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By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
BOLIVAR – West Plains senior Ashton Judd will spend the next four years at Mizzou.
But the final two games of her high school career will be on the campus of Missouri State.
Judd led all scorers with 27 points as the Zizzers punched their ticket to the Class 5 Final Four with a 55-46 quarterfinal victory over Carl Junction at the Meyer Wellness Center on Saturday.
Ranked second in the state, the Zizzers (25-4) will play Smithville (21-8) at noon Friday at JQH Arena for a spot in a second consecutive state championship game. After finishing as the runner-up last year, the Zizzers return to Springfield in search of the school’s first state title since 1998.
“Besides looking at that state title, we’re guaranteed two more games,” Judd said. “And that means a lot to me as a senior, getting to end my season by playing the most amount of games that I can. But we’re looking at that state title. We have one more game to focus on before we get there.”
The Zizzers have yet to lose an in-class game this year, their defense holding opponents to an average of 35.7 points per game entering Saturday’s matchup against a familiar playoff foe.
Carl Junction beat West Plains in the 2020 district title game en route to a 28-0 season that ended with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. After the teams were redistricted last season, they met again in the quarterfinals and West Plains beat Carl Junction to reach the Final Four.
Judd ensured this game would finish like last year’s by outdueling Carl Junction standout Destiny Buerge, who finished with 24. But 18 of those came in the first half, as the Zizzers made some defensive adjustments and held the junior to just six points over the final two quarters.
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“We knew going into it how much she averaged and that she was a creator for their team,” Judd said. “We had to focus on her and keep her to a minimum. We knew we weren’t going to hold her to just a couple points here and there, but I thought we did a good job executing.”
Offensively, Judd slashed her way through Carl Junction’s 2-3 zone defense.
She scored 14 points in the first half and 13 in the second as the Zizzers pulled away late, turning a two-point halftime deficit into an 11-point advantage midway through the fourth quarter.
“The post was open all night,” Judd said. “We just had to get the pass down there. We kind of struggled in the first half to do that, but we did a really good job in the second half.”
Carl Junction led by as many as eight points in the second quarter, but that all but evaporated as the Zizzers closed the frame on a 7-1 run to enter the break with momentum.
“We took some tough shots and had an opportunity to increase our lead a little bit,” Bulldogs coach Brad Shorter said. “They rebounded well. We had a few turnovers there in the second quarter that led to baskets for them and put them on the line a little bit early in that second quarter. Those are things we have to be a little bit better at.”
Carl Junction fought back to within five points late in the fourth quarter, with 6-foot-1 sophomore Kylie Scott converting an and-one play to make it 49-44 with 2:11 remaining. But the Bulldogs weren’t able to come closer, and the Zizzers closed the game on a 6-2 run to close things out.
“They got aggressive with us when they were behind,” West Plains coach Scott Womack said. “We were able to get the ball to the middle of the floor and get some easy shots. I thought we kind of wore them out towards the end.”
Georgia Osborn added eight points for the Zizzers, while 6-foot sophomore Allyssa Joyner helped the 6-foot Judd essentially neutralize Scott down low. Scott finished with seven points.
Because next week is the district’s spring break, Womack said the Zizzers would try to practice as close to noon as possible for the next few days to mimic the start time of Friday’s semifinal.
They plan to arrive in Springfield on Thursday.
“It’s a great feeling,” Womack said. “These girls worked so hard last year to get there. Their goal after we walked out after getting second was to get back – and it’s hard to get there. They’ve had a bullseye on their back all year long and they’ve met the bell every time. I’m excited for them.”
Carl Junction finished 23-8, clinching its seventh consecutive district championship.
“You tip your hat to them,” Shorter said of West Plains. “That’s a great basketball team there. They played really well and I think we gave them everything we wanted – and more.”
