SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Coming into their match up with their long time rival Kickapoo, Glendale knew they would have their hands full. Glendale was 2-0 heading into the game in head-to-head games with the Lady Chiefs. And in a fiercely competitive game, Glendale (22-3) made it a perfect sweep of Kickapoo, winning 45-37.
Lead by standout senior Megan Deines, the Glendale Lady Falcons will be advancing to the Class 5 District 11 championship game.
"That has been one of their goals to be in the championship game. And the win over Kickapoo does make it a little bit sweeter," Glendale head coach Renee Temple said.
With the number one overall seed in the tournament, Glendale obviously was the team with the target on their backs. Kickapoo came out firing quick, taking an early 11-7 lead after the first quarter.
"We knew Kickapoo’s game plan would be to slow the game down," Temple said. "Credit Kickapoo, they did a great job."
Kickapoo came out much sharper than Glendale on both ends of the floor. On defense, the Lady Chiefs were able to hold Megan Deines scoreless in the opening quarter.
But that didn’t last long. Megan and her younger sister, sophomore Kim Deines, combined for 14 first half points and got Glendale the 23-22 halftime lead. Megan Deines finished the game with 17 points and Kim had 10 points.
"I thought out communication was a little bit better and our defensive intensity was good," Temple said.
It appeared however Kickapoo had the momentum heading into the half, after a buzzer beater by Kickapoo’s Annie Armstrong. Armstrong caught the inbounds pass with 1.6 seconds left on the clock, got in two quick dribbles, and threw in a half court prayer that was answered with a pretty swish and three points.
At halftime, Glendale made adjustments to their game and came out much more efficient on offense and defense in the second half.
On offense they stopped settling for jumpers and began being more aggressive in attacking the basket.
"One thing we really tried to get across at half was to attack the basket," Temple said.
And on defense, Glendale held Kickapoo to just four points in the third quarter. What offensive rhythm Kickapoo did have in the first half was completely gone. Glendale switched between a 1-3-1 zone and man-to-man defense, which also contributed to the offensive woes the Lady Chiefs were having.
In the fourth quarter, Kickapoo continued to run their offense through their star senior Annie Armstrong, who finished the game with 20 points. But Glendale’s overall performance on both offense and defense was just too much to overcome.
Kickapoo's season is now over, and will have to start working towards redeeming themselves next year, as well as replacing many of their key seniors from this season.
For Glendale they will play the winner of the Nixa-Ozark game, later to be determined tonight.
Scoring for Glendale: Megan Deines 17, Kim Deines 10, Julia Wells 8, Anna Clark 5, Anna James 3, and Bryanna Taylor 2
Scoring for Kickapoo: Annie Armstoring 20, Natalie Closser 6, Zoe Allen 5, Hannah Schumacher 4, and Lauren Rowland 2
