Resilient Kickapoo fights past Republic to win district 12 title

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By Jeff Kessinger (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Bleak might be too strong a word to describe the circumstances, but things sure weren’t looking good for top-seeded Kickapoo late in the fourth quarter Thursday night at Republic.

KHS trailed No. 2 Republic 67-64 with 1:49 to play in the Class 6 District 12 championship game. But Bella Fontleroy found some motivation.

“I looked over at the bench and saw Indya and thought this can’t be my last game with her. This can’t be the last game with my seniors,” Fontleroy said, her voice quaking with emotion. “I fought for them so we can keep playing.”

And fight she did. Fontleroy scored 5 points and grabbed a pair of defensive rebounds to help force overtime and help Kickapoo win an 81-73 final. It was sweet revenge for Kickapoo after season-ending losses to Republic in 2020 and 2019.

“I feel so great right now. It feels really good to end their season,” Green said. “(Republic) played a really good game, but we just wanted to come out and dominate because the past two years they’ve ended our season. It was our turn to end theirs. That was a big motivation for this game.”

Green’s putback and a Kaya Goldsby free throw put Kickapoo (26-2) up for good in overtime. The KHS defense held Republic without a field goal until the final minute of play. But Jazzy Kirby’s 3-pointer from the top of the key only pulled the Tigers to within 76-73 with 48 seconds to play.

Fontleroy, Goldsby and Rachel Senn went a combined 5-for-6 at the foul line down the stretch to secure the win and send Kickapoo, ranked second in the state, on to a sectional showdown with Nixa at 6 p.m. March 10.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME

“I’m really proud of our kids and their resilience. We beat a really good team tonight,” Kickapoo coach Jim Pendergrass said. “We haven’t had a lot of close games. That was one thing that worried me coming. When you get in the playoffs things are a lot closer. We haven’t been in that situation a lot, but tonight we were and the kids responded.”

Kickapoo appeared frustrated at times by a scrappy, if undersized, Republic squad. The Tigers kept up with Kickapoo’s hectic pace and erased an 8-point lead midway through the third quarter with a 10-2 run that featured 8 points from senior Savana Powell-Goodman. Kickapoo drew level at 50, but a steal-and-layup by Goldsby gave Kicakpoo a 52-50 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

That was the second time Goldsby had pulled that buzzer-beating trick. She also finished the first half by flipping a steal into a layup.

“We talk about doing your job,” Pendergrass said. “In basketball your job might change possession to possession, quarter to quarter. It’s never going to be the same. It’s a game of constant adjustments and our kids did their job tonight. It takes all of us and I’m really proud of them.”

That set up a wild fourth quarter that saw five ties and five lead changes. The final tie came at the final buzzer as Powell-Goodman shook loose in the lane, caught an inbounds pass and banked home a layup to force overtime.

But in the end it just wasn’t enough. Green’s putback early in the quarter and a driving bucket by Goldsby powered Kicakpoo on to victory.

“I thought we had them on the ropes a little bit, but (Kickapoo’s) a good team,” Flood said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better effort from my kids. I thought we controlled the rebounding pretty well in the first half. But in the second half they got really aggressive following their shots and going for the offensive boards and we lack some size. We thought that might give us trouble, and it did. And we had some shots that just didn’t fall in the first half that could’ve made a difference.”

Green scored 25 points to lead Kickapoo, 13 of them in the first half. She was also a force on the boards, scoring 12 second-chance points.

“Rebounding was one of our big keys for the game,” Green said. “The past couple of games they’ve been tremendous on the boards so we had to match them.”

Goldsby finished with 15, scoring 7 in overtime. And then there was Fontleroy with 21 points, 16 in the second half. After missing last season with an ACL injury, this season and this game went a lot to the talented junior.

“It feels so good to be back,” Fontleroy said. “I’m just so glad we got past this and I don’t think there’s anything that can stop us now.”

Freshman Rilynn Finley scored 25 to pace Republic. All five Tiger starters hit double figures, with Kirby adding 15 and Powell-Goodman, Kaitlyn Ragsdale and Kaemyn Bekemeier all chipping in 11. Republic finishes its season 19-8.

“Finley stepped up and had a big game for a freshman,” Flood said. “That’s a positive to come away with. We’ve got her for three more years, and put her with Bekemeier and that’s a good core to build around. I’ve told the kids they have nothing to be ashamed of.”

The teams were level after a frenetic first half. Kickapoo led 21-17 after one quarter and raced out of the break with 6 unanswered points to balloon that lead to 27-17.

It didn’t last long. Republic went on a 9-1 run of its own, helped along by 5 unanswered points by Ragsdale, and took a 29-28 lead on Finley’s 3-pointer from the left wing with 3:34 to play in the half.

Republic nosed in front by two late in the half, but a steal and drive by Goldsby knotted the score at 34 at the halftime break. It was a wild end to the half and set up a wild end to the whole night.

Box score 

RHS 17 17 16 19 4 — 73

KHS 21 13 18 17 12 — 81

Republic — Rilynn Finley 25, Jazzy Kirby 15, Kaemyn Bekemeier 11, Savana Powell-Goodman 11, Kaitlyn Ragsdale 11

Kickapoo — Indya Green 25, Bella Fontleroy 21, Kaya Goldsby 15, Rachel Senn 8, Madelyn Barrett 6, Kya Johnson 4, Karli Facklam 2

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