Story Published:
Mar 4, 2010 at 11:09 AM CDT
Story Updated:
Mar 4, 2010 at 11:09 AM CDT
BOLIVAR, Mo. -- One of the most emotional and touching stories in the post-season is the return to the sideline of Kickapoo High School girls basketball coach Stephanie Phillips. It was just a month ago that Phillips look a leave of absence from her job because of a two-year struggle with cancer. When the Lady Chiefs qualified for the playoffs, Phillips decided to return to her team, and she says the reasoning was simple.
"They're my girls," Phillips said.
"It was kind of a surprise because we didn't know she was coming back," said senior forward Makenzie Smith. "But then, on senior night, she walked into the locker room and surprised us. From then on she's been there and it means a lot having her around."
The support for Phillips is so strong that even the opposing team, Hillcrest, wore sweat bands with Phillips' initials, SP, on them. When it came to the scoreboard, however, Phillips' Lady Chiefs showed no mercy.
Kickapoo outscored Hillcrest 23-7 in a decisive second quarter to take a 23-point lead at the intermission. From there they pulled away to a 54-24 final, as they continue to press on for their coach.
"It brings us all together," said Kickapoo senior forward Casey Carroll. "It's a huge uplift, a different level of intensity that we all just grasp hold of and run with."
While Hillcrest fans were disappointed in the girls game outcome, they couldn't be happier with the boys game. An early alley-oop jam by Dorial Green got the Hornets buzzing on their way to 26-16 halftime lead over Nixa, the number two team in the state that had lost only once in 28 games.
Even though Green picked up his third foul in the third quarter, Hillcrest extended its advantage to as many as 15 points before Nixa made one of its patented late runs. Within a minute and a half of the third quarter, the Eagles shaved a 12-point deficit to 6. In the final minute of the game, a steal and bucket by Ben Fisher pulled the Eagles within 57-54.
However, as they had all night, Hillcrest answered in a strong way. A long pass and lay-up by Alex Venegas to beat the press pushed the Hornet lead back to 5, and Hillcrest held on for a 67-60 victory, ending Nixa's 27-2 season short of the Eagle fans' soaring expectations.
"You know they talk about how Nixa and Ozark just keep getting bigger and bigger and their magnificent gyms and facilities," said Hillcrest coach John Schaefer. "But it's a great step to show that you can still do it with the little facilities or the older ones."
