The Thomas Worthington High School boys’ basketball team has had a promising start to the 2024-2025 season. While the boys have faced many challenges this season, the team remains confident in their ability to turn things around and contend for their division title. However, for the players and coaching staff at TWHS, success isn’t defined solely by a winning record. The program strives for a standard of passion, dedication, and family.
“We’ve got a pretty crazy team dynamic,” shares junior foward, Harrison Gill. “To basically sum it up, after a hard practice I came into the locker room to get my stuff, and a few guys asked me to play in the snow with them.”
Moments like these highlight the team dynamic and brotherhood between the athletes. They believe the team bond will help them overcome their early challenges and push them toward future success.
“Right now I think we are in a tough spot because we have played some of the best teams in the state. We play against them and then they turn it around and play top teams in the state,” states junior point guard, Matthew (Matty) Gardner. “We still have a solid chance to be good but we have to play team basketball.”
As the team approaches the highly anticipated rivalry game against Worthington Kilbourne, the questions remains: is it simply another game on the schedule, or does the intensity of the rivalry elevate their drive to win?
“The Kilbourne game is one of the biggest games of the year,” shares Gardner. “We prepare for it like every other game but for all the players in our program we treat it like a must-win game.”
The rivalry between Thomas Worthington and Worthington Kilbourne screams competition; it is deeply rooted in the local community. Located just ten minutes apart, these neighboring schools are home to students who often share personal connections and friendships. However, when it comes to matchups like this one, school pride takes center stage. It’s every player’s goal to go out and represent their school with honor.
“Those boys at Kilbourne are our dogs, but on the court things get wicked,” shares Gill. “We’ve gone to a few of their games in order to prepare and they’ve got some talent. Because of the past few Kilbourne matchups in sports this year, there’s a little added pressure to clutch up.”
As they look ahead to the remainder of the season, the team remains focused on their goals with aspirations of securing a conference title and making a deep playoff run. Despite facing challenging losses this season, the TWHS basketball program has consistently demonstrated their unwavering passion for the game.
“The coaches are pretty vocal and definitely point something out whenever they don’t like it,” said Gill.
Both coaches and players are determined to represent Thomas Worthington High School with the highest level of excellence. The boys’ basketball team will face Worthington Kilbourne on Saturday, January 25th.
