By Chris Parker
The Walnut Grove girls bounced back from a semifinal loss on Friday night to beat South Iron 52-40 and claim the Class 1 third place trophy.
It is the third consecutive season that Walnut Grove finished the season with a win after winning state titles in each of the past two seasons. It is the 11th team trophy in Walnut Grove girls’ basketball history with six titles, three runner-up finishes and two third-place finishes.
Walnut Grove started out a little sluggish leading South Iron by just one point at 14-13 after the first quarter.
The Lady Tigers started to pull away in the second quarter with a 16-11 advantage in the frame and a 30-24 lead at the break. Walnut Grove put the hammer down in the third quarter with a 17-8 margin to extend its lead to 47-32.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Walnut Grove, as it has many times over the last four years, won behind the all-state trio of seniors Faith Gilkey, Makyla McVay and Lauren Johnson. That trio scored 21, 20 and 11 points, respectively, to account for every Walnut Grove basket. That trio went 20-for-43 from the field while the rest of the roster went 0-for-4.
The Lady Tigers won the turnover battle with South Iron turning it over 18 times to Walnut Grove’s 10. Walnut Grove had 12 steals in the game with Gilkey, McVay and Johnson all tying for the team lead at three steals each.
For the game, Walnut Grove shot 42.6% from the field to South Iron’s 34.2%.
Walnut Grove graduates a decorated senior class that includes Sadye Crump, April Countryman, Taylor Gold, Madalyn Hughes and Morgan Hailey in addition to Gilkey, Johnson and McVay. That group accounted for 1,403 of Walnut Grove’s 1,557 points (90%) entering the final four. The posted a record of 105-19 with four district titles, three final four appearances and two state titles in their careers.
