Emotions figure to run high when the Thomas Worthington High School boys basketball team plays host to Worthington Kilbourne on Friday, Feb. 17, in the OCC-Central Division and regular-season finales for both squads.

For the six seniors on the Cardinals and the eight on the Wolves, it will be their final game in the rivalry unless the teams meet in the postseason, which would be at the regional level.

“It’s going to be our senior night, but it’s going to be a big game for the seniors on both teams because it’s likely the last time we’re ever going to get to play each other and we both want to earn (community) bragging rights one last time,” Thomas senior center Jordan Cowgill said. “When the seniors on both teams think back to this rivalry, this is going to be the first game we remember.”

The Cardinals won 43-38 at Kilbourne on Jan. 13 to take an 8-2 lead in the series.

“Thomas beat us at our place, and we’d like to return the favor,” Kilbourne senior point guard Brian Hanks said. “This may be the last chance that our seniors will ever have to play them and we want to finish the rivalry on a winning note because the team that wins this game will get a huge confidence boost going into the (Division I) district tournament.”

After the Cardinals fell behind 18-17 by halftime in the first meeting, they made 50 percent (9-for-18) of their field goals and turned the ball over only once in the second half.

Thomas built a 38-32 lead midway through the fourth quarter before Ryan Pritchett and Seth Hill made back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 38 with less than two minutes remaining.

The Cardinals outscored the Wolves 5-0 down the stretch as Julian Henderson hit a 3-pointer, Cowgill made a layup and Thomas forced two turnovers in Kilbourne’s final three possessions.

Cowgill scored 16 points, Will Hill scored 12 and Henderson scored 10 to lead the Cardinals.

Connor Dahn, a 6-foot-4 wing player, likely will guard Cowgill the majority of the rematch, but Hanks said the Wolves will utilize a number of methods to attempt to neutralize the 6-11 center.

“As a team, we need to box out a lot better and everyone needs to help out against Jordan Cowgill,” Hanks said. “We need to be physical with Jordan, and when we’re on offense, we need to move him around to the perimeter so that his size isn’t as much of a factor. If we can get Jordan in foul trouble the size advantage will go our way, because we’re bigger at nearly every position when Jordan’s out of the game.”

Through 18 games, Cowgill was averaging a team-high 15.4 points, followed by Will Hill (12.6), Henderson (11.4) and Lance Leslie (4.3).

Cowgill, who is shooting 58 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free-throw line, also was averaging 10.5 rebounds.

“We played very good defense the first time we played Kilbourne, but we didn’t score much, and to beat them this time we may need to score in the 60s or 70s because they’re playing so well right now,” Cowgill said. “The key for our offense is our guards need to penetrate and shoot the ball or find the open man. We also need to score more in transition.”

In the first meeting, Tyler Stern-Tucker scored 16 points and Seth Hill and Dahn each scored six points for the Wolves.

Through 17 games, Dahn was averaging a team-best 12.7 points, followed by Stern-Tucker (11.3), Hanks (9.4), Seth Hill (5.0) and Pritchett (4.2).

On Feb. 7, Kilbourne defeated Central Crossing 69-44 for a program record-tying fourth consecutive victory.

“Tyler, Connor and Brian have been scoring well, but we’ve had a whole lot of different guys step up and contribute to put us over the hump on different nights,” coach Tom Souder said. “It’s not about who scores, but more about how we score. Our guys are starting to understand that we need to get the right shot at the right time, and it doesn’t matter who takes it as long as we score.”

Thomas coach Bob Miller said the Cardinals will need to play aggressive man-to-man defense, much like the first meeting.

Jay Smallwood has been Thomas’ best defender, Miller said.

“They have a four-year starter at point guard in Hanks and they’re deep,” Miller said. “They have a lot of weapons, so we can’t build our defense around stopping just one or two guys. We’ll need to play well defensively to win this game.”

A close game could favor Kilbourne. After losing their first four games decided by seven points or fewer, the Wolves won their next three decided by five points or fewer.

“We’re pushing the ball more and getting more easy baskets from our defense. And we’ve finally learned how to win the closer games,” Hanks said.

Through 18 contests, the Cardinals were 3-9 in games decided by six points or fewer.

“We’ve lost nine games by a total of 26 points, and we know that if we could change one or two plays in those games that we could have 14 or 15 wins already this season,” Cowgill said. “But we’ve won some close games, too, so we know that we can win games if they’re close. We just need to learn from our past mistakes and execute when it counts.”