By Denise Tucker (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Kickapoo Lady Chiefs got back into the winner’s circle – and got a little payback – at the Pink and White Lady Basketball Classic by knocking off top-seeded Ft. Smith, Ark., Northside 57-47 for the Pink Division title at Drury’s O’Reilly Family Event Center.
For the first time since 2021, the Lady Chiefs captured a division championship and had the game plan to get the job done.
“We always give the girls three keys that they need each game for us to be successful, and the very first one was to maintain 22 (Erianna Gooden),” said first-year head coach, former assistant and former Lady Chief, Leslie Hanchey. “That’s why she’s a D-I recruit, we knew she was going to do whatever she could for her team. But we switched out with Josie (Salazar) guarding her one-on-one for a little bit, and then (Mikayla) Pilley guarded her and just kind of wore her down. Our defense is what always kind of helps project our offense.
“Our second goal was to get to the rim. Day 4 (of the tournament), everybody’s tired. The team that can kind of get their legs going and get things going to the rim… we did a great job of that.
“And then the third thing was rebound. If you rebound every single game, you outrebound your opponent, you’re going to give yourself a really good chance to win.”
The Lady Chiefs knew the assignment and passed with flying colors.
Kickapoo, which improved to 11-1 on the season, held the 6-foot Northside junior guard to just four first-half points and scoreless in the second half, before she fouled out with 5:50 to go in the game.
The Lady Chiefs also got to the rim and to the line, going 17-for-24 from the charity stripe with Pilley hitting 11 of 13.
And Kickapoo outrebounded the Lady Bears as Pilley pulled down six boards and Kya Johnson collected five.
“It’s overwhelming right now because we were seeded No. 2 and seeded lower, and we didn’t take that to heart at all,” said Pilley, who led all scorers with 27 points. “We knew that if we worked together as a team, that we could definitely pull this off as long as all of us did our job, and we did that perfectly.
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“We always know that defense is going to be our key and it’s our strongest thing. That was our main key, stopping (Gooden), and we knew that if we did that, we could definitely pull this off and we executed that perfectly, too.”
The Lady Chiefs used a 10-0 run to end the first quarter for a 15-9 advantage and outscored Northside 18-9 in the second to take a 33-18 lead going into the locker room. The Lady Bears outscored Kickapoo in the second half 29-24, but the damage had already been done and they were unable to overcome the Lady Chiefs.
Pilley scored 18 second-half points, which included her 11-for-13 performance from the free-throw line. Hanchey said that recently “something’s clicked” for Pilley and she has been unstoppable.
“She’s in the gym every single day. She’s asking me to come up and get extra shots. She wants to watch film with me. She wants to know what she can do to get better. She’s a gym rat,” Hanchey said. “The very first day she came in after Christmas, and I was like, ‘Are you all right?’ And she was like, ‘I’m focused.’ And that’s how she’s been the entire tournament.”
Pilley said she’s always trying to get better – for herself and for her team, as well.
“I’ve always tried to work my hardest; I think I take that after my family members,” the 5-foot-10 junior said. “Sometimes, it feels like it doesn’t pay off and I get low, but I think these past few weeks, this tournament has been my focus. I want to do the best for my team, so I’ve been in the gym putting up shots because I want to make those for my team, make shots that we need. So, it’s for me but it’s also for my teammates.
“I haven’t always been the most consistent free-throw shooter. It’s not because I don’t try, it’s just my mentality. I switched my mentality before this tournament and think about all the times I’ve been in the gym shooting and I think that really helped me drain those free throws.”
Hanchey said of Pilley’s fourth-quarter output: “We need that from her when Kya’s out or Josie fouls out. Who’s the next person up and she just owned it. I could not be more proud of that kid. She deserves all of it.”
Though it had been a few years back in Pink & White past, the Lady Chiefs were able to exact some revenge, having lost to Northside in the White Division final in 2014 and 2015.
And for Hanchey to capture this year’s title as a head coach is pretty special.
“The coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of,” Hanchey said of the win. “This group, I’m like, ‘What do you want to be known for? What do you want people to know us for?’ And they want to be known for the name on the front and not the number. And they did that from top to bottom today.
“They are a really fun group; they care about each other. I just told them we were a team and when you’ve got a bunch of girls that don’t care about who gets the glory, it makes you hard to beat.
“We can’t get complacent. We have got to continue to get better. Our target’s probably going to get a little bit bigger, but the expectations are not going to change. We have to continue to have kids that are ready to go at any time and just every game, come and give our best.”
#2 KICKAPOO 57, #1 FT. SMITH NORTHSIDE 47
Pink and White Lady Classic
Pink Division Championship
At O’Reilly Family Event Center
KICKAPOO 15-18-10-14—57
FT. SMITH NORTHSIDE 9-9-14-15—47
KICKAPOO (11-1) – Mikayla Pilley 27, Mikayla Smith 3, Josie Salazar 3, Allison Scott 4, Kya Johnson 6, Raigan Smith 5, Ari Mosely 9.
FT. SMITH NORTHSIDE (12-3) – Hazley Grotjohn 16, Cherish Blackmon 12, Isabella Kindrick 6, Erianna Gooden 4, Erikka Gooden 1, Kaydence Flemming 4, Anniya Brewer 4.
Third place – El Dorado Springs 56, Fair Grove 51
Fifth place – Aurora 50, Rogersville 40
Consolation – West Plains 53, Carthage 31
Dr. Jim Jester Sportsmanship Award – Marshfield Lady Jays
Jane A. Meyer Spirit Award – Kya Johnson, Kickapoo
