Eight-plus minute drought, Carroll doom Jaguars
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Much like the game went in Thursday’s Class 5 semifinal, the wheels fell off for the Fort Zumwalt West Jaguars late in Friday’s 52-36 loss to Springfield Kickapoo.
This time though, it happened after Zumwalt West moved out to a 28-23 lead on the Chiefs with 5 minutes, 3 seconds left in the third quarter after a Kelsey Jones layup.
From that point, Zumwalt West went 8:25 of game time before scoring again on two Janna Swopshire free throws with 4:31 left to play.
During that time, the Chiefs (25-6) scored 17 unanswered points to take control of the game.
“At least our turnovers weren’t as bad, I don’t know,” said Zumwalt West coach Monica Tritz in reference to the Jags’ 22 turnovers against IWA in Thursday’s 55-36 semifinal loss. “Yesterday, we gave up in the first quarter. Today, I kind of felt we gave up in the fourth quarter. Today, it was about the little things, the turnovers. I think there was a stretch there where we didn’t get the ball across half court and they scored seven straight points.”
While Zumwalt West couldn’t buy a basket and even had trouble crossing midcourt at times during the drought, Kickapoo senior Casey Carroll did not.
She scored five of her game-high 20 points during that stretch and added key rebounds of her game-high eight and also a bevy of key assists to help propel the Chiefs to the ever-expanding lead.
Carroll talked post game about having to deal with the considerable post presence from the Jaguars in order to help her team.
“Underneath the basket there was a lot of physical play,” Carroll said. “Those post players, those twins (Jasmine and Janna Swopshire) are strong and athletic. They know how to position and post up down underneath. It took a lot to defend them.”
The Kickapoo run came after a first half in which the two teams played back-and-forth basketball for 16 minutes with Zumwalt West never trailing by more than two points.
The Jags moved out to a lead of as much as six points at 23-17 on a Jones 15-foot jump shot with 2:15 left before halftime.
But that would all change in the second half.
“I think it’s a learning experience, I don’t know,” Tritz said. “I think our girls were satisfied they were here. I have to keep reminding myself that they’re teenagers. The fact that I have more passion than all of them sometimes is an issue. I think they were happy we were going to state. They were excited we were off school for two days.”
In addition to Carroll’s efforts, Kickapoo got nine points from Jordan Graham and eight points from Amanda Landolt.
Kelsey Jones’ eight points led Zumwalt West (25-7). The Jags also got seven points from Janna Swopshire, six from Jasmine Swopshire and five from Paige Westbrook.
Kickapoo shot 55.2-percent from the field Friday while Zumwalt West made 37.5-percent of its shots.
“A couple of key factors in the game were making changes defensively and putting pressure on them in the full court,” Kickapoo coach Stephanie Phillips said. “It created some turnovers and we were able to score off of those. I felt that was a difference maker for us.”
The fourth place finish marked the first appearance at state for Zumwalt West while Kickapoo took its first-ever third place finish to go along with five other state championships.
For Tritz, the finish marked the end of one season but also now begins the preparation for an attempted return next season with the loss of just two seniors – Kingsborough and Devon Anzalone.
“With everybody returning except for these two, we’ll be under a microscope next year,” Tritz said. “Basketball players are made in the summer. Are we going to get better on our defensive fundamentals? Are we going to get better on our shooting? Are we going to get better on our listening? We’ll find out.”
jfaasen@yourjournal.com
