Kickapoo girls capture Bill Hanson Memorial Classic title; Carthage shows improvement

Jan. 23—PITTSBURG, Kan. — The improvement Carthage made since the first game of the season was evident to even Kickapoo coach Jim Pendergrass.

It was almost a night-and-day contrast, Pendergrass said.

"We played them early in the season and right now, they are a totally different team," Pendergrass said. "The score didn't indicate it today. We kind of got away from them, but they really improved to make this championship game."

The Tigers hung tough early on but the Chiefs pulled away for a 47-26 win to capture the Bill Hanson Memorial Tournament championship trophy on Saturday afternoon at Pittsburg High School.

Kickapoo, ranked No. 3 in Class 6, improved to 14-2 with the triumph. It was the first time the Chiefs have won the Pittsburg tourney title since the 2018-19 campaign.

"It means a lot to win this tournament," Pendergrass said. "There are good teams in this tournament. Last year, we didn't get to come over and the year before we didn't win it (fell to Carl Junction in the title game). We ended up in second. I'm really proud of our kids today."

"It was a big, emotional win yesterday," Carthage coach Scott Moore said. "It was physically-demanding to beat Carl Junction. To turn around and play Kickapoo, who was rested, they coasted through their semifinal game. ... But I'm definitely proud. In the last couple of years, we didn't always bring home plaques and trophies. This year, we have already brought home two with the fourth place in the Pink and White and second place here. That just shows the growth of the program and the maturation of the players."

Carthage drew first blood in the ballgame when Kianna Yates hit a pull up jumper just eight seconds into the game. After a lay-in from Bella Fontleroy, Yates gave the Tigers a 5-2 lead with a triple from the left wing at the 6:12 mark.

Kickapoo responded with 10 unanswered points, a run that spanned nearly four minutes to take a 12-5 lead with 3:29 to play in the first quarter. Kaya Goldsby capped the run with a pair of freebies.

The Tigers trimmed the deficit to 14-9 after Presley Probert hit a shorter jumper in the paint at the buzzer.

But Kickapoo took control in the second quarter.

The Chiefs limited Carthage to just three points and countered with 17 points to take a 31-12 lead at the break. Fontleroy and Mikayla Pilley highlighted that stretch of play with a combined 11 points.

Carthage opened the third quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers from Yates and Maggie Boyd to trim the deficit to 31-18 at the 5:58 mark. But Kickapoo's Fontleroy crashed the offensive glass and came up with a putback to give the Chiefs a 33-18 advantage just 30 seconds later.

After Carthage's Lauren Choate hit a baseline jumper to cut the score 33-20, the Chiefs pushed the lead out to 19 with a 6-0 run capped by a driving layup from Goldsby to close out the third quarter.

Both squads traded points in the fourth and final frame.

Fontleroy, a four-star recruit and the No. 40 overall player in the Class of 2022, scored a game-high 16 points to lead Kickapoo. She is a 6-foot-2 wing who is committed to play basketball at Baylor next season.

"She is a player that can do a lot," Pendergrass said. "She can do everything. You have a lot of players that can do one or two things, but she can do everything really well. She is a gifted basketball player. She works hard. We are really thankful to have her. She is a great leader for our team."

Carthage (8-10) was paced by Yates with 10 points. The Tigers resume action at Seneca on Thursday.

"I'm really proud of how much better we look and played on the court together against them," Moore said. "When you play a top-flight team, you see all your flaws and all the things you need to work on. In the first game, it really showed us all of those. That really set the tempo for how we needed to practice. I think the last two to three weeks have been practicing much better. It led to this being a much more competitive game. We may get a shot at them come district time and we'll be even more prepared for them."

"Our goal with a young and inexperienced team is to keep getting better game by game, week by week. At the end of district time, that's when we want to play at our peak."