Thomas Wins Battle of Worthington

Here is the This Week Worthington's article describing TWHS' 54-43 victory over Worthington Kilbourne this past Saturday. I was able to catch the game and it really was a great atmosphere. Both teams played hard and the student sections were loud and a lot of fun. A good night for Worthington Basketball.

There was an additional tie in as fellow alum Scott Baxter '87 is on Tom Souder's coaching staff at Kilbourne.

http://www.thisweeknews.com/?sec=home&story=sites/twn/content/pool/basketball07/boys/gameoftheweek/bgame_010708.html&tab=tab2


Boys Game of the Week
Thomas maintains Kilbourne mastery

Thomas 54, Kilbourne 43Monday January 7, 2008
By PATRICK DOLAN ThisWeek Staff Writer


For the second year in a row, the Thomas Worthington High School boys basketball team owns bragging rights in the community.

Approximately 1,500 people packed the gymnasium at Thomas last Saturday and watched the Cardinals defeat Worthington Kilbourne 54-43 in a non-league contest to improve to 9-3 overall. Kilbourne dropped to 3-5.

The contest marked the third meeting between the programs since Kilbourne opened in the fall of 1991. Thomas also prevailed in the first two matchups, 54-30 in the first round of the Division I district tournament in 1993 and 49-25 last season.

"Winning it two years in a row, it's great, it's really nice," Cardinals guard Taylor Hobbs said.
"It's bragging rights," Thomas forward Justin Hallowell said. "It's a big win."

Early, it appeared as though the game would follow the same course as last year's contest, in which Thomas built a double-digit lead in the first half and never seriously was challenged in the second half. But Kilbourne did not go quietly this time.

The Cardinals took a 13-6 lead in the first quarter and stretched it to 18-6 on a 3-pointer by Hobbs with 6 minutes, 7 seconds left in the second quarter. But after going 1-for-10 from the field in the first quarter, the Wolves started hitting shots and were able to trim their deficit to 23-22 by halftime.

"I thought we did a great job of settling down in the second quarter," Wolves coach Tom Souder said.

Kilbourne went ahead 27-26, marking its first lead of the game, on a 3-pointer by guard Bryant Bechtel with 2:43 left in the third quarter. The Wolves' biggest lead was three points and they held a 31-30 advantage after guard Chris Michalski hit a shot in the lane as the buzzer sounded to end the quarter.

"I think things were a little bit too easy at the beginning of the game," Cardinals coach Bob Miller said. "We got out to a sizable lead and then they started pecking away. They didn't panic and kept pecking away and all of a sudden they're winning the ballgame."

Thomas retook the lead seven seconds into the fourth quarter on two free throws by guard Eric Easley. Then, with the Cardinals holding a two-point lead, Hobbs made a 3-pointer with 6:37 left to make it 38-33.

That score was followed by a three-point play by Cardinals backup center Chris Nocar, who drew a foul as he scored from underneath the basket. He converted the ensuing free throw with 5:01 left to give the Cardinals a 41-33 lead. The Wolves got no closer than five points for the remainder of the game.

"I thought that was a big play," Miller said of Nocar's three-point play.

Thomas converted 23 of 30 free throws for the game, including 10 of 15 in the fourth quarter. "We were real proud of our guys in the fourth quarter," Miller said. "I thought our kids played with a lot of poise in the fourth quarter. We struggled in the middle two quarters, but in the fourth quarter we scored 24 points and shot well from the foul line. They were in foul trouble and we were able to build our lead with free throws."

The Wolves realize they let an opportunity to capture their first win over the Cardinals slip away. "The fourth quarter just killed us," Wolves center Goran Lokas said. "Once we got down (in the fourth quarter), it was kind of over."

Hallowell led the Cardinals with 18 points and 10 rebounds and added six assists. Hobbs had 16 points and seven rebounds and Easley had 11 points and seven assists.

"We didn't want Taylor to have a big night and we didn't want Justin to have a big night," Souder said.

Guard Kyle Lindquist scored 13 points to lead the Wolves. Lokas had 10 and Bechtel added nine.
"We talked about two things before the game, that the game was going to come down to toughness and execution," Souder said. "I thought toughness-wise, we were the better team. But I thought execution-wise, Thomas was the best team. I thought they executed when they needed to and we didn't. I've got no problem with the way our kids battled and fought and scratched. We just have to play mentally tougher."

The Cardinals applauded the Wolves for overcoming a double-digit deficit in the first half to keep the contest competitive.

"A lot of credit goes to Kilbourne," Miller said. "I thought they gave a tremendous effort."
"We were hoping to get a good lead and keep it, but they fought hard and came back and gave us a good game," Hallowell said.

The fact that the outcome was not decided until late in the fourth quarter kept the crowd boisterous throughout the game. Each school's student section exchanged chants with the other throughout the contest. At times, the noise from the crowd got so loud that it became difficult for the players to communicate on the court.

"I thought with the crowd and the noise, the kids handled themselves quite well," Miller said.
Moments after the final buzzer in last year's game at Kilbourne, students from Thomas ran onto the court in celebration, apparently upsetting some students from Kilbourne. Within seconds, several students from both schools were involved in an altercation that led to shoving and at least one punch being thrown.

A police officer and other adults separated the students and the scuffle quickly was extinguished. Fans then filed out of the gymnasium without further incident. No players were involved in the scuffle.

No such incident occurred in this year's game.
January 08, 2008