By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Many great players have suited up for the Skyline Lady Tigers over the years, but few – if any – can match what Ashlen Garrett did on Thursday night.
Garrett erupted for 43 points to lead Skyline over Fair Grove 79-63 in a showdown of state-ranked teams.
Afterwards, Garrett credited her teammates for fueling the epic performance.
“I honestly think it’s just teammates around me hyping me up,” said Garrett, a junior guard who earned all-state honors last season. “I make one shot and they all cheer. Their confidence helps a lot.”
Skyline coach Kevin Cheek said he would need to check the record book to confirm if Garrett set the program’s all-time single-game scoring mark.
Without a doubt, Garrett’s 43 points are the most for any player during Cheek’s tenure at Skyline, which dates back to the 1999-2000 season and includes four state championship-winning teams.
Garrett scored 39 in a win over Clever last season. She suffered a sprained ankle at the start of this season but has finally started to turn the corner in recent weeks.
“It took a while for her to recover. Through the Pink and White, she wasn’t fully healthy,” Cheek said. “Even at our Skyline Tournament, she was healthy but struggled a bit and kind of got down on herself. Tonight, I think you could tell when we walked on the floor that she had a little bit of a different look to her.”
Skyline (19-2 overall, No. 1 in Class 2 MBCA rankings) raced out to a 29-20 lead after one quarter. Garrett scored 17 in the opening frame.
“I thought we let her go right way too much,” said Fair Grove coach Gary Greene. “When she wanted to go right, she went right. That’s on us. We have to fix that.”
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Skyline led 44-33 at halftime. The Lady Tigers made seven 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 10 overall.
“That first half was probably as good of a girls’ game I’ve seen offensively in a long time,” Cheek said. “We were complaining about not getting stops, but golly, Fair Grove was playing really well offensively and Ashton (Bell) had it going on. Some nights, good offense is better than great defense.”
Ashton Bell, who led Fair Grove with 24 points, helped the Lady Eagles pull to within 56-53 late in the third quarter.
But Skyline weathered the storm and began the fourth with an 8-2 run to go up for good. A deep 3-pointer from Garrett pushed Skyline’s lead to 71-59 and put an exclamation point on a memorable night.
“If you don’t enjoy this one, then you should take a long look in the mirror and figure out what you’re doing,” Cheek said. “These are the kind of games you truly want to play.”
Garrett admitted she was feeling in the zone for much of the night.
“A little bit, yeah,” Garrett said. “I make one 3-pointer and then I feel confident. If I miss one, I may not shoot right away next time.”
Skyline’s 79 points were by far the most Fair Grove has allowed in a game this season. El Dorado Springs held the previous benchmark with 64. The Lady Eagles had yielded just 39.8 points per game entering Thursday’s contest.
“For us to give up 79 points in this gym with the team we have, it’s unacceptable. Any time you lose, you go back and ask, ‘What caused us to lose?’” Greene said. “Well, we had one kid score 43. In the first half, we got behind because we couldn’t make free throws. You don’t make free throws, you miss some layups and then you don’t guard one kid like that, it’s really hard to overcome that.”
The victory gives Skyline a season sweep over their Mid-Lakes Conference rivals. The Lady Tigers also beat Fair Grove (17-6 overall, No. 2 in Class 3 MBCA rankings) in the finals of the Skyline Tournament in early January.
Skyline was hungry for payback after Fair Grove beat the Lady Tigers 61-42 in the Class 3 final four last season on the way to capturing the school’s first state championship.
“We took that (loss) hard, I would say,” Kenzi Cheek said. “We played really well as a team tonight.”
Skyline’s had the edge in recent matchups against Fair Grove though, going 6-2 against the Lady Eagles since 2020.
“When we were younger, we didn’t really beat Fair Grove a lot,” Kenzi Cheek said. “It’s amazing how we’ve gotten better together.”
Skyline will have a different path to state this season. The Lady Tigers are now in Class 2.
But Skyline has already made its presence known among its new competition, highlighted by a mid-December win over defending Class 2 state champion Tipton.
Skyline and Tipton could meet again in the state quarterfinal round.
“I think we proved that since we beat one of our biggest rivals, we have the potential to beat anyone,” Garrett said. “Tonight gives us a lot of confidence going forward.”
Skyline 79, Fair Grove 63
Skyline 29 15 16 19 — 79
Fair Grove 20 13 22 8 — 63
Skyline (19-2 overall, 2-0 Mid-Lakes) – Ashlen Garrett 43, Kenzi Cheek 11, Autumn Baldwin 8, Sadie Redd 6, Shelby Redd 5, Ashton Cooley 4, Jayln Barb 2
Fair Grove (17-6 overall, 2-1 Mid-Lakes) – Ashton Bell 24, Abbey Green 15, Cam Hart 11, Allison Findley 7, Brooke Daniels 4, Hannah Maxwell 2
