Skyline’s road map to a potential 2017 Class 2 state championship may have begun around the same time as commencement day for Crane High School’s 2016 senior class.
Gone, at last, was a six-player senior class for the Crane girls’ basketball team that had won four straight state championships, denying Skyline four potential titles of its own in the process.
But after that group – Lexie Vaught, Emma Lander, Shelby Roder, Kylee Moore, Justeen Mahan and Keren Belin – had hung up their jerseys for the final time, Skyline became the instant preseason favorite in Class 2 heading into the 2016-17 season.
Skyline coach Kevin Cheek said it took a while for this Tigers team to find its mark. But judging by Skyline’s last two postseason games, when it held Pierce City to 24 points and Scotland County to 22 points, the Tigers have certainly found whatever was missing early in the season.
“In the years past, we’ve always had a focus – a goal – of where we wanted to be,” said Skyline coach Kevin Cheek. “All those (Crane) kids graduated and it probably took us the first two weeks of practice and then two to three weeks at the start of the season to figure out where we needed to be and where we’re headed.”
Skyline (30-2 overall) meets Adrian (30-1 overall) at 8:10 p.m. Saturday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. Skyline beat Adrian 82-32 in a neutral-site game in mid-December, although Cheek seemed to indicate Adrian was dealing with injury issues in that game.
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“We’re all excited to be back here and then to get back to the game we’ve been waiting for all season,” said Skyline senior Kaylee DaMitz. “We’ve been working our butts off since November. It’s all paid off to get back where we want to be.”
Adrian had never to been to state in girls’ basketball before this season.
Skyline, on the other hand, has been here a lot, but especially recently.
This weekend marks Skyline’s fifth consecutive final four appearance, and 13th overall.
Crane defeated Skyline at state the past four years, including a narrow win in a 2016 semifinal meeting (56-50) and a similar outcome (58-51) in the 2015 Class 2 title game. Crane also beat Skyline in the 2014 Class 2 title game.
“Those (Crane) kids are gone, but this kid here (McKinsey Mountain) is going to graduate having never not gone to a final four, and (DaMitz) has never not been,” Cheek said. “I think probably more so than Crane being gone is we have to finish something. If you keep staying at No. 2 or No. 3, then something else had to change.
“I thought, this year, we’re so much better with our zone offense. Defensively, we’re a lot better in the half-court set than we have been. As a group, we’ve had the focus that, ‘Hey, we have to go try to get back (on top). Let’s try to go win one.”
Defense is Skyline’s calling card. The Tigers go three or four players deep on their bench and always have fresh legs available for their turnover-creating full-court press.
Skyline’s only two losses this season are to Strafford, which is playing in the Class 3 title game on Saturday, and Lebanon, which won a district title in Class 5.
After imposing its defensive will on Scotland County, Cheek said his players reached a new level of in-game focus.
“For the first time, probably in a while, I really saw an emotion and a ‘whatever we have to do to will ourselves to victory’ attitude,” Cheek said. “Overall, it was one of the better team efforts we’ve had.”
Adrian’s led by the senior duo of Lauren Shipley (17.3 ppg) and Bailey Reed (13.9 ppg), along with 5’9” freshman guard Jenna Shipley (14.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg).
Meanwhile, Skyline’s led by DaMitz (14 ppg) and Mountain (11 ppg). Mountain, one of three seniors on the team and the only senior starter, is eager to end a nearly decade-long state title drought for Skyline.
“It’s a really, really good feeling and something we’ve been working for all season,” Mountain said. “It’s something we really want and we’re going to work as hard as we can to get it.”
