When the Crane girls hit the practice court in 2012-13, Head Coach Jeremy Mullins knew his girls had the potential for something special.
But even he may have underestimated what then freshmen Keren Belin, Justine Mahan, Kylee Moore, Emma Lander, Shelby Roder and Lexie Vaught would have the chance to accomplish in their careers.
“Coach (Billy) Redus and I talked and thought maybe winning one or two state titles could be a possibility with this group,” Mullins said. “But it kind of surprised us that first year with them being freshmen and being so young and playing well on those big stages.”
Four years later they are on the cusp of history just one game away from becoming the fourth program to win four consecutive titles and first since 1994.
But it all started with title No. 1 and learning to be winners from the likes of all-staters Maggie McMenamy and Riley Israel.
“It helped having some of those seniors like Maggie McMenamy to help guide them along,” Mullins said. “This has been a very fortunate situation for our program between the talent level of the girls, the parents and the community.”
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The 2012-13 team beat New Haven 55-45 to finish 30-3 overall.
The following year, the Lady Pirates went 31-1 followed by a 2014-15 season that finished 30-2.
That brought the six seniors back with a chance to make it four titles this fall.
Their final season would prove to be a challenging one.
Class 2 girls basketball in Southwest Missouri basketball as a whole raised its level of play with six of the state’s 10 ranked teams residing in Crane’s quarterfinal grouping, and familiar foe Skyline waiting in the semifinals guaranteeing the toughest path possible back to the final
“This year is definitely the hardest; we lose girls every year so we have to be ready to step up. This one makes it by far the hardest,” senior Lexie Vaught said. “It doesn’t get draining; that’s exactly how we want it. If you’re going to win a state championship you want to beat the best teams every time.”
Even with those losses to graduation, the Lady Pirates haven’t missed a beat because largely the seniors could fill whatever holes were created.
“The overall dynamic of this group is rare; I had some bigs, I had I some forwards and I had guards. You don’t get that with every class at small schools,” Mullins said. “With this class we’ve been fortunate to not have too many holes to have to worry about filling.”
Crane knew its path through the playoffs would be tough no matter what, but in December it became even more difficult when Lander, the reigning Class 2 Player of the Year, tore her ACL.
Shortly after, Crane suffered its first loss of the season and worst loss in the senior’s four years in the title game of the Pink & White Lady Classic. Arkansas power North Little Rock beat Crane 81-52 in that game.
“We had a heart to heart about that one; it got serious in the locker room. It was good, I think we grew from that loss,” Mullins said. “They’re a great team and they’re playing for a state championship too. It was good for us to see that type of team.”
Since then Crane has rattled of 19 wins in a row and finds itself one game away from hoisting that Class 2 State Championship trophy once again.
“It would be very special (to win four straight titles). I can’t put it into words; to be up there with some of those elite programs such as Skyline, Marshfield and Rock Bridge. We talked about it before our last practice in Crane, that this was the last time this exact team would be together in that gym as players and it kind of hit them hard. It’s going to hurt, but it’s part of life and growing up,” Mullins said. “They know they can be in the same group with all of those elite teams in state history. One day they’ll be able to look back on this and know that they were.”
All that stands in the way is 26-4 Neelyville.
The Crane seniors will look to push their career record to 122-7 in the Class 2 State Title game at 2:40 p.m. on Saturday in Columbia.
