By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Marshfield, Mo. — Remember back when the iPad was first released?
That’s the last time Walnut Grove’s girls failed to win a district title.
The 2019 version of the Lady Tigers pushed the championship streak to nine straight during Friday’s Class 1 District 4 championship, downing Bradleyville 74-49.
Walnut Grove’s Faith Gilkey poured in 23 of her game-high 33 points in the third quarter to help break a close game wide open for the Lady Tigers.
After trailing for most of the first half, Walnut Grove cranked up the defensive intensity and forced a dozen turnovers in the third quarter, as Bradleyville was unable to match the frenzied tempo.
At the eye of the storm was Gilkey.
Walnut Grove head coach Rory Henry praised the sophomore playmaker for spearheading the Lady Tiger attack at both ends of the court.
“I credit Faith Gilkey, who came out immediately and just set the tone defensively,” Henry said. “We knew that’s what we needed, and that’s what she does — she kind of sets it for us defensively and gets up and pressures, and then runs and attacks.”
The Lady Tigers opened the quarter with an 18-5 blitz and ended it with a commanding, 57-31 lead.
For Bradleyville head coach Autumn Thomas, the eight-minute stretch saw her team transition quickly from an ideal position to an absolute nightmare scenario.
“We were exactly where we wanted to be at the half — only down six against Walnut Grove,” Thomas said. “I felt like we came up dead in the third quarter, and we turned the ball over a little too much. Their momentum stayed the same, and ours didn’t.”
The frantic pace also helped the Lady Tigers defend against Bradleyville standout Gracie Shipley, who caused a host of problems in the first half.
The senior forward led the Lady Eagles with 14 points on the evening.
“[Shipley] is a great player — even better than I had anticipated,” Henry said. “She’s very physical and strong. We wanted them to play at our pace and not let them slow down and ground-and-pound it inside, and we did a good job of making her run up and down — hopefully wearing her down a little bit.”
After the game, Henry reflected on his team’s district-title streak
“My first year at Walnut Grove, we played for a district title and we lost to a really good Verona team,” Henry said. “That’s a topic we don’t like talking about a lot, but we have a lot of tradition and we’re proud of it. When we win a district — and we’ve won nine in a row — sometimes you don’t even celebrate it, so I told the kids to enjoy this. It’s pretty exciting when you look back and think about that type of stretch.”
Walnut Grove’s Makayla McVay (18), Grace McPhail (11) and Lauren Johnson (10) all joined Gilkey in double figures.
Emily Williams and Maddie Shipley added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Bradleyville.
Despite the loss, Thomas praised her team for battling through adversity late in the season.
The Lady Eagles were forced to play without starting point guard Tay Sims in the title matchup due to a knee injury.
“Don’t feel bad, because Walnut Grove is a good team,” Thomas told her team in the locker room. “I thought they did a fabulous job on defense the first half — I couldn’t have asked them to play any better. They’ve had to adjust all season long, and they’ve done well at that. I’m just so proud.”
Class 1 District 4 Championship: Walnut Grove – 74, Bradleyville – 49
Bradleyville 14 06 11 18 — 49
Walnut Grove 14 12 31 17 — 74
Bradleyville scoring: Gracie Shipley – 14, Emily Williams – 12, Maddie Shipley – 11, Kate Turner – 6, Zoie Sims – 6
Walnut Grove scoring: Faith Gilkey – 33, Makayla McVay – 18, Grace McPhail – 11, Lauren Johnson – 10, Myranda McVay – 2
