The magical run continues for the Tipton girls basketball team.
With their perfect season at stake, the Lady Cardinals went 3-0 at last week's Kaysinger Conference Tournament to win the championship. They beat Northwest, 62-44, in the opening round, followed by a 47-41 win over Cole Camp in the semifinals and 54-39 victory over Windsor in Friday night's final.
The Lady Cardinals, who also won the conference regular-season title, improved to 23-0 overall. They were ranked No. 4 in last week's Class 2 state poll by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association.
"It's always nice to add another trophy to the trophy case," said Tipton junior guard Destiny Dowell, "but we're really pushing for that district championship."
With districts beginning next week, the Lady Cardinals hope to make a deep run in the state tournament. Tipton won the conference tournament last season, too, but lost in the district semifinals.
"Right now, we're playing our best basketball," said Lady Cardinals head coach Jason Culpepper. "In January, I thought we needed a loss to wake us up, but after some close wins, that was good enough. We're back to firing on all cylinders."
At last week's tournament at State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Tipton won its first two games without senior forward Ashton Pace, who suffered a lip injury early in the first quarter against Northwest that required nine stitches. To be safe, Pace did not play in the semifinals against Cole Camp on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
Facing a depleted Tipton squad, Cole Camp put a scare into the Lady Cardinals, taking a 21-20 halftime lead and keeping the game close in the fourth quarter. The Lady Bluebirds tied the score at 39-39 with 1:46 left, but Tipton closed the game with an 8-2 run to pull away.
Dowell finished with 13 points, while sophomore Alyson Brant had nine points and six rebounds. Senior Angela Petree also had nine points and senior Paige Baker added eight points and nine rebounds.
"Playing without Ashton, I said this would be our toughest game," Culpepper said. "I knew Cole Camp was going to be an extremely tough challenge. They're clicking on all cylinders, but we have a very intelligent group that can finish games."
Pace, who surpassed 1,000 career points earlier this season, returned for the championship final against Windsor, finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Baker had 10 points and 17 rebounds.