Middletown, Ohio — Former Fenwick head coach Kelven Moss made his Middletown debut on Tuesday night’s matchup against Fairmont. A big night from Anthony Johnson and Dasan Doucet lifted Fairmont to the 55-44 victory over Middletown.
Middletown head coach Kelven Moss
Fairmont returns a majority of its production from last season as the star duo of Anthony Johnson and Dasan Doucet will be who the Firebirds primarily rely on for their scoring. Malachi Parker, their third leading scorer from a year ago, is now a Middie and would be playing on the other team for Tuesday’s game. Middletown also picked up Jayden Bennett who moved in from Franklin. Bennett is a solid guard who played his role on Franklin’s successful run last year.
Fairmont senior Anthony Johnson
Middletown struck first but Anthony Johnson would respond with a deep three. Baskets from Dasan Doucet and Johnson helped Fairmont control an 11-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The duo took over to begin the second quarter. Doucet drove the cup and scored to begin the quarter. Then on the following possession, he kicked it out to Johnson for a three on the wing. Johnson then fed the ball to Doucet at the top of the key for a big three to give the Firebirds a 19-7 lead.
Fairmont senior Dasan Doucet
Following another three from Doucet and another layup from Johnson, Fairmont went into the locker rooms with a 26-15 lead at the half.
The usually reserved Johnson showed some emotion after draining his second three pointer of the third quarter. Then after Jayden Bennett helped Middletown cut the deficit to single digits, Eli Sherwood connected on an and-one three from the corner. This three ignited the Firebirds bench and gave Fairmont back a 38-26 lead.
Fairmont senior Anthony Johnson
Dasan Doucet would close out the quarter with a layup as Fairmont extended their lead to 40-29 at the conclusion of the third quarter.
Middletown was able to draw within single digits of Fairmont multiple times in the fourth quarter, but each time it seemed as if the Middies were going to go on a run, the Firebirds responded. Baskets from Gentile and Sherwood and then a euro-step from Johnson sealed the 55-44 win.
Anthony Johnson finished with a game high 22 points as he went 7/11 from the field. Johnson added on 11 rebounds for the double double. Dasan Doucet had 18 points for Fairmont with 7 rebounds and 5 assists as the duo combined for 40 points in the win.
Fairmont senior Dasan Doucet and Middletown senior Malachi Parker
Middletown was led by Izaiah Day who had 13 points, Jayden Bennett who finished with 9 and the former Firebird Malachi Parker who had 7 points.
Fairmont will improve to 2-0 and will open up GWOC play on Friday when they host Northmont at Trent Arena. That game will tip at 8 pm and should be an interesting matchup against the former Middletown head coach Darnell Hoskins.