By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
SPARTA — Strafford center Mattie Walker figured her first half Friday was so uneventful offensively that she wouldn’t have blamed Skyline if the Lady Tigers stopped worrying about her.
But Lady Indians point guard Emma Compton didn’t forget about Walker.
With Compton feeding her passes in the post, Walker scored nine of her 13 points in the fourth quarter to power Strafford past No. 1-seeded Skyline 65-53 in their Class 3 District 11 title tilt.
It’s Strafford’s seventh straight District championship.
“In the first half, I didn’t bring my ‘A game,’ so I think they slacked off of me a little bit,” Walker said. “Emma found me. It’s amazing to have a point guard like her. She will drive, my defender will slack off of me and she will give me a pass for an easy bucket. She is such a great point guard.”
Walker’s points in the paint were significant, with both teams struggling from 3-point land. Strafford made a modest four three 3-pointers and Skyline just three. The Lady Indians’ Lauren Jones had a trio of treys.
Defensively, Walker was in the spotlight all night. She was at the heart of a Strafford defensive effort that held Skyline’s Justine Barb to two points.
“I had a lot of help on her from the back side,” Walker said. “I tried fronting her as much as possible. If she got too far up, I would get behind her.”
When the teams met in the regular season earlier this month, Barb scored 26 points. Walker didn’t play in that matchup, one of five games she missed due to a sprained ankle.
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“We’re so fortunate to get her back,” Strafford coach Dustin Larson said. “(Doctors) thought it might be a bad sprain or maybe fracture. We were afraid we might not have her.”
“For a while, we were unsure if it was a sprain,” Walker said. “It was pretty painful. I was hoping it would be just a sprain, so I could get back. I really wanted to get back.”
For the second time in as many games, Strafford needed to rally from a third-quarter deficit and promptly dominated its opponent down the stretch. Skyline surged to a 49-44 lead, only to see the Lady Indians close the game with a 21-4 run.
“We got that look in our eyes defensively in the fourth quarter,” Larson said. “We locked in and showed how good defensively we can be. We applied more pressure, had solid positioning and didn’t let them get downhill. We disrupted a lot of things they wanted to do.”
Skyline started the game by making its first 10 field-goal attempts inside the 3-point line. But the Lady Tigers’ final seven possessions of the game saw them turn the ball over four times and misfire on three field-goal attempts.
Prior to Strafford’s 21-4 run, Skyline had outscored the Lady Indians 18-4 to begin the second half.
“It seemed like we used so much energy in the third quarter to get ahead,” Skyline coach Kevin Cheek said. “It’s funny how against good teams likes Strafford momentum can turn so fast. They got stuff rolling and we couldn’t ever grab the momentum back.
“Their four seniors were a little better at putting the finishing touches on the game than ours,” Cheek added.
Cheek praised his players for their perseverance, noting Barb, Alyee Gunter and Emily Edwards all came back this season from ACL tears and surgeries.
“It’s a great comeback story,” Cheek said. “For those kids to rehab and get back and step on the floor and compete at that level says a lot about their toughness and overall effort. They made a heck of a comeback to contribute.”
Miranda Quennoz’s 14 points topped Skyline (20-7).
Compton’s assists to Walker were only part of her starring effort. She scored a game-high 18 points. By repeatedly penetrating to the point, she drew an amazing 10 Skyline fouls all by herself.
“That was definitely a goal tonight because they had some key players guarding me,” Compton said. “When they had to switch off and have other players guard me, that threw their whole defense off.”
Compton has consistently drawn fouls all season.
“It all starts with the first step,” she said. “I feel my first step is very long and very fast. Then, you’ve got to get in (the paint) and be tough with the ball and then go up.”
Compton was 10-of-12 from the free-throw line.
“(Fouls) come with free throws,” she said. “I knew coming into this game I had to hit my free throws.”
“She was patient finding gaps and recognizing when to move and be aggressive,” Larson said. “As we got the lead back, they were going to have to extend and figure out how to keep her in front of them.”
“She’s hard to stay in front of,” Cheek said. “Compton does a nice job for them handling (the ball), putting it on the floor and she gets downhill real easy.”
The Strafford-Skyline rivalry has been intense over the years, but both sides report they share a mutual respect.
“They’re a great team,” Walker said. “They’re very physical, but respectful. It’s nice when you can play tough against someone and it’s still all good.”
Strafford (22-5) advances to Sectional play Wednesday at Willard against the Class 3 District 12 champion.
STRAFFORD (65) — Compton 4 10-13 18, Jones 4 4-4 15, Humble 2 6-9 10, Mullings 2 0-0 4, Walker 5 3-3 13, Frerking 1 0-0 2, Chrismasn1 0-0 3.
SKYLINE (53) — Quennoz 2 9-10 15, Gunter 5 0-0 11, Edge 5 2-2 12, Barb 0 2-4 2, Cheek 4 0-1 8, Edwards 1 0-0 2, Garrett 1 0-0 3.
Strafford 17 23 7 18 – 65
Skyline 18 13 18 4 – 53
3-point goals – Jones 3, Quennoz 2, Gunter, Chrisman.
