By DAVID VANTRESS

For the Northwest News

Taylor Fordyce and Kayla Gibbs have been standout guards for the Carroll High School girls basketball team for the past several years. They’ll both be moving on to college this fall: Fordyce at the University of Saint Francis and Gibbs at Spring Arbor University.

The two teammates and friends will face off on the basketball court, as both schools are members of the Crossroads League.

But on Sunday, April 30, Gibbs and Fordyce had a special opportunity to team up one last time.

The two Chargers were named to Team Indiana for the 24th edition of the Nancy Rehm Border Wars Classic at the Hutzell Athletic Center on the USF campus.

And they had the chance to be on the winning side of the scoreboard one last time as well, as Team Indiana defeated Team Ohio, 92-81.

For Fordyce, Sunday’s game was her first taste of game action on her new home floor.

Getting to team up with her friend and teammate Gibbs, as well as other players she’s known and played with for years, was a special way to close the high school chapter of her career, Fordyce said.

“It’s very exciting,” Fordyce said of the closing of one chapter and opening of another.

That realization is dawning for both former Carroll hoops heroes.

And after all these years of playing together, Fordyce and Gibbs are actually looking forward to matching wits in opposing uniforms.

“It’s going to be fun,” Gibbs said. “We’re going to be closely guarding each other,” Gibbs added with a smile.

The scorebook for the Charger duo’s final prep girls basketball game showed four points on a field goal and 2-of-4 free throws for Fordyce and 10 points on three field goals (one 3-pointer) and 3-of-4 from the line for Gibbs.

Snider head coach Reggie Tharp and his staff coached Team Indiana, and enjoyed the experience.

“All of these players are great young ladies, very coachable,” Tharp said. “They went out there and played very well today.”

The Nancy Rehm Border Wars Classic is held in honor of Nancy Rehm, a late Bishop Luers standout and 2009 inductee in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.