A picture is worth 1,000 words.
The photos in the Walnut Grove locker room are worth one thing: motivation.
The Lady Tigers lost to Naylor 37-32 in the state semifinals to snap a streak of three consecutive state title and four consecutive state title game appearances.
“We have some pictures of Naylor coming off the floor celebrating and smiling and we talked a lot about the feeling and what it felt like,” Walnut Grove head coach Rory Henry said.
Walnut Grove has just four losses on the year which came to Strafford, Pierce City, Gainesville and Springfield Catholic. The first three of those teams won district titles in larger classes this year, and Strafford is playing for a Class 3 State Title.
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Even with the quality of the losses, Walnut Grove fell to No. 4 in the state coaches poll. The Lady Tigers continued to trust the process and hit their stride for the state tournament remembering the bitterness of the loss in the semifinals from last season.
“We talk every day about the process. That’s a big thing, and what it takes. We had everybody returning, so we just talked about not being content and making sure we played hungry and battled, and they did that. Especially when it came down to playoff time, you really could see a different look in their eye and determination to get back to this point,” Henry said.
On the other side of the court will be the team that took the No. 1 ranking from Walnut Grove in one-loss Mercer. Mercer is 30-1 on the season and beat South Iron 63-43 in the semifinals. In the sectional round Mercer beat No. 2 ranked Jefferson by 17, 53-36.
Walnut Grove will have to be strong on defense as Mercer loves to shoot three-pointers with 264 makes coming into the Final Four on 679 attempts. In sum, 42-perecent of Mercer’s attempts from the field come from behind the arc. The Lady Cardinals average 71.2 points per game.
The Lady Tigers do bring big game experience to the floor with several players seeing time with the 2015 state championship team, but that doesn’t make this trip any less special.
“I get nervous. This is our sixth year and it doesn’t get old. You still get butterflies. You still get nervous,” Henry said.
Walnut Grove and Mercer tip off at 12:50 p.m. on Saturday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia with a Class 1 State Championship on the line.
