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Branson’s 2016-17 girls’ basketball season ended Saturday afternoon against perennial Class 5 power Rock Bridge, but the memories made by the Pirates will be everlasting.
Rock Bridge junior Katey Klucking scored a game-high 18 as the Bruins defeated Branson, 42-27, at SBU in Bolivar in a Class 5 quarterfinals matchup. A crucial second quarter saw Branson score no points and go into halftime trailing 24-6.
Branson, which finishes 25-5 overall, was in the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2004 and seeking its first final fourth berth in program history. Last week, Branson won its first district title since 2008 with a dramatic 58-54 upset of defending Class 5 state champion Kickapoo.
PHOTOS: BRANSON VS. ROCK BRIDGE
Branson coach Kip Bough said it’s a team that has made its mark on the program.
“(I’ll remember) seeing the kids celebrate a district championship. Seeing their faces in the media, just the happiness and joy they had,” he said. “They’re great kids, great girls, great competitors. I think it’s more off-the-court stuff, honestly, that I’ll remember most.”
A sluggish first half saw Branson score no points over 10 minutes of game time overall. The Pirates’ deficit swelled from three (7-4) to 18 (24-6) by intermission.
“Our girls had played so loose in the district championship. They were tight – I could kind of see it – because this game meant a lot to them,” Bough said. “It meant a lot to be here. The community was proud of these kids.”
Defensively, Rock Bridge put a lot of focus on Branson leading scorer Amanda Kearney. Branson’s top post scorer, Terra Utz-Depriest, didn’t play in the first meeting between the two schools, a 56-24 win by Rock Bridge in December’s Pink and White Tournament.
“We knew it’d b e a different look with her, because their pick-and-roll is pretty effective with (Kearney) and (Utz-Depriest). I thought our kids did a really good job of limiting the looks they had and making (Branson) have to run offense for a long time,” said Rock Bridge coach Jill Nagel.
Kearney, Tori O’Dell and Lauren Garrison scored six apiece to lead Branson.
Branson battled back in the second half, drawing within 11 in the third quarter. The Pirates got within 10 (33-23) early in the fourth quarter after a basket by Garrison, but only made one field goal the remainder of the game.
“I’ve got a bunch of competitors,” Bough said. “They weren’t going to go down without a fight.”
The outcome marked the second time this season that Rock Bridge held Branson to fewer than 30 points. The Pirates scored 27 in a two-point loss to Carl Junction on Jan 12.
“They’re so long,” Bough said of Rock Bridge. “They’re very, very active and move very well off the ball. That length, it’s hard to replicate. Even at the top, they’ve got (Elexandria) Brown and she takes up a lot of space.
“They move with their hands up in the air, so you don’t get a lot of fouls because they just move their feet.”
Madison Treece scored nine and Payton McCallister added eight points for Rock Bridge.
Rock Bridge’s 42 points were a season-low for the Bruins, but Nagel said the team’s offense was, overall, efficient against a tough Branson zone.
“I thought we did a really good job with our offensive execution in the first half,” Nagel said. “Twenty four points, people might say that’s not very many, but Branson plays a 1-3-1 and it’s a very good, aggressive 1-3-1. They try to limit a lot of the things you can do. I thought our execution was good, we scored well and we took care on the defensive end.”
Rock Bridge (25-5) plays Kirkwood (26-3) in the Class 5 semifinals at 7:45 p.m. Friday, March 17 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. Kickapoo beat Kirkwood in the Class 5 finals last year.
Rock Bridge won four straight state championships from 2012-2015 and owns five state championships overall.
The Bruins were ranked No. 6 in Class 5 in the final state coaches’ poll of the regular season. Branson was unranked, which served as motivation for its postseason run.
Rock Bridge 42, Branson 27
Branson 6 0 13 8 — 27
Rock Bridge 16 8 9 15 — 42
Branson – Amanda Kearney 6, Tori O’Dell 6, Lauren Garrison 6, Terra Utz-Depriest 5, Gracie Jaeger 4
Rock Bridge – Katey Klucking 18, Madison Treece 9, Payton McCallister 8, Paige Peterson 4, Elexandria Brown 3
