Kaylah averaged 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals in the state tournament and shot 50 percent from the 3-point line — none bigger than the buzzer-beater from the top of the key at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime — earning Most Valuable Player honors.
The victory was the culmination of more than 10 months of work, and more than 10 years together for the Firebirds senior class.
“We’ve been working hard since June, day in and day out, and I just think that we pushed ourselves to the max just to get a dub and to finish 28-0,” Kaylah said. “I just think that us seniors wanted to go out with a bang, and we did that. I’m so proud of them.”
Kaylah is the “baby” of the family by one minute, Marjory said. Her twin brother, Kam Thornton, was a member of the Firebirds’ boys basketball district runner-up squad this season.
Six years earlier, Kaylah watched as Kiarra’s Fairmont team — which included 2020 Ohio Ms. Basketball Maddie Westbeld who now plays for the Chicago Sky in the Women’s National Basketball Association — lost to Mount Notre Dame in a regional final game played right before the OHSAA canceled the state tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kaylah had 19 points in Saturday’s title game against Princeton, playing nearly the entire 36 minutes.
“(Kiarra) was a good ball player, but Kaylah, the baby, is just a little bit different,” Marjory said. “(Kiarra) will tell you.”
‘A big moment’
After trailing by as many as 13 points early in the second quarter, the Vikings continued to chip away at the Firebirds’ lead. Princeton got hot in the fourth quarter and turned the tables on Fairmont, grabbing a seven-point lead with a little more than three minutes remaining.
“It was absolutely crazy,” Marjory Thornton said. “She’s very composed, she’s very humble, and she’s so determined. I don’t know if I was saying that I wasn’t worried, because I was, but I just feel like, if anybody will, she will. She’s a great kid. She loves basketball, and she’s just worked her behind off so much over the years.”
The Firebirds cut the lead to three points with 5.9 seconds remaining when Princeton’s Heaven Sneed missed a free throw that bounced off the rim into Thornton’s left hand. She immediately took off up the court, weaving through Princeton defenders, before pulling up for a game-tying 3-pointer.
“I’m just praying honestly, ‘go in,’” Kiarra Thornton said.
Credit: Bryant Billing
The ball swished through the net, erupting the large contingent of Fairmont fans into a frenzy loud enough it could draw comparisons to the team who calls UD Arena home.
As the ball flew through the air, Marjory couldn’t tell you what was on her mind.
“I didn’t think, I ran up the steps,” she said. “I didn’t know what to think, but she just never ceases to amaze me.”
With very little time and no way to stop the clock, the Firebirds had to get the rebound and go in that situation, said Fairmont coach Jeremey Finn. He trusted his senior Akron commit and Ohio Ms. Basketball candidate to make a play.
“There’s no time,” Finn said. “We don’t have time to set screens, like you got to let them make plays. (Kaylah) found a gap, and she was confident where she was at, so big shot and a big moment.”
A ring she deserves
The Firebirds basketball program, Marjory said, has been amazing for her daughters and especially Finn, who she knows “loves them outside of basketball and just sees them as people.”
Kiarra was also happy to watch her sister’s team win a state championship for Finn, her former coach.
“It means a lot, seeing them work so hard since third grade all the way up. It just means so much,” Kiarra said. “They’re working so hard for it and seeing Coach Finn being my coach, and then just with these girls doing so much with them and making them improve so much from young ages. It’s well deserved for sure.”
The Firebirds set goals at the beginning of the season, Finn said, including winning a Greater Western Ohio Conference title, a district title and making a deep tournament run.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
They scheduled several strong non-conference opponents to prepare for the postseason, including Princeton, Pickerington Central and Olentangy — the final three teams they beat on the road to a state championship.
The key, he said, was focusing on the task at hand.
“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. Our girls, they bought into that. They’ve been doing it for four years.”
Especially Kaylah, who watched her sister’s team fall one game short of a trip to the D-I state tournament when it was held at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus.
“There were so many good players,” Kaylah said. “Maddie Westbeld, Madison Bartley, Makira Webster and my sister. I just think that it was a blessing (watching them), and I’m so proud and so happy to get it a dub and get a ring.”
A ring years in the making for the “baby” of the Thornton family.
“She got that ring she deserves,” Kiarra said.
About the Author
