Steven Wright: Girls basketball: Fairmont celebrates undefeated season, girls basketball state championship

Tape was laid out on the court Friday at Trent Arena to display an “x” at a memorable spot.

On the scoreboard they set the clock at 5.9 seconds. A pole was also placed a few feet away from the taped marker. At the other end of the court, selected members of the audience lined up with a basketball and got the chance to recreate history.

Each of them weaved and dribbled back and forth as they ran up the floor. They tried to reach the spot, roughly 60 feet away from their starting point, and get off a shot and make it before the clock expired.

They all learned it wasn’t as easy as Fairmont senior Kaylah Thornton made it look back on March 14.

“If you get a chance to watch the replay, oh man, watch the bench. It’s amazing,” Fairmont head coach Jeremey Finn said.

The fun was part of a celebration held to honor the undefeated, state championship season for Fairmont girls basketball.

The Firebirds were the only team in Ohio to not lose a game this season, going 28-0 and mostly cruising against the opposition until getting to state. There they held off Pickerington Central in the semifinals and two days later needed late game magic to defeat Cincinnati Princeton.

Thornton’s shot at the buzzer sent the game to overtime and created a frenzy among the 4,000-plus in attendance at UD Arena. The Firebirds controlled the action in the extra period to win its first OHSAA Division I title since 2013.

“It’s a blessing to have that feeling and be able to win a state championship. Not many people are able to do that, and it’s just a blessing,” Thornton said.

Most of the team and coaches were able to be in attendance for the celebration on Friday, April 17, with a few of the underclassmen team members out of town playing at a showcase event.

Players threw out t-shirts to the crowd as they were introduced one-by-one and received several certificates of recognition from officials representing the Kettering City School District Board of Education, the City of Kettering City Council and Montgomery County.

The banner going on the wall and team rings won’t be ready for a few more months, but a plaque was unveiled on the wall to recognize the team and the Kettering City Council gifted a sign to Finn.

Posters were available and players and coaches spent more than 45 minutes after the ceremony to sign autographs and take pictures.

The Firebirds will have more to look forward to when their final emblems arrive and will have at least one more moment together when they have a celebratory team dinner this summer.

“From every team sleepover to pregame dance performance to 8 a.m. practice, we were in it together,” senior Georgia Von Handorf said. “This team is so much more than a team, but a family and I’m really excited to get Fleming’s with all of them.”