TWHS Girls Basketball

Worthington Kilbourne High School girls basketball coach Steve Palmer knows his team faces a challenge when it travels to Thomas Worthington on Friday, Jan. 13, for an OCC-Central Division game.

The Wolves, who lost to the Cardinals 53-45 on Dec. 2, will be looking to contain guards Kim Hoerauf and Frannie Frazier, who combined to average 32.6 points a game in Thomas’ last three contests: a 55-36 win over Cleveland Heights Beaumont on Dec. 29, a 48-36 victory over Hilliard Darby on Jan. 3 and a 47-41 loss to Central Crossing on Jan. 6.

In the teams’ first matchup this season, Hoerauf had 18 points and Frazier scored six.

However, Palmer knows the Cardinals face a challenge of their own, as they must try to contain guards Kayla Pack and Marissa Elliott.

“You have to pick your poison with us,” Palmer said. “Some teams try to take Pack away, but Elliott will have a good game. Other teams take Elliott away and Pack will step it up.”

Pack had 18 points and Elliott scored 13 in the previous game against Thomas.

“Kyla and Marissa are sharpshooters on the outside and can drive to the basket,” Thomas coach Laurie Barr said. “You can’t leave them open. Last time it was such a good battle all the way around. We know Kilbourne’s going to be ready to play us, so we have to make sure we’re ready to play them.”

Pack, a sophomore who is averaging 14.5 points and five rebounds, and Elliott, a senior who is averaging 12.8 points and four rebounds, both have scored in double figures in 10 of the Wolves’ 11 games.

“We work very well together,” Elliott said. “We feed off each other’s energy. If I’m having an off night, she will take over. If she’s having an off night, I’ll take over.”

“Marissa’s like my older sister,” Pack said. “She has shown me the type of player I want to become when I get older.”

While many teams have more than one player averaging in double figures in points in the same season, Kilbourne has had only two players finish a season averaging 10 points or more the past five seasons. Kelsey Sutton was averaging 12.4 points during the 2007-08 season before sustaining a season-ending knee injury in mid-January of that season, and Tori Besser averaged 10.3 points during the 2008-09 season.

“We’re getting 27 points a game out of two players,” Palmer said. “Two years ago, that was what we were averaging as a team per game. (Elliott and Pack) are both tough and gritty kids. They keep working with their nose to the grindstone.”

Both Elliott and Pack played lesser offensive roles last season, as Elliott averaged 6.3 points and Pack averaged 5.8. However, both knew it was time to step up, as Kilbourne lost three players from a year ago to graduation, including Olivia Zimmerman and Sarah Bechtel. Last season, Zimmerman and Bechtel averaged eight and six points, respectively.

“We needed to fill the gaps along with the other players,” Pack said. “I knew I was going to have to distribute the ball better and get my teammates open looks so we can win.”

Palmer said he noticed Elliott and Pack spending more time in open gym during the offseason and that the two routinely stay after practice to work on their games.

“Any time Elliott would be there (at open gym), Pack would be there,” Palmer said. “My first couple of years here, that was nonexistent. As a coach, you can encourage that and ask for that. But let’s be honest, peer pressure is so much stronger than coaching pressure.

“Now you hope there’s a ripple effect. You throw a stone in and it might take awhile for the ripple to get to the other end of the lake, but eventually it gets there.”

•MORE THAN A GAME — The contest between Kilbourne and Thomas also will be “Cancer Awareness Night.”

“Cancer is something that affects a lot of the players on our team,” Barr said. “So we want to promote (the fight against cancer).”

Barr said there will be a moment of silence before tipoff to remember friends and relatives who died from the disease as well as to commemorate those who successfully battled it.

Both teams will be wearing royal blue — a common color between the two schools — T-shirts promoting cancer prevention and search, and signs will be hung in the gym promoting the cause.