A roundup story about Worthington Christian’s trip to the Ohio Division III state championship basketball game is included today at thisweeknews.com. A portion of the story is include below. Click here to read the complete article and view photos of the team’s journey. (Worthington Christian High School is a ministry of Grace Polaris Church, Westerville, Ohio, Mike Yoder, lead pastor.)
Worthington Christian Roundup: ‘Special’ Warriors boys basketball squad made memorable run
Since becoming Worthington Christian’s boys basketball coach 21 seasons ago, Kevin Weakley has made it a practice not to compare groups of players he’s guided on the court.
The latest group, however, will stick out in his memory for the long haul.
Featuring a six-member senior class that included three starters and a key bench player to go along with the Division III district Player of the Year in junior point guard D.J. Moore, the Warriors made it to the final day of the season.
With a 61-56 loss to Cleveland Heights Lutheran East on March 21 in the state final at the University of Dayton, Worthington Christian finished 28-2. The Warriors won the MSL-Ohio Division championship and reached the state title game for the fourth time.
“They’re all special in their own way, but this group of kids, a lot of them I’ve known (for most of their lives),” Weakley said. “(Senior) Tyler (Kindberg) was a pre-schooler at Worthington Christian when I first met him and D.J. was in third grade, so you get to know these kids and you obviously have relationships with their families.
“I told the guys in the locker room that I didn’t become a coach 21 years ago to win state titles. That’s never really been my goal. I have a love for kids and a love for the game and that’s the most fun part of the season. We had basically five months of mask wearing, physical distancing, do this, do that and don’t do this and don’t do that, yet we still became a family. … To get kids to believe in each other and sacrifice for each other, that’s one of the greatest accomplishments of the season.”
Click here to read the complete article and view photos of the team’s journey.