By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Kickapoo Lady Chiefs are headed back the championship. But this time, it’s the Pink Division championship of the Pink and White Lady Classic.
Last year, the top-seeded Lady Chiefs rolled to a White Division title and are looking to bring home another championship trophy after holding off No. 4 Cabot, Ark., 55-43 in Wednesday night’s semifinals at the O’Reilly Family Event Center.
“I’m really proud of the way we played,” Kickapoo coach Jim Pendergrass said. “We played a very good team tonight, and it took all of our kids doing exactly what they need to do to defend that team. They’re a hard team to guard because they’ve got a lot of weapons and a lot of people that can score, and they just shoot the ball really, really well. I was proud of our kids the way they played and the way we executed.”
The Lady Chiefs, who improved to 9-1, jumped out to a 6-0 lead and capped the quarter on a high-low play from Kya Johnson to Karli Facklam to give Kickapoo a 20-9 first-quarter advantage.
Cabot came charging back in the second quarter, but Bella Fontleroy nearly outscored the Panthers as she tallied 12 points in a variety of ways – jump shot from the baseline, from the elbow, on a high-low and two 3-pointers from the baseline.
“I honestly think I just had like a momentum kind of flowing,” said the Baylor signee, who scored a game-high 31 points. “We were moving the ball really well and I feel like that’s when my shots fell tonight. That wouldn’t have been possible without my teammates. We just were super unselfish this game, so it was really nice.”
Not only was the Kickapoo offense rolling, the defense held the Panthers at bay, especially in the second half, and Fontleroy played a role there as well.
“I thought the whole game, we made it tough on them to score,” Pendergrass said. “We went through a little bit of a lull in the first half. We had a tough time getting matched up, and when we couldn’t get matched up, they made shots. In the second half, we did a better job of that.
“We need (Bella) to play well every night. I know she had those points, but really what she helped a lot on was on the defensive end, being able to help guard their best player. She’s very good all-around player and she played great tonight.”
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Having a deep bench and being able to rotate several players in and out during a four-games-in-four-days tournament helps a team like Kickapoo be able to have fresh legs.
“Absolutely,” Fontleroy said. “It helps that we have a lot of young kids, too, that are here and show up every day to help out, too. So, whenever we need a break, we have fresh legs on the bench, and it just keeps all of us fresh.”
And they will need to be ready as they face Republic for the Pink Division title and their second straight in this tournament.
“It’s very, very exciting,” Fontleroy said. “We get up every morning and just work every day. And like, it’s almost an expectation for us to make it back here just because of the amount of work we put in. We made it to state last year, too, so we know what it takes to get here.”
(1) KICKAPOO 55, (4) CABOT, ARK. 43
Pink and White Lady Classic
Pink Semifinal
CABOT, ARK. 9-14-9-11—43
KICKAPOO 20-12-12-11—55
(4) CABOT, ARK. – Jenna Cook 12, Laylah Reese 19, Jaycie Cook 12.
(1) KICKAPOO (9-1) – Bella Fontleroy 31, Brooke Turner 2, Kaya Goldsby 8, Miya Nieto 2, Kya Johnson 8, Karli Facklam 4.
Up next: Pink championship – Kickapoo vs. Republic, 1 p.m., Thursday, O’Reilly Family Event Center; third place – Cabot, Ark., vs. Carthage, 4 p.m., Thursday, OFEC
