Columbus East’s Kenzie Cheek, center, dribbles between Columbus North’s Kaylie Harmon, left, and Riley Sims during a basketball game between the rival schools at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Columbus East fans are watching the final scene of Ella Anthis and Kenzie Cheek’s high school basketball careers, and the duo hopes it is the extended cut.
Cheek, Anthis and the rest of the Olympians will hope for one last hurrah when they host the sectional next week, beginning when they take on East Central in the opening round at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Orange Pit.
Columbus East’s Ella Anthis shoots a 3-pointer during a basketball game against Columbus North at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Anthis and Cheek took different paths to wind up together on the court. Anthis went to Southside Elementary and didn’t think for a second that basketball would be her main sport. She played soccer when she was young with the Parks and Rec league. It wasn’t until the third grade that the pendulum swung in the way of the hardwood after she saw her sister Sydney play and attended numerous camps.
“At first, I was like, ‘There’s no way I’m playing basketball. I’m definitely a soccer girl,’” Anthis said. “That changed whenever I went into basketball camp. I liked it a lot, and I had a good coach back in elementary school. That brought me into it, and I stuck with it.”
Kenzie Cheek
For Cheek, she was a multisport athlete and playing numerous sports. She attended Richards Elementary and began playing on the basketball team.
“When I was a kid, I was always trying out different sports, and one afternoon my neighbors came over and were telling us about tryouts and I should look into it, and I was like, ‘OK,’” Cheek said. “Richards had this summer league. I started playing with them in third grade and doing that, and I’ve stuck with it ever since.”
Both Anthis and Cheek attended Central Middle School and played on the basketball team. Cheek also played volleyball and ran track her freshman year at East.
Cheek, Anthis and the third Olympian senior Brelyn Pool are the last remnants of the pre-Kaitlyn Phillips coaching regime.
Ella Anthis
Anthis and Cheek had other battles to deal with besides the opposition. Anthis had an ankle injury in December and missed a few weeks of the season. Cheek was in concussion protocol after hitting her head in a game against Mooresville in November that caused her to miss some games, and she missed the Hauser Tournament in late December due to an illness. Both are back fully healthy and ready for Tuesday.
Cheek and Anthis established patience while waiting their turn taking the reins of leading the team. During their freshman and sophomore years, the duo had senior-heavy teammates. Cheek started on the JV her freshman year and transitioned to the varsity her sophomore year. After their sophomore seasons, Cheek and Anthis were part of the starting lineup.
“I knew that (the older players) weighed on the team pretty heavily and like their roles were very big compared a lot of ours,” Cheek said. “I knew it was going to take a lot of stepping up, and I put in the work and I knew that the next year, I was needed. I worked and challenged myself with them and got better with them.”
“I knew I would get more playing time on varsity, and that was obviously a big change going from JV to varsity,” Anthis added. “I think as a team, it took us some time to connect, but we got it towards the end a little bit.”
Being senior leaders and captains, it was Anthis and Cheek who helped lead their younger teammates on varsity and JV, most of whom are freshmen.
At Friday’s regular-season finale against Oldenburg Academy, Anthis was presented a Gift of the Game Scholarship by the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Former East coach Jacqueline Burton is the oldest living member of the Hall of Fame on the women’s side, and she was given the opportunity to choose Anthis as the recipient.
“They are really good kids. They’re really good humans. They come from great families. They’re great kids who are going to do great things in life,” Phillips said. “…The situations and adversities both have faced in the last three years that I’ve been here have been significant. The way that they’ve been able to stay resilient and get through injuries and get through team losses and get through all the other things that they’ve been through and still be able to lead their team day-in-and-day-out. Most people do not even have any idea of the pain and injuries they’ve fought through these last couple of years. I think it’s huge for our team, especially since our varsity is so freshman heavy. We are very fortunate enough to have a strong senior class paired up to a strong freshman class.”
As far as their college endeavors, Anthis likely is done with competitive basketball, but hasn’t ruled out playing recreationally. She plans to attend IU Indianapolis and major in health science and hopes to attend dental school to become a doctor.
Cheek has thought about playing college basketball and has received offers from Hanover and Manchester, but she said she is leaning toward hanging up the sneakers and attending IU Indianapolis to go into pre-dental hygiene.
It will be bittersweet for the duo whenever the curtain call comes. They celebrated senior night prior to Friday night’s game with Oldenburg. While the duo close the books at Columbus East, another book of their life opens.
Through all the ups and downs and regardless of their record the past few years, Cheek and Anthis both enjoyed their experience of playing for the Olympians.
“I love playing at East. I love our team,” Anthis said. “I think the team is a big part of this, and my coaches, of course, they’ve brought a lot to me.”
“It’s been amazing,” Cheek added. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s really been part of my whole life, to be honest. I’ve looked up to them since I was a little girl, and now I play here, and it’s going to be really hard to leave.”
