Two games, two new career scoring highs for Bradleyville guard Kourtney Shipley this week.
And now, Shipley and the Eagles are bringing just the second girls’ basketball district championship in program history back to town.
PHOTOS: BRADLEYVILLE VS. HURLEY
Shipley went off again Thursday for a game-high 38 points – including 21 in a second-quarter explosion – as Bradleyville out-gunned Hurley to win the Class 1, District 4 championship in Point Lookout.
"It's huge for the whole town," said Bradleyville coach Autumn Thomas. "It puts us back on the map."
Bradleyville’s headed to the state playoffs for the first time since the 2007-08 season. The Eagles (22-5 overall) face Bunker (18-9 overall) Wednesday, March 1 at Cabool High School.
Shipley scored a then-career-high 35 in Bradleyville’s 57-46 semifinal win over School of the Ozarks on Monday. She heated up again Thursday, erupting for 21 points in the second quarter alone behind a barrage of 3-pointers and fastbreak layups off of Hurley turnovers.
Bradleyville went from trailing 20-19 at the end of the first quarter to leading 48-35 at halftime.
“We just kept forcing turnovers and pushing the ball and I was getting layups,” Shipley said. “My team just shares the ball – we all like to share it – and we get layups or get to the free throw line.”
Hurley spent the second half cutting into the deficit, getting as close as five in the fourth quarter. Zava Bennett had 25 points and at least 12 steals, with sophomore Jordan Langley adding 22 points for the Tigers.
But Bradleyville withstood the Hurley comeback, despite Hurley face-guarding and deploying box-and-one type defenses on Shipley in the second half.
The Eagles got key fourth-quarter baskets from the likes of Emily Todd, Sophia Meltke, Dorian Hayes and Kylie Winkles, who hit two crucial 3-pointers.
“(Winning districts) feels amazing, our team worked so hard for this,” Shipley said. “I feel like we deserved it. We worked and prepared for Hurley so well in practice. My team’s so happy… we’re all just happy right now.”
Free throws played a big factor in the game. Hurley was 7-for-18 at the free throw line. Bradleyville finished 17-for-22, including Shipley making 11 of her 14 attempts.
Bradleyville 81, Hurley 71
Bradleyville 19 29 11 22 — 81
Hurley 20 15 20 16 — 71
Bradleyville – Kourtney Shipley 38, Dorian Hayes 14, Kylie Winkles 8, Emily Todd 8, Casey Ridings 7, Sophia Meltke 4, Mariah Clemans 2
Hurley – Zava Bennett 25, Jordan Langley 22, Katie Winfree 10, Paige Simpson 6, Taylor Cattanach 5, Samantha Hall 3
School of the Ozarks went from unknown underdog to powerful favorite this season, but the end result was still the same: a district championship and a berth into the Class 1 state playoffs.
The Patriots repeated as Class 1, District 4 champs in convincing fashion Thursday night, dominating Bradleyville from start to finish on their home court. Keaton Tillack and Cade Martin combined for 45 points as School of the Ozarks led by 28 at halftime on its way to a 72-34 victory.
GAME PHOTOS: SCHOOL OF THE OZARKS VS. BRADLEYVILLE
"Last year, we weren't nervous at all. We weren't supposed to win, being a lower seed and all," said Patriots coach Jerry Martin. "We just wanted to go fly around and have fun. It ended up working out really well.
"This year, I have to admit I was a lot more anxious about it because we were supposed to win being the 1-seed. That was a lot harder going in. The nice thing about teenagers, they just play. It didn't seem to affect them. They didn't have any anxiety.”
Cade Martin’s 4-point play gave the Patriots a 15-6 lead midway through the second quarter and the rout was on. The Patriots held Bradleyville to single-digit scoring in three of four quarters.
Jerry Martin said his team’s defense has noticeably improved this season.
"We won the district last year but we still gave up 63 points," he said. "I told them at the beginning of this season, 'We're good on offense; we have to get way better on defense. We can't win just by out-scoring people. We have to start shutting people down."
The Patriots face Eminence (15-13) on Wednesday, March 1 in Cabool. Game time is set for 7:45 p.m.
School of the Ozarks 72, Bradleyville 34
Bradleyville 8 8 13 5 — 34
School of the Ozarks 23 21 17 11 — 72
Bradleyville – Cole Thomas 15, Keylan Beeler 7, Ronnie Maggard 6, C.J. Horsey 2, Alex Lehmann 2, Hayden Crouch 2
School of the Ozarks – Keaton Tillack 24, Cade Martin 21, Jhonny Winder 8, Zach Martin 7, Coby Dolloff 6, Billy Evans 3, Nate Brown 2, Teddy Linger 1
