By Tyler Thompson (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
SPRINGFIELD — The Tipton Lady Cardinals (26-5) knew they had many bullet points to cross off regarding their pre-game scouting report.
One of those included containing this week’s O-Zone Player of the Week: Blue Eye senior Kohnnar Patton.
Patton was held to four points throughout two quarters to play, so mission accomplished.
Patton finished with 15 points and hit 2,000 for her career, but it was the Cardinals who punched their first-ever ticket to the Class 2 championship, as they defeated Blue Eye 58-43 Friday at Hammons Student Center.
“Hats off to Tipton. Defensively I thought they did a really good job. They were physical and they got after it. They got to the free throw line and hit some big shots,” Blue Eye head coach Ken Elfrink said. “Every time we would make a little run they would always come back with an answer.”
“I thought we did a really good job of making [Patton] shoot the toughest shot she could,” said Tipton head coach Jason Culpepper. “We played Walnut Grove. We know how good players are. Even if you play good defense, offense always beats good defense. We are just trying to make her shoot tough shots each possession. For us, we had that wall behind her, and giving help to Abby (Backes). Abby did a good job of keeping space from her. It was all execution by the girls.”
For four senior Cardinals players, the ride has been well worth the wait, as they are 32 minutes from history.
This marks the first trip to the championship game in school history for the Cardinals.
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Seniors Backes and Alexa Jurgensmeyer helped key the win, as the duo accounted for 52 percent of the team’s scoring.
“First off, I just want to say how proud I am of our girls,” said Culpepper. “They flawlessly executed the defensive game plan. Did a great job of communicating, rotating, and just getting after it.”
The aforementioned seniors — along with Tyanna Busch Kaylee Jones — epitomize what Cardinals basketball is all about, Culpepper said.
“[They mean] everything. They show up every day. They work hard, and they have done that for four years,” added Culpepper. “They had a long ways to go. Sophomore year, they struggled a lot. By the end of the season, we kind of figured it out. This year, to get to that final game, for that senior class, it is just a storybook ending. You couldn’t write it a better way. If we are able to come out tomorrow and execute and do a better job, it will be an even better finish to the story.”
The Cardinals cut down the passing lanes on defense, and offensively, spread out the Blue Eye defense — utilizing a plethora of back-door cuts to keep the opposition guessing.
The Cardinals authored a 13-11 lead after one quarter and extended that to 26-20 at half.
But a 19-point outburst in the third quarter (45-31) created the much-needed separation to advance to the Saturday’s title game.
Freshman Briar Cox tallied a double-double with her 14 points and 14 rebounds, and her presence on the glass was exactly what Culpepper and company were needing.
“That is pretty impressive,” Culpepper said of Cox. “She gets after it and provides that inside presence on both ends and gets us extra possessions whenever we miss shots. She does a lot.”
Blue Eye utilized a full-court press in the fourth quarter in an effort to combat the Cardinals offense, but Jurgensmeyer and company were able to showcase balance and finesse as they closed out the game.
Tipton battles East Buchanan (28-3) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday for the Class 2 championship.
Blue Eye finishes the best season in program history with 27 wins.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these kids. Walking into the locker room it really hit me pretty hard. This group has made history this year. They won more ballgames than any group I have ever had. They won 27 games. They won back-to-back conference titles. They won three districts in a row and made the final four,” Elfrink said. “I knew we were going to be pretty good this summer. We lost a lot of kids last year and people thought that we were going to maybe rebuild. I thought that we were going to reload. I knew this group had this potential in them. They just ran into a really good Tipton team that is playing really well.”
Blue Eye will graduate three seniors from this squad including Patton, Maddie Box and Jaelyn Brown.
Scoring:
Tipton — 13 13 19 13: Backes (15); Jurgensmeyer (15); Cox (14); Claas (7); Bailey (4); Wierman (3).
Blue Eye — 11 9 11 12: Patton (15); Avery Arnold (16); Warren (5); Riley Arnold (3); Johnson (2); Brown (2).
