of 3 3-point shots. Sherwood also had 4 rebounds, 3 offensive and 1 defensive, and committed 2 personal fouls.

Kettering’s remaining scoring came from Marrero – 6 points, Hicks – 4 points, Hower – 4 points, Rountree – 4 points, and Gentile – 3 points.

The Firebirds shot 50.8% (30 of 59) from the field and 25.0% (5 of 20) from 3-point range. They also made 50.0% (3 of 6) of their free-throw attempts. Kettering also hit the boards hard securing 41 rebounds, 25 defensive and 16 offensive. The Firebirds also had 14 assists, 10 steals, and 5 blocks. On the negative side, they had 15 personal fouls and turned the ball over 9 times.

Kettering Fairmont currently sits in 3rd place in the Greater Western Ohio Conference (GWOC) behind league leader Wayne and 2nd
place Centerville.