By Chris Parker
Back on Jan. 17, Chadwick fell to Walnut Grove 39-27.
On Friday, in the first Class 1 state semifinal, a couple key things changed to turn January’s 12-point loss into a 48-40 win.
“We knew we had some things that we didn’t do well that game and we knew that we hadn’t played our best,” Chadwick head coach Jim Pendergrass said. “This team grew all season and here we are heading to the state championship game.”
The first thing that changed was sophomore Emily Landry doing her best Caitlin Clark impression from beyond the arc in the first half. The sophomore was four-for-four in the first quarter and five-for-five in the first half from deep.
“Getting off to a great start gave us great confidence,” Pendergrass said. “Emily is a fantastic player, and she really stepped up in the biggest moments when we needed her most in that first half.”
Landry scored 16 first-half points to help Chadwick build a 24-22 lead into the break. She finished with a game-high 24 points.
The other change Chadwick made was on the defensive side which helped the Lady Cardinals build an 11-point lead, 14-3, in the first quarter.
“I thought a key to this game was the start,” Pendergrass said. “Defensively, we did a defense that we hadn’t shown all year. We brought it out tonight because we thought we really needed to try and take them out of the ability to run their sets on offense. They are a team that runs a lot of sets very methodically and they are very good at them, and they get the ball to people who can score.”
Walnut Grove head coach Rory Henry also credited Chadwick’s defense with slowing the Lady Tiger offense.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME
“They did a great job of coming out and keeping us off balance at the beginning. It is something they haven’t done all year is play a 1-3-1 and they did a great job with it, and it just took us off balance,” Henry said.
Walnut Grove didn’t go away coming back to tie the game at 27-27 with 4:54 to go in the third quarter and cutting Chadwick’s lead to one, 34-33, with 5:53 left in the game.
Every time Walnut Grove made a charge, Chadwick had the answer and never relinquished the lead.
Now Chadwick will play in the state championship game for the second time in three years and third time in program history. This trip will be the first under Pendergrass who took over as head coach this season.
“I stepped into a situation that Chadwick is very rich in basketball tradition on the boys side and on the girls side. I was very excited to be the coach at Chadwick High School. It is an important job. It is an important job for the school. It is an important job for the town because sports are very important to Chadwick,” Pendergrass said. “This has been fantastic, and it’s been fantastic because of the players. They have welcomed me. They have not been resistant on anything that we have done, and that shows a great deal of maturity and that makes coaching really easy and fun.”
Saturday’s game will have extra meaning for the community and senior Ray Little in particular. MSHSAA will recognize the 2003 state championship team for their 20th anniversary. Little’s mother, Jessi Little, was a player on that team which was the only Chadwick girls basketball team to win a state title.
“This is my mom’s 20th reunion for the state championship. I wanted to go to state this year so I could be playing in the championship game and have that opportunity while she is getting recognized. She has always talked about when she went to state the memories she made and how fun it was. I wanted that growing up,” Little said.
Chadwick will play for the Class 1 state championship at 8 pm on Saturday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
Walnut Grove will play for third place at 2 pm. It will be the final game for a group of four seniors including Ellie Smith who has played the entire playoff run on a torn ACL.
“She (Smith) had some limitations, but she figured it out in the last week what her limitations were and how she could overcome them,” Henry said. “For her to step up and lead us and play the entire game. It is very impressive. It shows you how tough she is and what kind of kid she is. The whole senior class did a good job of leading us and rallying around her.”
Smith finished with a team-high 13 points.
Henry expects a strong effort from his team in their final game together on Saturday.
“We talked about character in the locker room. That is what our program is built off is our culture and they showed it tonight and I think it will be on display tomorrow,” Henry said.
