By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SPRINGFIELD – This season marks the dawn of a new era for the Kickapoo girls basketball team, which must find a way to replace one of the top players in the history of the program.
Baylor signee Bella Fontleroy graduated after leading the Chiefs to back-to-back Final Four appearances, including a runner-up finish last winter. She finished her career with a slew of individual honors, including being named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year and Miss Show-Me Basketball.
With Fontleroy and fellow 2022 graduates Kaya Goldsby and Brooke Turner all departing, the Chiefs lost 67 percent of their scoring and 61 percent of their rebounding from last season’s 28-4 team.
But the returning and new Kickapoo players hope to continue a run of success that includes winning district championships in seven of the past eight seasons – and five in a row.
“Our players this year have an opportunity to step into new roles,” Kickapoo coach Jim Pendergrass said. “Keys to our success will be how well we rebound, defend and take care of the basketball. Due to the fact that our team hasn’t played a lot of games together, I look forward to watching them develop from the beginning to the end of the season.”
The Chiefs will rely on a solid group of upperclassmen leaders that includes all-conference honorees Kya Johnson and Miya Nieto.
Johnson, a 5-foot-6 junior guard, is poised to start for the third consecutive season. She is Kickapoo’s top returning rebounder, averaging 5.4 per game last winter, and she added 7.1 points a night. Pendergrass touted Johnson’s court awareness, basketball intelligence and defensive abilities.
Nieto, a 5-foot-6 senior, averaged 7.5 points per game last year – tops among returning Chiefs.
“I am really excited about this upcoming season because we have great team chemistry,” Nieto said. “Our bond on and off the court will help us grow and improve together.”
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Pengergrass added that 6-foot-3 senior Delainey Wylie, who has committed to Division II Newman University, played a “pivotal role” in the team’s district championship last winter.
She echoed Nieto’s excitement for the season.
“I’m looking forward to playing with this group of girls because I feel like we get along well and work hard with each other,” Wylie said.
Juniors Ari Mosely and Raigan Smith are also poised to take on some additional responsibilities this season. Mosley is an athletic, speedy guard who averaged 3.3 points and 1.7 steals a night last fall, while Smith is a 3-point threat.
At 5-foot-10, returning sophomore Mikayla Pilley “can play a lot of positions on the court,” Pendergrass said. She averaged 2.7 points and 1.8 rebounds off the bench as a freshman and could improve those totals with a larger role this year.
The coach added that sophomores Mikayla Smith and Emily Crain give the Chiefs additional 3-point options, while 6-foot classmate Allison Scott brings a “strong inside presence” to the post.
Freshmen Josie Salazar and Katie Vaughan are also expected to compete for playing time.
Following a November 14 jamboree at Republic, the Chiefs will open the regular season when Joplin visits on November 18. Kickapoo will then compete in four consecutive tournaments – the Willard Basketball Classic, Freeman Lady Eagle Classic (Joplin), Stephanie Phillips Classic (home) and Pink & White Classic (Drury) before opening its Ozark Conference schedule on January 5 at Rolla.
