By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Mikayla Pilley needed to experience that final four feeling one more time.
Pilley and her Lady Chief teammates wouldn’t be denied Saturday afternoon, pulling away in the second half to beat Lee’s Summit West 64-48 in the Class 6 quarterfinals at Kickapoo High School.
For the second straight year, and fourth time in five seasons, the Lady Chiefs are headed to the final four.
“You’d think after going my freshman year and going last year, you kind of get complacent and get used to it, but this feeling… there’s nothing like it,” said Pilley, a four-year varsity player. “I just wanted to feel this feeling again today and I just thought, ‘I’m not going to let us lose.’”
Pilley, the latest star to come through Kickapoo’s prestigious program, was sensational in her final career home game. She tallied a double-double, including a game-high 27 points.
The 5’11” guard and Fort Hays State signee was relentless on the boards and had several baskets off second-chance opportunities against a bigger Lee’s Summit West squad.
“She does it on both ends. She’ll play defense and get a deflection. She’ll get a steal and go try to score. She’ll shoot it from 3,” said Kickapoo coach Leslie Hanchey. “We can’t do this without her.”
The Lady Chiefs (27-3 overall) will head to Columbia next week, where they’ll play Staley (29-1 overall) in the Class 6 semifinals at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 19 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
Kickapoo outscored Lee’s Summit West by 12 in the second half on Saturday to punch its ticket to the final four.
“I’m just so on top of the world,” said Kickapoo senior post Allison Scott. “Coming into this, we knew we had to play together and play as one like we normally do. Ultimately, the end goal was just to follow the gameplan and the result will come.”
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Kickapoo has won nine straight since a regular season loss to rival Nixa on Feb. 10. But the turning point in Kickapoo’s season came well before that, Scott said.
When the Lady Chiefs lost at home to Park Hill South in the championship game of the Stephanie Phillips Classic on Dec. 14, significant progress was still made.
“That was a turning game for us as a team because that was one of the first games we decided to come together as a team and just play together,” Scott said. “(Park Hill South) is a really good team, but we still were able to play as a team against them. Ever since then, we’ve played as a team and worked together.”
Three months later, the Lady Chiefs are final four bound again.
Seven players scored for Kickapoo on Saturday, including sophomore reserve Anyiah Doig. She finished with 10 points in her typical utility role.
“We tell her that she’s a big at heart even though she’s only 5-foot nothing,” Hanchey said. “She always seems to get a rebound. She can go coast-to-coast. She can shoot the ball. She can guard big and small. She’s fantastic.”
As the final seconds expired, Kickapoo subbed out Pilley and Scott. The senior duo shared a group hug with their head coach.
“It was so special. I love that lady (Hanchey) more than anything in the world,” Pilley said. “I could pick her out of a lineup of all the best coaches in the world and I would pick her every single day. I just love her so much. She means so much to me and she’s taught me so much.”
Hanchey graduated from Kickapoo and was a star player for the Lady Chiefs. She became the team’s head coach last season after several seasons as an assistant coach with the program.
Hanchey also had a special fan in attendance on Saturday – her 92-year-old grandmother, a loyal supporter since Hanchey’s playing days, attended her first game of the season.
“(Coach Hanchey) is honestly the heart and soul of this team,” Scott said. “We couldn’t do it without her. We all love her so much. She’s one of the family.
“Even as an assistant coach, she still had that role of a team leader even though she wasn’t the head coach. Stepping into the head coach role, it just fits her so well. She just knew what to do automatically and has done a phenomenal job.”
After leading by four at halftime, Kickapoo used its diamond press to take control in the second half. The Lady Chiefs cashed in a pair of Lee’s Summit West turnovers into layups at the start of the fourth quarter to go up 53-40.
“We know our defense leads into our offense,” Pilley said. “Sometimes, we like to just scramble around and throw (teams) off a little bit. I think it really worked well.”
Said Hanchey: “We just tried to give them a different look because I think they were prepared for Charlie (half-court trap),’” Hanchey said. “We had a couple of other things in our back pocket that we knew we could throw at them, and it worked.”
Kickapoo finished 18-for-31 at the free throw line. Lee’s Summit West was 10-for-11.
Freshman forward Saniah Jones led Lee’s Summit West with 19 points. Senior guard Laura Mayo scored 15 on five 3-pointers.
Hanchey said Kickapoo’s defensive gameplan was focused on limiting Lee’s Summit West junior guard Alex Keister, who finished with two points.
“I told my assistant Kayla (Daniels) that I’m going to have an ulcer every year it feels like,” Hanchey said. “But it’s all the kids. We come in with a gameplan and they execute it. I told them if we execute it, we’re going to give ourselves a really good chance to win. Kudos to them.”
Kickapoo 64, Lee’s Summit West 48
Lee’s Summit West 7 19 14 8 — 48
Kickapoo 16 14 19 15 — 64
Lee’s Summit West (20-9 overall) – Saniah Jones 19, Laura Mayo 15, Averie White 5, Alexis Mayo 4, Sylae Kemp 3, Alex Keister 2
Kickapoo (27-3 overall) – Mikayla Pilley 27, Anyiah Doig 10, Josie Salazar 9, Lexi Ringgold 6, Allison Scott 3, Ni’ell Ross 3, Katie Vaughan 3, Taylyn Whited 2, Amari Perry 1
