COLUMBIA - Familiarity won out on Thursday night in the semifinals of the girls Class 1 Show-Me Showdown.
Walnut Grove, in its fifth-straight Final Four appearance, used a dominant second quarter and some lights out shooting from distance to build up a 17-point lead over Prairie Home.
Although the Panthers stayed tough from there, they just couldn't find enough scoring against the Tigers' stifling zone as Walnut Grove coasted to a 57-36 win.
"Offensively, we just couldn't hit any shots," Prairie Home coach Dalton Armontrout. "We stood around a lot tonight, more than usual. I'm sure the atmosphere had something to do with it. I thought we were kind of timid. We didn't really attack the basket at all."
The Tigers got 21 points from junior guard Bayley Harman, who drained three straight 3-pointers in the critical second-quarter stretch where Walnut Grove started to pull away.
While Harman entered the contest averaging 24 point per game, Walnut Grove got an unexpected boost from sophomore Myranda McVay, who had 12 points on the strength of four threes. The Tigers shot 50 percent from a field.
"We came out strong and did what we wanted to do," Walnut Grove coach Rory Henry said. " I'm proud of our team, and I'm looking forward to being back in the championship game. We didn't like not playing in it last year."
Prairie Home's offense was on track early as Shianne Rohrer scored 11 first quarter points to keep the Panthers within four after one. Despite the Tigers forcing Rhorer to catch the ball closer to the wing than the post, the senior still found success both inside and in the midrange.
Kristen Peterson also provided an early three to round out Prairie Home's first-quarter scoring, but after that, the Panthers' buckets dried up as Walnut Grove's trap started to take over. Prairie Home shot 29 percent in the game and had just one field goal in both the second and third quarters.
"We tried to contain (Rhorer and Rachel Distler) and make others beat us," Henry said. "We wanted to trap a little bit. Rhorer was able to get loose a few times because she just plays hard. We've watched a ton of film on them, and she's just hard to keep down. We knew she was going to score."
Rhorer was quieted after a hot start largely due to the presence of 6-foot Tigers forward Raylee Hejna. One of just two Walnut Grove seniors, Hejna clogged the high post, forced turnovers and traps as Prairie Home tried to run its offense. She also added 15 points, seven of which came in the fourth to answer a late Panthers run.
Much of Prairie Home's struggles offensively came down to Walnut Grove's tenacity on Distler. Guarded mainly by Harman, Distler was forced to give the ball up quickly and couldn't pierce the Tigers' zone.
Distler had one field goal and eight total points, all of which came in the second half. Freshman Ashlyn Twenter stepped up with nine points off the bench for Prairie Home.
Coming in riding a six-game winning streak, an aggressive press had defined the Panthers on the defensive end. Though Prairie Home forced 14 turnovers, Armontrout held off on full court pressure until the fourth quarter.
"I kind of wanted to see how they would play," Armontrout said. "I just thought we'd play back and see what happens, and then if we needed to press we'd press and play it that way."