Little did Skyline know that after a 2017 state championship, onlooking was Ashlen Garrett and Kenzi Cheek. Those tigers would repeat history 7 years later.
“They would always hang out after they finished at state,” Kenzi said. “I remember like one time we went and we had so much fun.”
“I think watching them kind of made us want to carry on the tradition with them,” Ashlen said.
Last season, Ashlen and Kenzi led the Tigers to the program’s seventh state title. Ashlen was a force to be reckoned with scoring 37 points in the state final, 25 of those in just the first half.
“Some days I’m feeling it, some days I’m not, but that state game I was definitely feeling it,” Ashlen said. “I was ready to go and I was excited for that game.”
Kenzi’s impact goes beyond her points per game: versatility is her strength.
“Kenzi is their their vocal leader,” said Skyline Head Basketball Coach Kevin Cheek. “I mean, she tries to get people in the right spot. Sometimes she does it by example and then sometimes she does it with her voice. Then sometimes you can look at her and realize that she’s irritated and things need to change.”
She gets it from her dad, the head coach.
“It was a dream come true [winning state],” Kenzi said. “But growing up in this program means a lot because my dad has been coaching me and to win it with him was amazing.”
“Coach Cheek always knows what’s going on in your life and he’ll come up to you say something like it could be anything like boy problems and he knows because he’s like a second dad to all of us,” Ashlen said.
He witnessed these girls grow up on and off the court.
“They had sleepovers and so I dropped them off at Autumn’s house or drop them off at Ashlen’s house,” Kevin said. “Kenzi is my daughter, but they’ve been around since they were little bitty.”
Kenzi is not interested in playing in college while Ashlyn is committed to play for College of the Ozarks.
“I don’t want to look too forward to it and then just miss out on my senior year,” Ashlen said.
After all, there’s always a chance to repeat history.
“I think we just want to win another state champ,” Ashlen said. “You know, we want to get another ring. We just want to prove to everybody that we can do it as seniors too.”
