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By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
MARSHFIELD — The West Plains offense wasn’t particularly effective on Friday night.
With the way the Zizzers played defense, it didn’t have to be.
West Plains held Rolla to just two points in the entire first half and rode the momentum to a 41-28 victory in the Class 5 District 5 championship game at Marshfield High School.
It is the third straight district title for the Zizzers, who will play Carl Junction at 1 p.m. next Saturday, March 12, at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar for a spot in the Final Four.
Ranked second among Class 5 schools, West Plains (24-4) held seventh-ranked Rolla (22-7) scoreless until there was 2:02 left in the second quarter, at which point the Zizzers led 19-0.
“The girls know their roles and do what they’re supposed to do,” West Plains coach Scott Womack said. “They really make it a team effort on the defensive end and that showed tonight.”
The stellar defensive effort overshadowed Rolla’s own defensive display. The Bulldogs held West Plains to just six points in the first quarter – all scored by Mizzou commit Ashton Judd.
The senior went on to score the first nine points of the game and led all scorers with 14.
“Our defense was really good, but offensively we struggled,” Womack said. “Ashton carried us during that time. … They just kept fighting and I’m really proud of them.”
West Plains’ defensive strategy focused on shutting down all-state forward Savannah Campbell, who didn’t get on the scoresheet until the fourth quarter and finished with just six points.
“We knew defensively that we had to lock down on Campbell and that we had to close out on shooters,” Judd said. “That’s just what we did. We did a really good job executing.”
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Womack had a feeling the team would be up to the task after the Bulldogs dropped 63 points on the Zizzers in a regular-season meeting last month. West Plains ultimately won by 14, but it was one of just three games all season that the ordinarily solid defense allowed more than 50 points.
“Yesterday, when we started going through the scouting report, I felt like we could defend about all they had or could show us,” Womack said. “Even Ashton this morning came up to me this morning and said ‘Coach, I think defensively we’re going to be fine tonight.’ Last time we played them, we gave up (63) points. But our defense was right there. We were closing out on their shooters – and we knew they had some good shooters.”
Rolla’s shooters found some success in a second half in which they outscored West Plains 26-20. But they were unable to overcome the slow start and never came within 13 points.
“We came out timid,” Bulldogs coach Charley Parker said. “They’re a veteran team. They’ve been to the Final Four. They’ve played in multiple district championships. They showed that veteran presence and we just couldn’t get it going offensively, either. We were rushing shots. We were doing what we needed to do defensively, we just couldn’t get it going on the offensive end.”
The Bulldogs held Judd to just three points in the second half, but Allyssa Joyner helped fill the void. The sophomore scored all 10 of her points after halftime — half of the team’s total in that frame.
“Their defense was just impeccable,” Joyner said. “They were so big inside. They could really come out on the threes that we were about to shoot and we could never kick it inside.”
That made West Plains’ defensive display all the more impressive.
“These girls are just so resilient,” Womack said. “They just keep fighting and stress the defensive end. They’re just a great group and a fun group to coach.”
West Plains has not lost an in-class game since falling to Whitfield in last year’s state title game. Their only losses this season have been to Nixa, Kickapoo, Strafford and Fair Grove — a game in which Judd got into early foul trouble.
Now the Zizzers are just one more in-class win away from heading back to the Final Four – and three wins from the state championship that eluded them last year.
“I think anybody’s goal as a postseason player – and being in the postseason – you want to make it all the way,” said Judd, the team’s lone senior. “But you have to take it game by game. This our second step to getting there. I’m super excited.”
