By Stephen Buus (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Two of the area’s most storied girls basketball programs renewed their rivalry Saturday night in Stockton with the Class 3 District 13 championship at stake. Skyline defeated Stockton 51-31 in a battle of the Lady Tigers.
Skyline dictated the pace from tip to buzzer, never trailing and only facing one tie at 14-14 early in the second quarter. However, it wasn’t until senior Emma Crawford’s end-of-the-half three-pointer that Skyline felt fully in control, taking a 26-18 advantage into the locker room. Crawford added another big trey near the end of the third quarter to put her team up by a dozen counters.
Skyline coach Kevin Cheek said his team showed a balanced effort on both ends of the floor, naming the likes of Riley Conly, Miranda Quennoz, Grace Edge, Justine Barb, Taylor Hunt and Madison Ponder as key contributors.
“Overall we did great in the half-court set,” Cheek said. “We hadn’t been great at that all year. We were able to get some transition stuff.”
Skyline’s one-on-one defense forced Stockton away from shots they wanted to take, as Stockton coach Mike Kenney acknowledged.
“The basket gets a little bit smaller and gets to moving when you get sped up,” Kenney said. “They sped us up quite a bit. They [Skyline] did a really good job of attacking the ball and rotating, and so we shot with pressure all night. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Skyline.”
“We talked at halftime about getting them pushed out on the floor, them playing above the volleyball line,” Cheek said. “I thought we rebounded better in the second half, especially on the defensive end.”
Skyline was led by junior Alyee Gunter with 13 points while classmate Quennoz added 11. Junior Summer Kenney, Mike’s daughter, paced Stockton with 10 points.
Stockton graduates one senior, Jenna Rickman. Another senior, Callee Henson, died in a single-vehicle accident in December and her loss continued to be felt by her teammates.
“It’s still pretty hard for us,” Coach Kenney said about Henson. “She was a huge part of what we did. She brought heart and soul every game. You don’t say ‘once a Tiger, always a Tiger’ just to have something to say, because it means something to them. For the girls to come back and to have a shot on our home court against a team like Skyline, it says a lot to the credit of where they’ve come.”
Skyline hosts Barstow in the Class 3 state sectionals on Wednesday.
Stockton 10 8 7 6—31
Skyline 14 12 11 14—51
Stockton: Summer Kenney 10, Jenna Rickman 6, Kara Hedrick 6, Ellie Flora 5, Kylie Hunter 4.
Skyline: Alyee Gunter 13, Miranda Quennoz 11, Justine Barb 9, Emma Crawford 8, Grace Edge 6, Taylor Hunt 2.
3-point goals: Flora, Gunter 2, Crawford 2.
