Girls basketball: Thornton’s last-second 3 saves Fairmont, Firebirds win Division I state title in OT

Only one person handled the ball when Princeton left the door open after a missed free throw. Fairmont had already decided it only wanted one person to have it.

“Coach Finn asked if Kaylah or I should have it, and I pointed at Kaylah, and then coach Finn pointed at Kaylah,” Nico Cornett said. “So we both kind of did, and I’m sure Kaylah knew she needed the ball too.”

Kaylah Thornton grabbed the rebound with her left hand and crossover dribbled twice as she ran past the half court line. Getting five-feet away from the collegiate three-point line on UD Arena’s floor, the senior pulled up as her defender continued backing up.

Fairmont fans had been waiting for most of the fourth quarter to erupt. There was not a louder cheer from the sections filled with navy and gray than when the shot swished through the net extending the game. The season. Everything.

Using those four extra minutes of life, Fairmont accomplished all of its goals and became the 2026 Division I girls state championships with a 61-55 victory Saturday against Princeton.

“I just knew I had to go down the court and get a bucket, and that’s what I did,” Thornton succinctly summed up, acknowledging that, yes, “I needed the ball.”

Not much more needed to be said than what the shot already had told.

Her only made field goal of the second half came when Fairmont needed it the most.

Princeton trailed for most of the game, but slowly chipped away at Fairmont’s lead until Simone Smith hit a corner three with just over four minutes left to put the Vikings ahead for the first time since the opening 90 seconds of the game.

The Vikings grew the lead to seven using a 12-1 run and seemed poised to ruin Fairmont’s dream season. Janiyah Hargrave and Nico Cornett hit free throws followed by a Peyton Adams layup to get Fairmont back within two, but the Firebirds couldn’t get closer.

Princeton answered with its own points from the line to keep Fairmont at an arms length while Hargrave and Adams continued answering.

Credit: Bryant Billing

Credit: Bryant Billing

Fairmont fouled Heaven Sneed before a Princeton inbounds pass with those 5.9 seconds left on the clock. She made the first foul shot but had the ball hit off the back of the iron on her second and it bounced straight back in her direction, but she had already begun backpedaling.

The door was left open for Thornton, the Akron commit and 2026 Ms. Ohio Basketball candidate, and she slammed her way through it.

“We knew there wasn’t going to be a lot of time left, so they were looking and like, we have got to go,” Fairmont head coach Jeremey Finn said. “It’s one of those where a player makes a big play and, you know, amazing. And I think that’ll be something that will be shown for a long time.”

Princeton head coach Dee Davis put the outcome on herself for not having her team foul Thornton before her shot went up.

“She made a great shot. In most cases, people don’t necessarily make that, but I’ll take games like that, and that’s what a championship game will be,” she said.

Fairmont still needed to take the game in overtime, and that’s when Hargrave took over.

She scored the first seven points of the overtime period, including the go-ahead three with two minutes left. Hargrave led all scorers with 23 points, making big baskets throughout the night to keep Fairmont ahead.

Princeton had an opportunity to get back within one possession in the final seconds. Multiple three-point attempts hit off the rim and Cornett finally grabbed a rebound before hitting a pair of free throws while the celebration on the court began behind her.

“That was one heck of a Division I state final game,” Finn said. “Some big moments, big shots, and the girls showed a lot of great resolve.”

Thornton had 19 points and Cornett added 13, including going 8-for-10 at the free throw line.

Fairmont overcame fourth quarter free throw woes for a second straight game to shoot 6-for-8 in the overtime period.

Credit: Bryant Billing

Credit: Bryant Billing

“I never lost faith in us,” Cornett said. “I think that Janiyah’s shot really put us overly confident, but I think we still had it, and I just think it gave us a boost of like energy, and it led us through what we accomplished.”

Fairmont led by as many as 13 points in the first half due to its strong start.

Thornton hit multiple threes in the opening quarter to build Fairmont’s 18-7 early lead. Princeton began to turn Fairmont’s game against them, avoiding the pressing defense by keeping them off the scoreboard.

It worked to the point they grabbed the lead. No team led against Fairmont the entire season in the final minute until Princeton got there. Only two others stayed within 10 points of Fairmont the entire season before Saturday.

A situation as unfamiliar as the Firebirds could have conceived entering its biggest moments.

And out of it came a memory that will be remembered forever in Kettering.

“We had goals at the beginning of the year, to try to win GWOC, get back to district, and then work our way through it going one game at a time,” Finn said. “I think going day-by-day and focusing on what we can do at practice to get better, instead of looking at the ultimate goal, because it works itself out just following that process. And our girls, they bought into that.”

Credit: Bryant Billing

Credit: Bryant Billing

Thornton said it means for her and her fellow seniors — Cornett, Lena Buskard, Chloe Randall, Georgia Sosebee and Georgia Von Handorf – to go out with a “bang.”

“Going out undefeated, I think it’s just a dream that, I mean, I’m sure everybody’s dreamed of and winning state,” Cornett said. “I mean, I can’t even describe it. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”

The only undefeated team in Ohio this season.