How a speech and clutch play led Kickapoo to a thrilling district title win over Republic

While frustration was boiling over in a hot Glendale High School gym, Kickapoo found itself down by three against Republic at the end of the third quarter. The Lady Chiefs had a double-digit lead at halftime and nothing was going right.

A year ago, in the same district championship game against the same team, the Lady Chiefs squandered a double-digit lead in the second half and their season came to an end. On Monday night, they scored just three points in the third period and it appeared history was repeating itself.

Kickapoo's unquestioned leader wasn't going to let that happen.

Kya Johnson, a senior star on the volleyball court and one of the beating hearts of a proud Kickapoo girls' basketball program in recent years, gathered her team together and gave a speech that could've been straight out of a movie.

"I told them 'Hey, it's a game of runs. There's going to be ups and downs and we just have to stay composed,'" Johnson said she told the Lady Chiefs. "'It's not about anybody else in this gym. It's about the name on our chest. It's about the people we play for. It's all about our sisters, our classmates and that's why we're playing this game.'"

"She just calmed them down," first-year head coach Leslie Hanchey said. "I didn't even say anything during that whole timeout."

Kickapoo responded by not quitting when it could have. Back-and-forth with the Lady Tigers it went until a thrilling final minute. When the final horn sounded, the Lady Chiefs stormed the court with a 54-52 victory and a Class 6, District 5 championship.

"It would've been easy to give up in an environment like this," Johnson said. "But our girls did it. We came together after every point and checked on each other. We kept our heads up and that's what won us the game; staying together and not letting the outside noise get to us."

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In one of the best area basketball games played all year, Kickapoo and Republic exchanged leads four times in the final minute. It followed Kickapoo starting the game up 14-4 and eventually taking a 30-20 lead into the break.

Republic turned up its defensive intensity and received a clutch performance from senior Misora Nambara. It held the Lady Chiefs to three points in the third quarter and didn't allow them to score a point until there was 1:38 left in the frame. The quarter ended with the Lady Tigers up by three.

After Johnson rallied the team, the two teams went back and forth for the remainder of the night.

When it got down to the final minute, Lady Chiefs sophomore Josie Salazar wouldn't be denied a championship as she hit a go-ahead 3-pointer to take the lead with 46 seconds left. She rarely takes 3's and wasn't going to shoot it until she heard Hanchey yell over a loud crowd to let it fly.

Nambara responded at the other end with a go-ahead floater. Salazar dribbled down the court and got ultimately the game-winning bucket to fall as a part of her team-high 17-point night.

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"It was just about finishing out the game together," said Salazar, whom Johnson called 'relentless,' "That was the only thing that was going through my head. I just wanted to finish out that game."

Republic missed a contested layup with two seconds remaining before sending the Lady Chiefs to the line. Junior Allison Scott split her free throws, giving Republic one last heave at the horn that was wide to the right.

Kickapoo's bench stormed the court while advancing to the Class 6 quarterfinals for the third time in the last four seasons.

"I've been here a few times and I've kind of felt the pressure a little bit but, honestly, this is just what I love," Johnson said. "I feel like these are fun moments that I'll remember forever. We've definitely had a few of these moments before and I'm excited that we pulled this one out."

Johnson finished the game with 13 points with seven coming in the fourth quarter. Mikayla Pilley matched her 13 and was critical in building up the Lady Chiefs' halftime lead.

Republic got 18 points from Nambara with eight coming in the fourth. Seniors Molly Blades and Lauren Chastain scored nine and eight respectively. The Lady Tigers' defeat, following a Central Ozark Conference championship season, was their first in 2024.

Kickapoo will now play Lee's Summit on Friday for a trip to the state semifinals which would be the Lady Chiefs' third in four years and their sixth appearance since 2010.

Monday night's game will be a game Johnson and her teammates will never forget. As Johnson plays her final basketball games before playing volleyball at Missouri State, she said the win over Republic ranks up there with her favorites.

"I think this one is going to rank probably among the ones at the top," Johnson said. "Going out with this team and going out with Coach Hanchey leading this program... I couldn't have had a better district game than this one tonight."

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or X at @WyattWheeler_NL.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Kickapoo girls basketball beats Republic in district championship