By Michael Smith (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
LEE’S SUMMIT —Kickapoo was in trouble.
The Chiefs were ahead 43-27 late in the third period after junior Mikayla Pilley made a putback layup after a missed free throw from senior Ari Mosley in a Class 6 girls basketball quarterfinals matchup with Lee’s Summit.
From there, however, the Chiefs struggled with turnovers and didn’t score a point in more than seven minutes. That led the Tigers going on a 14-2 run that lasted from late in the third to about the 3-minute mark in fourth.
Lee’s Summit got the lead down to 45-41 before Pilley finally ended her team’s drought with a running floater that she banked in to increase the advantage to six. The Chiefs managed to go 6-for-6 from the free throw line the rest of the way as they staved off Lee’s Summit comeback attempt in a 53-48 win Friday at Lee’s Summit High School.
“There were a couple of times where I could have taken the ball, but I didn’t,” Pilley said. “After those turnovers, in my mind I thought, ‘OK we have to get a bucket right now and I am taking this ball.’ Unlike some of my others, (the floater) was able to fall in.”
Kickapoo will make its third state semifinal appearance in the past four years and will take on Cor Jesu Academy at 2 p.m. next Friday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
After the final buzzer sounded, the Chiefs celebrated by leaping up and down and screaming on the court. After that, the players ran toward first-year head coach Leslie Hanchey and gave her a group hug and started jumping up and down once again.
Hanchey said she managed to keep her composure, but it took every ounce of restraint to not let all her emotions out.
“It took everything I had not to cry my eyes out,” Hanchey said.
Pilley had similar sentiments.
“We love each other so much. We are tight as a team,” Pilley said.
After the Tigers took a 4-0 lead early in the contest, the Chiefs countered with an 8-0 run and led for the remainder of the game. They led 15-12 after the first period and went into halftime up 28-24. Junior Mikayla Smith gave her team a big boost by scoring eight of her 10 points in the first half, which included two big 3-pointers in the second period.
The 29-1 Chiefs began to pull away in the third period as they went on a 15-3 run, which began with a pair of free throws from Smith following a technical foul on Lee’s Summit, and it was capped by a fast-break layup and a missed free throw from Mosley and the ensuing putback from Pilley.
After that Lee’s Summit defense put pressure on Kickapoo’s ball handlers and it led to turnovers and stops on defense. The Tigers cut the lead to four before Pilley’s basket ended a long scoring drought for her squad.
Lee’s Summit kept chipping away, though, as a three from junior forward Makayla Hunter, a stop on defense and a driving layup by senior Adriana Benassi trimmed the Kickapoo advantage to 47-46 with 1:45 left in regulation.
The Tigers even had four chances to either tie or take the lead, but they missed four shots right at the rim, with two of them coming after offensive rebounds. The Chiefs took advantage by making their final six free throws to squeak by for yet another final four appearance.
“It’s been our Achilles’ heel, going through these spurts where we are not scoring, but the girls seem to always get a stop on defense when it matters most,” Hanchey said.
Added sophomore Josie Salazar: “It was really loud in here but we came together to weather that storm.”
Pilley had a team-high 14 points, Salazar added 12, Smith chipped in with 10 and senior Kya Johnson had eight in a balanced scoring effort for the visitors.
“We look to cut and find the open person,” Pilley said. “Whoever scores, scores. Nobody is selfish with it. I think that’s why we are so dominant.”
