By Chris Parker
Skyline girls basketball is known for its pressing defensive style.
The Lady Tigers knew that their defense would be there in the Class 2 state championship game.
What was in question was the offense against a Principia team that was anchored in the paint by double-double machine Dasia Scott.
“Coach (Steve) Sanders and I talked in the hotel room today, and I said I think we can guard them but I am not sure if we can score,” said Skyline head coach Kevin Cheek.
Junior Ashlen Garrett emphatically erased those concerns with one of the single-best scoring halves in the history of the Show-Me Showdown.
Garrett scored 25 first-half points to help Skyline build a commanding first-half lead on the way to a 61-47 state championship game win.
“I am not very smart. I don’t look very smart, but I know that when she (Garrett) gets that started we all know where the basketball needs to go,” Cheek said.
Garrett got it done from all levels knocking down 10 of 15 shots from the field and four of six shots from three. The 25-point half is tied for the third-best scoring half in Show-Me Showdown history. She finished with 37 points on 14-for-25 shooting.
“I really think it is my teammates. They had good passes, and they hype me up whenever anything goes in and it fuels me for the next one,” Garrett said.
Skyline’s defense did the rest.
The Lady Tigers forced 16 turnovers in the game and led by as many as 22 points late in the first half.
“I think defensively today that everybody was locked in,” Cheek said. “When this group of kids decides that they are going to guard, they can make life tough on some kids. The amount of ball pressure that Ashlen, Shelby, and Autumn that can put on the basketball makes it really hard for other teams to get into their stuff and run what they want to run.”
The championship is the fifth for coach Kevin Cheek. The last time he coached Skyline to a state title in 2017, his daughter Kenzi was on the bench watching and hoping she would one day get a chance. This time Kenzi and her fellow juniors were instrumental in bringing home the title.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“I was on the bench the last time he won a final four and now (we all) got him his fifth ring,” Kenzi Cheek said.
The junior class is especially close as they have been playing together since grade school.
“It means a lot to me because I have played with a lot of these girls for so long and we have talked about winning a championship forever,” Garrett said. “It excites me so much that we got to win, especially with one of my favorite groups of girls.”
The championship marks the program’s seventh state title, which is tied for second-most in MSHSAA history.
The success of the program is rooted in familial and community ties that go beyond just the Cheeks.
“Kenzi’s mom and both her aunts won (a state title). Kenzi was lucky enough to get one done today. Ashlen Garrett’s sister won one. There is a whole bunch of kids who have watched other groups do it,” Coach Cheek said. “It goes back to where these kids grew up. We brought 240 kids on a pep bus today. Today they let out at noon and brought 125 or 130 not counting everybody else that showed up. The community support has always been awesome. It has never been a deal where we go to the administration or school board and say ‘we kind of need this’ or ‘can we do this’. They say ‘is it something your kids need’ and they say yes. The whole community is that way. It doesn’t matter if it is FFA or band or choir or athletics or academics. All of these kids grew up in a place where they take pride in being a Tiger. Not everybody gets to experience that. These girls got to experience this, which is fantastic. They also grew up in a community where things are expected and you are expected to do things the right way, but also, they are always going to have all of the support they need. People ask me what Skyline has going on. That is what Skyline has going on.”
Skyline finishes the season with a 30-2 record overall.
The win marked the end of the high school careers for seniors Riley James and Ashton Cooley.
