By Nolan Epstein
Chadwick, MO – With the Mark Twain Conference crown hanging in the balance on Thursday, Bradleyville’s all-everything junior Kourtney Shipley once again showed why she’s one of the most electric basketball players in the Ozarks – tallying 27 points and willing her Lady Eagles to a 70-55 road victory over Chadwick on its Senior Night.
The win for Bradleyville (21-4) not only broke a tie atop the league with the Lady Cardinals (15-8) as both squads entered the game with perfect 5-0 records in the MTC, but it also added just a bit of extra momentum heading into district play as a No. 1 seed.
“It feels great,” Shipley said in reference to capturing the conference title on Thursday. “It shows that we deserve (a No. 1 seed) in district time, and it just gets us ready and pumped up to play.”
After being held to just four points and one field goal through the first eight minutes, Shipley eventually found her rhythm by putting up nine points in the second period and adding 14 more the rest of the way.
For head coach Autumn Thomas, seeing performances like these from the talented junior is nothing new, but it certainly never gets old.
“She has that or more every single night,” Thomas said of Shipley. “She’s an all-around great player. She handles the ball well, shoots well, and she’s just hard to guard.”
Chadwick gave the Lady Eagles all it could handle in the first half as the Lady Cardinals trailed by just three at the intermission, but Bradleyville, helped by a tremendous rebounding edge, outscored the home team 20-11 in the third quarter to create separation.
Having the advantage of carrying three post players standing at 5-foot-9 or above that saw significant playing time (Dorian Hayes, Sophia Meltke and Emily Williams), Bradleyville had no trouble finding success on the inside.
”The posts were a big help tonight,” Shipley said. “It was just about finishing, getting and-ones and getting to the free-throw line.”
Chadwick received strong showings from senior Brooklyn Driggers and freshman Stevi Jones, who posted 18 and 17 points, respectively. Unfortunately for the Lady Cardinals, there was just no answer for Bradleyville’s attack.
“We didn’t want to do too much tonight because it’s our districts on Saturday, but [Bradleyville] played really well tonight,” said Chadwick head coach David Argo.
Both teams could see each other again in the district championship game as the squads will both be competing in the Class 1, District 4 tournament starting this weekend. With the Lady Cardinals holding the No. 2 seed, Argo is excited about the possibility of a rematch with everything at stake.
“We just have to shoot the ball better and we definitely have to box out, especially when we’re giving up so much size to them,” added Argo. “They’re just a good team. We’re going to make a run in districts and hopefully we’ll see them again.”
Bradleyville takes on Lutie in the first round of district tournament action, while Chadwick squares off with Koshkonong. Both games will be played on Saturday.
Box Score
Bradleyville – 11 19 20 20 – 70
Chadwick – 11 16 11 17 – 55
Bradleyville – Kourtney Shipley 27, Sophia Meltke 14, Emily Williams 12, Gracie Shipley 12, Dorian Hayes 3, Anna Turner 2
Chadwick – Brooklyn Driggers 18, Stevi Jones 17, Haley Farris 10, Shayna Adams 3, Shelby Weter 3, Mikayla Bushong 2, Brianna Esiline 2
