From the moment the ball tipped, it was clear which team was going to be keeping its state championship hopes alive winning 68-46.
Just a month ago; however, being one game away from a state championship berth might as well have been fiction.
Sitting at 10-8 after four consecutive losses in the midst of January, the Wildcats have knocked off six straight wins — including a 47-42 win over 4A favorite Lawrence Central in the sectional championship game.
“I preach and teach the process to our program,” head coach Stephen Thomas said. “I had to reevaluate myself in that moment, we knew our schedule was going to be tough that would help us in late February.”
Lawrence North quickly went up 14-4 over Gibson Southern and never looked back, going into halftime up 39-19.
The lead was not dumb luck; though, as the defensive pressure and offensive efficiency carried the Wildcats all game long to their ultimate victory.
“There have been games that we’ve been up and games that we’ve been down,” Thomas said. “We know at this time of the year no team is out until the final zeros. We wanted to get a great start and take the crowd away that we knew Gibson Southern would bring.”
Senior guard Kya Hurt was an impressive facilitator throughout the game, doing a bit of everything for the MIC runner-ups in the win.
Despite standings at 5’7”, Hurt continually played much bigger than her size — consistently lowering a shoulder to get to the hoop and put points on the board.
Hurt’s running mate — junior guard Ke’Adruah Butler — followed suit to prove their claim as one of the best backcourts in the state.
Butler knocked down big-time baskets all game long, Butler helped keep the foot on the gas in the third quarter as Gibson Southern tried to claw back into the game.
With the win, Lawrence North will take on Pike — who they beat 67-39 on Jan. 31 — in the semi-state championship at 8:00 pm later today.
“We’re going to get off our feet,” Thomas said. “We’re going to do our normal routines of what we normally do before games, but my girls love to eat so first thing we are doing is going to get something to eat.”