In football, it is said that defense wins championships.
In Kickapoo’s case Tuesday night, it led the Lady Chiefs to a decisive basketball victory.
The Kickapoo Lady Chiefs used its defense to ignite its offense, as the Lady Chiefs ran away with a 61-29 nonconference win over the visiting Ozark Lady Tigers.
The Lady Chiefs won the opening possession and sophomore Audrey Warren quickly scored on a drive down the lane, as Kickapoo opened the game with a 6-0 run on four points from Warren and two from junior Jordan Sanders. Ozark freshman Jadyn Easley hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Lady Tigers on the board (6-3), but the Lady Chiefs answered with baskets from Warren and Jordan Wersinger to make it 10-3.
Ozark went on an 8-2 run to pull within a point (12-11). Sanders hit a free throw for Kickapoo and Ozark’s Morgan Doyle scored down low on a pass from Ally Lollis to tie it at 13.
But the Lady Chiefs had the final say as Hannah Collins hit a 3-pointer from the wing just before the first-quarter buzzer for a 16-13 Kickapoo lead.
Kickapoo applied its full-court press to start the game, but turned up the heat in the second quarter, holding Ozark scoreless until the 3:45 mark.
“Our defense was really good tonight,” Kickapoo coach Jim Pendergrass said. “We made it very difficult on them to score. Early on, they hit some big shots, they had some 3s and they found a couple of open people. But, eventually, I felt like we wore them down, physically and mentally.”
The one-two punch of Warren and Sanders keyed Kickapoo in the second quarter, as they scored six points apiece, blocked shots and made the going tough for Ozark with their presence on defense.
“You have to make quality decisions with the basketball and deliver the ball on time,” Ozark coach David Brewer said. “And if it’s off time, or off line, they’re (Lady Chiefs) going to get it.”
And it didn’t get any easier in the second half for the Lady Tigers.
“The first half really wasn’t that great with our decision-making,” Brewer said. “I thought we were able to keep in check with them, offensively – they didn’t score that many points. But the second half, we kind of came unraveled and that’s what we talked about
(in the locker room). They’re beating us mentally right now. They are more physically talented, but we can do a better job, if we do a better job between our ears.”
Kickapoo held Ozark to just two points in the third quarter, as Sanders seemed to be everywhere – coming up with steals, deflections and blocked shots on defense, in addition to scoring eight of the Lady Chiefs’ 18 points in the third.
“I think it was just defense, mostly (that sparked the Lady Chiefs),” Sanders said, “just pressing up on the ball. We’ve been trying to get better at it. We did a lot better on defense tonight than we have before, so that was really just the key.”
Sanders scored 19 points, picked up three steals and two blocks for Kickapoo.
“I thought Jordan Sanders made a lot of plays defensively – deflections, steals, being in position, changing shots…,” Pendergrass said. “That creates a lot of things for us, so we’re able to move her around in different spots when we are pressing.”
Sanders’ teammate, Warren, led all scorers with 20 points, along with blocking two shots and coming up with a steal.
“Her shot selection was really good tonight,” Pendergrass said of Warren. “Those are high-percentage shots for her and she played really well – gave us a lot of energy.”
KICKAPOO 61, OZARK 29
OZARK – 13-8-2-6 – 29
KICKAPOO – 16-17-18-10 – 61
OZARK – Ally Lollis 7, Kendra Sater 4, Bre Johnson 5, Morgan Doyle 2, Jadyn Easley 5, Macy Putt 6.
KICKAPOO – Audrey Warren 20, Jordan Sanders 19, Jordan Wersinger 9, Hannah Collins 3, Katrice Jackson 1, Laura Vierkant 7, Ari Acuff 2.
Kickapoo B 64, Ozark B 48
