West Plains extracts revenge by beating Whitfield in Class 5 final
By Cody Thorn I Photos by Cheap Seats Photography
SPRINGFIELD — For the second time in two weeks, a rematch in a state championship results in the reversal of previous year’s outcome.
This time around, in the Show-Me Showdown II, West Plains won the Class 5 title with a 50-37 victory over defending state champions Whitfield on Saturday afternoon at JQH Arena.
On the same floor last year, Whitfield won 50-34.
Missouri signee Ashton Judd did about everything for the No. 2-ranked Zizzers, finishing with 30 points and 11 rebounds.
“I mean going into the game we had all the motivation we needed,” said Judd, who was 14-of-17 from the free-throw line in the game and 11 of 11 in the second half. “We lost in the same game last year to the same team. Personally, this would be the last time I play in my jersey and with all my teammates and with Coach Womack, so I think we were prepared going into it. We just needed to execute. And I thought we did a really good job of doing that.”
West Plains jumped ahead 14-7 in the first quarter and took a double-digit lead on a 3-pointer by Allyson Joyner on the first bucket of the second quarter. West Plains (27-4) led by nine at halftime.
Then, the No. 1-ranked Warriors made the run West Plains expected. A 14-5 barrage in the third tied the game at 29 on a 3-pointer by TeTe Nelson with 2 minutes, 43 seconds left.
Judd scored late to give the Zizzers a 31-29 lead going into the final quarter.
“You know, our defense was really outstanding the first half, but we talked at halftime that they were going to make it run,” West Plains coach Scott Womack said. “We knew they would. We knew the (JaNyla) Bush girl could go off at any time and she kind of got going there in the third quarter. But the good thing is I don't think we ever panicked and we kind of settled down there and then getting a two-point lead going into the fourth quarter. We talked before the game. The thing we wanted was to lead going into the fourth quarter. Last year we were trailing by three or four going into the fourth quarter.”
Judd, a 6-foot forward, took over in the fourth, scoring 15 of the Zizzers’ 19 points and outscored Whitfield by six.
“SEC schools don't recruit kids that can't play. Right?” Whitfield coach Mike Slater said. “I was talking to one of my assistants as we were walking back and it was clear to, I would think to anybody that was watching, that in her (Judd) mind she wasn't going to be denied today. Right? And she wanted to put that team on her back. And she did. She wasn't gonna leave anything out there. If they're going to lose, they're going to lose on her back. If they're going to win, everyone win on her back. And she just did everything for them, handle the ball, rebound, score the ball. So she just had a level of determination that you could clearly see.”
Along with Judd’s 30, the Zizzers got 11 from junior guard Georgia Osborn, who averaged 3.5 points per game. West Plains finished the year winning the final nine. The state title is the school's second, joining the 1997-1998 team.
Whitfield (24-4) had two in double figures, led by 14 from Bush – 11 of which came in the second half. Brooklyn Rhodes, a 6-foot-2 forward, had 13 points, eight rebounds and three steals — tying Bush for the team lead.
Third-place game
Webster Groves 54, Smithville 33
Jenna Clark got a chance to play one more high school game. The Webster Groves senior who tore her ACL two months ago started for the Statesmen in the third-place game and scored the opening bucket before checking out in her team’s win on Saturday morning at Hammons Student Center.
“Huge shout out to the other coach (Trevor Mosby). I talked to him last night, and he was on board right away,” Webster Groves coach Josh Spuhl said. “I can’t thank that program enough for doing that. That’s really cool. We knew we wanted to do something; we didn’t know what, so I asked for the most first to see what the coach would say. It was, I mean, super, super awesome. Again, I can’t thank them enough.”
As for the game, Smithville led 9-7 early in the first quarter before the Statesmen went on an 11-0 run to close the period. Both teams struggled to score in the second quarter, a combined 11 points, but Webster Groves (24-6) led by eight and expanded it to 14 going into the fourth.
Senior Ellie Palouceck scored a game-high 27 for Webster Groves. Kali Brown and Kenzie Moes led Smithville (21-9) with seven points each.
