Cincinnati Elder tops Fairmont in finals
That Fairmont would return to the Division I district finals this year didn’t seem likely. The Firebirds lost the two best players — Anthony Johnson and Dasan Doucet — off last year’s district champion.
But inside the Fairmont culture that Kenny Molz started nurturing four years ago, the guys who came back and others who moved up from junior varsity had a different view.
“We always believed we were good enough to get to a district and maybe go beyond,” Molz said.
The belief happened. But the maybe didn’t. The Firebirds started well Saturday at U.D. Arena, but Cincinnati Elder finished even better to claim a 53-44 victory to claim their second district title in three years.
“Let’s work our tails off, live in the moment, go one possession at a time,” Molz said was the goal. “We knew this year’s schedule was tougher than last year’s, and we knew there would be some ups and downs. It wouldn’t be a straight line like it was last year to get to this point.”
Last year the Firebirds finished 22-4, won a district final by 17 points and pushed state runner-up Centerville to the final seconds in a twopoint loss in the regional final. This year the Firebirds finished 13-13, and Saturday was the final game for Molz’s first four-year group.
“I hit me like a ton of bricks at the end,” Molz said. “I love this group very much. They’re going to be super successful. They’re way better kids than they are basketball players.”
Cadyn Hower, one of five seniors, led Fairmont with 13 points. Sophomores Evan Gentile had 11 and Brock Baker 10.
“Last year these [seniors] were the blue-collar guys, the guys that did the little things,” Molz said. “You need those guys to be successful. And I’m hoping our younger guys see this and how it’s done.”
The Firebirds led 14-9 after the first quarter and 17-9 in the second on Baker’s second 3-pointer. Elder (21-4) then started to take advantage of the inside mismatch of 6-foot-8 Carson Browne.
Browne scored twice before halftime to spark a run that left Fairmont up 21-20. Then he got a dunk halfway through the third to start a 10-3 run for a 32-28 Elder lead at the end of three. Browne scored four early points in the fourth and the Firebirds never got back in the lead.
“We did a great job first half with the scouting report on personnel,” Molz said. “We got away from that in the second.”
Browne scored a gamehigh 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Molz said his team did a good job on him in the first half stopping him from getting to the basket when he slipped screens. That didn’t happen in the second half, and the Panthers got going.
“Elder I gotta give them credit,” Molz said. “They do all the intangibles great. It’s nothing that they do with the ball in their hands to get “oohs” and “aahs.” They’re a blue-collar, hard-nosed team.”
The other downfall for the Firebirds was being out-rebounded 25-13.