TWHS Girls Basketball

The Thomas Worthington High School girls basketball team won seven of its final eight regular-season games, including its last three.

The Cardinals finished 9-5 in the OCC-Central Division after beating Central Crossing 62-24 on Feb. 2 and Hilliard Davidson 69-39 on Feb. 5. They placed fourth behind co-champions Dublin Coffman and Olentangy Liberty (both 12-2) as well as Upper Arlington (11-3) and ahead of Dav-idson (6-8), Marysville (4-10) and Central Crossing and Westland (both 1-13).

Thomas, which is 14-5 overall, split its first six games and was 7-4 before beating Kilbourne 48-44 in overtime on Jan. 9.

Junior point guard Jada Sleet had 14 points against Central Crossing and 19 against Davidson. Sophomore forward Jazzlynn Gaiters and sophomore guard Moreina Moore both added 12 against the Comets and senior forward Martrina Parks scored eight.

Against Davidson, senior guard Carli Taute added 15 points, Gaiters scored 14 and senior forward Carly Coleman added eight.

Thomas is seeded 14th of 47 teams in the Division I district tournament and has a first-round bye. The Cardinals will play seventh-seeded Watterson or 25th-seeded Licking Heights in the second round Feb. 19 at the home of the higher seed.

Thomas continued its strong play with a pair of victories last week.

The Cardinals, who lost three of their first four games, were 11-4 overall and 6-4 in the OCC-Central before playing Dublin Coffman on Jan. 26.

Thomas has league games Friday, Jan. 29, at home against Marysville and Tuesday, Feb. 2, at Central Crossing. It defeated the Monarchs 63-45 on Dec. 18 behind 16 points from junior point guard Jada Sleet and beat the Comets 63-19 on Dec. 22 behind 17 points from Sleet and 12 from sophomore forward Jazzlynn Gaiters.

The Cardinals, who will conclude the regular season with a league game Feb. 5 at home against Hilliard Davidson, defeated Westerville North 54-47 on Jan. 20 before rolling past Westland 82-22 in a league game Jan. 22.

Sleet had 19 points, senior forward Martrina Parks scored 12 and senior guard Carli Taute scored 10 against North. Against Westland, Sleet had 18 points, Gaiters and freshman guard Sarah Charley each scored 12 and Parks scored 10.

The Thomas Worthington High School girls basketball team entered the week having reeled off five consecutive victories.

The Cardinals were looking to carry the momentum into an OCC-Central Division contest at Hilliard Davidson on Jan. 5. They entered the game 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the league.

Thomas begins the second round of OCC-Central play Friday, Jan. 8, at home against defending league champion Olentangy Liberty before traveling across town the next day for the annual grudge match with Kilbourne.

Entering play Jan. 5, Liberty and Dublin Coffman were tied for first in the league at 6-0, ahead of Upper Arlington at 4-2.

Thomas lost to Liberty 58-47 on Nov. 27, getting 12 points from sophomore guard Moreina Moore and 11 points apiece from senior forward Martrina Parks and sophomore guard Jazzlyn Gaiters.

"We fell behind Liberty 12-7 after the first quarter and pretty much played them even the rest of the way," coach Laurie Barr said. "We struggled shooting in that game and had tons of shots go in and out. We lost to UA (33-29 in overtime Dec. 4), so that wasn't anything to hang our heads about. We've only had one bad loss (66-44 to Coffman on Dec. 8).

"This is a big week for us because we're playing some tough opponents and we're really starting to come together well. We're shooting better and we're definitely playing pretty well defensively. We don't have any post players on the floor over (5-foot-9) and we held UA's Kortney Eisenman to four points and she's 6-3 and (has committed) to play at Georgia."

The Cardinals rolled to three wins during the holiday break, beating Central Crossing 63-19 on Dec. 22 in a league contest before defeating DeSales 58-37 on Dec. 28 and Dublin Jerome 49-32 on Dec. 29.

The latter two victories came in the Jeff Sheets Holiday Classic at Teays Valley.

Junior point guard Jada Sleet had 11 points, seven assists, six rebounds and six steals against Jerome, with Gaiters also scoring 11 points.

Against DeSales, Gaiters had 15 points, Sleet scored 13 and senior guard Carli Taute added nine.

"I just try to play basketball the way I know how and do whatever I can to help the team," said Sleet, who was averaging 12.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.9 steals through nine games. "I think we're just starting to learn our strengths and weaknesses, and it's my job to keep everyone positive.

"We have two of our biggest games coming against Liberty and Kilbourne. Liberty won the league (last season) and Kilbourne is our biggest rival, so those are two games we really want."

Moore was averaging 9.1 points, followed by Gaiters (8.6) and Parks (7.0). Gaiters was averaging a team-high 6.6 rebounds.

"Martrina doesn't have the same rebounding numbers she had (last season), but that's because she is doing her job well," Barr said. "She's boxing out our opponents' big bodies, and that allows our smaller girls to get in there and gobble up some rebounds. She's clearing space in there. I can't say enough about the things she does for this team."

Team defense and team rebounding are important pieces for the Cardinals given their lack of interior size. They will need to maintain that philosophy to be successful in their games against Liberty and Kilbourne this week.

Thomas lost to Kilbourne 57-46 last season.

The contest against the Wolves is part of the Worthington Hoops Fest, an all-day event that includes boys and girls eighth-grade matchups. The girls varsity game is expected to begin at 6 p.m., followed by the boys varsity contest.

"It's a good time because coaches get to see all of those young kids and the girls and guys teams get to watch each other play and that doesn't normally happen," Barr said. "Plus, the community usually has to pick one or the other to watch, but can see the boys and girls teams from both schools in the same event."