Punchy Specific Fan-Friendly Headline: "Tiny Tiger Dominates Track, Families Roar in Excitement!
Mar. 15—Marjory Thornton and her daughter Kiarra sat in the front row at University of Dayton Arena, across the court from the Fairmont bench, wearing matching navy shirts adorned with photos of the family's "baby," Kaylah. They watched as the Firebirds pulled off a dramatic comeback — a roller-coaster ride of a game highlighted by a heroic play by Kaylah that kept Fairmont's season alive — to beat Princeton 61-55 in front of 4,380 fans to win the Division I state championship and complete a perfect 28-0 season.
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.
Continue to the original source for the full article.