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By Matt Turer — mturer@ky3.com
@MattTurer
Columbia, Mo. — For Lauren Wouters, Sierra Retherford and McKinsey Mountain, the past three days in Columbia amount to the perfect final chapter.
For three years, Skyline’s three seniors entered Mizzou Arena two wins from a state title, and for three years, they fell short. As freshmen, it was a runner-up ending to Crane. As sophomores, it was Crane in the finals again. As juniors, again, Crane, but this time in the semis.
But Saturday was Skyline’s turn. Mountain scored a game-high 20 points, Wouters added six and Retherford hit a late corner 3-pointer that elicited some of the loudest roars of the night, helping Skyline to a 69-42 victory over Adrian in the Class 2 girls title game.
“[This is] the best feeling ever,” Mountain said. “It’s something we worked for since November and all of high school. We’ve played basketball since the fourth grade. We played YMCA basketball at the courts. It’s all worked up to this moment and we did the best we could and it shows.”
CLICK HERE FOR ADRIAN VS. SKYLINE PHOTOS
Long-time Skyline head coach Kevin Cheek has lost sleep thinking about making sure this senior class leaves with a title, a restlessness that in part came from a comment by a former Lady Tiger that’s stuck with him over the past season.
“We graduated a kid last year and she was so upset, and the only thing she told me was, ‘I’m the only group that didn’t win one.’ And I said, ‘Well, no you’re not,’ but that was her mindset,” he said.
“I didn’t want [these three] to leave without winning, and a lot of that goes into how hard they work. To do what they’ve done is pretty tough. I couldn’t imagine not winning it for three years in a row and still having an urge or a willingness to keep trying. So that goes to our resilience and our toughness.”
Now, these Lady Tigers are ready to celebrate. When asked about what’s going to go on after leaving the arena, Mountain responded with a boisterous, “Stay up all night!”
“I’m going to eat somewhere and apparently I’m going to sit out in the hallway and make sure nobody leaves their room,” Cheek responded.
Skyline (31-2) won Saturday’s state title, its first since 2008 and sixth all-time, in the first quarter, jumping out to a 25-8 lead over Adrian (30-2) after eight minutes despite scoring just two points in the game’s first 121 seconds.
“We came out there and I wasn’t sure if a soccer game hadn’t broken out because we kind of kicked that thing around for three or four minutes,” Cheek said. “But we finally made a bucket and calmed down and and got some stuff going on the inside.”
Savannah Owen added 10 points and Kaylee DaMitz nine on a night that saw 10 Tigers contribute to the scoreboard, including Retherford’s late 3.
“Sierra is there all the time,” Cheek said of Retherford, who came in averaging a half a point per game. “She does the best that she can, and she understands that. She worked as hard as anybody, and all for the reason that she wanted to be a part of something. Tonight, when they threw that to the corner, I told her to shoot it. For me, that’s what high school sports are about. Kids getting opportunities that they may or may not get.”
For Adrian, Saturday’s loss was the second of their season to Skyline, falling 82-32 to the Lady Tigers in December. But despite that 50-point loss earlier this year, Adrian fought to the end.
“I don’t think this is a team that chooses to give up,” Adrian’s Sheldon Tallman said. “Whether we’re beat by 50 or one, we come out to fight. We come out ready to play with heart because that’s the type of team we are and that’s the type of team Skyline is too. We weren’t going to give up until the final buzzer.”
Bailey Reed led Adrian with 13 points, followed by Lauren Shipley’s 12.
This was Adrian’s first appearance in a state final and the first time the program has reached the Final Four.
“We ran into the buzzsaw named Skyline and met our end just like many others teams have this year,” Adrian head coach Shaun Bruto said.
“I’m so proud of these girls and how they fought. All year they overcame adversity and overcame things at times that looked insurmountable. And tonight, it’s hard to beat a team that’s that good defensively and could shoot like that, but the girls fought and didn’t quit tonight, and I appreciate that.”
Skyline shot 53.1 percent from the floor in the first half and 45.6 percent on the night, limiting Adrian to 33.3 percent.
FINAL: Skyline 69, Adrian 42
Adrian 8 15 7 12- 42
Skyline 25 17 14 13- 69
Adrian- Bailey Reed 12, Lauren Shipley 12, Jenna Shipley 6, Sheldon Tallman 4, Camyrn Pruitt 4, Anna Walley 3, Tearsten Keister 1
Skyline- McKinsey Mountain 20, Savannah Owen 10, Kaylee DaMitz 9, Sarah Cunningham 7, Lauren Wouters 6, Chloe Cole 6, Autumn Garrett 4, Sierra Retherford 3, Kristen Miller 2, Valen Logan 2
