By Amanda Perkins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Lady Zizzers have advanced to the Final Four for the first time since 1998.
West Plains jumped out to a 14-0 lead and never relinquished control over the Carl Junction Lady Bulldogs Saturday in a class 5 quarterfinal showdown, claiming a 61-42 victory.
“We came out strong and that’s what we were hoping for,” said West Plains’ leading scorer Ashton Judd, who put up 22 points. “We haven’t done that in a while, so that was really encouraging and kind of kept us going. I’m really proud of how we played and we did the little things right, and that’s what matters.”
Last season, Carl Junction ended the Lady Zizzers’ season in the sectional round of the state tournament.
“When a team like that knocks you out in previous years, you’re going to kind of hold a grudge, so it lit a fire under us,” said West Plains senior MacKenzie Brunson. “We wanted to go out and we wanted to be strong the whole game and that’s exactly what we did. It doesn’t really matter who scores as long as we’re all doing our part and acting as a family.”
West Plains head coach Scott Womack agreed that Carl Junction has been viewed as a bit of a nemesis for his team. “They have been the one to knock us out the last few times,” he said, adding that Carl Junction head coach Brad Shorter has knocked his teams out of the playoffs twice at Carl Junction and twice at Webb City, including in the quarterfinal round in 2011.
“We’ve had some battles over the years between Coach Womack and myself with some really good teams, and we ran into a really good team today,” said Coach Shorter.
West Plains held Lady Bulldogs’ Destiny Buerge to just six points until late in the third quarter; she averages 25 ppg and recently joined the 1,000-point club as a sophomore. Buerge’s shooting heated up late in the third and she connected twice from downtown, then added 8 points in the final frame to finish with 20 points.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
Drew Harris put the Lady Zizzers on the board first, followed by three from Georgia Osborn. Ashton Judd’s steal and a layup extended the lead, and her defensive rebound led to a bucket and a point from the charity stripe from Allyssa Joyner. Joyner scored again, and Judd laid one in underneath to bring the team out to a 14-0 lead. Destiny Buerge put the Lady Bulldogs on the board with three points from the free throw line and Klohe Burk added a layup in the frame. The Zizzers led 18-5 after 1.
West Plains continued to dominate the boards in the second and extended their lead to 25-11 going into the half, capped off by an Ashton Judd jumper at the buzzer.
The Lady Zizzers extended their lead to 22 points in the third before Destiny Buerge fired off two shots from downtown to close the frame.
West Plains narrowly outscored the Lady Bulldogs in the fourth thanks in part to 10 points from the free throw line and key buckets from MacKenzie Brunson, Zoey Williams, and Georgia Osborn. Buerge and Burk each added two triples for Carl Junction.
Carl Junction will graduate one senior. “We are really young, and I know West Plains is young as well,” said Coach Shorter. He said the early deficit didn’t help his team, nor did West Plains’ performance on the boards. “But our kids fought,” he said. “It’s been a difficult season for everybody,” he added, noting his team’s loss of 6’1” forward Kylie Scott to injury in addition to quarantines and other challenges. “If you’d have told me we’d be 18-9 on the season with so many factors in play, I’d take it,” he said. “I’m certainly very proud of these kids.”
Coach Womack said it “wasn’t the prettiest of games,” but he is proud of his team. “I’m just so happy for these girls,” he said. “They do such a good job preparing themselves. They’ve worked so hard for this; they’ve had this goal. We’re still working, have got some work to do, but we’re really happy where we’re at.”
Womack is ready to get back to the Final Four. “I’ve experienced it before, it’s a great experience…I want them to experience it, because it’s going to be memories for a lifetime for them.”
The Lady Zizzers, now 27-3 on the year, take on Union at 5 pm in the JQH Arena in Springfield.
Scoring for West Plains: Ashton Judd, 22; Allyssa Joyner, 11; MacKenzie Brunson, 8; Georgia Osborn, 7; Drew Harris, 4; Zoey Williams, 4; Jade Barry, 3; Mary Claire Gohn, 2.
Scoring for Carl Junction: Destiny Buerge, 20; Klohe Burk, 12; Jessa Hylton, 6; Hannah Lee, 2; Anna Burch, 2.
