Jackson knows it faces a tall order against Kickapoo

There's no discussion on the topic.

The Class 5 girls state championship runs through the Kickapoo Chiefs.

Jackson, making its seventh final four appearance and still looking for its first state title, will get the first crack at the undefeated Chiefs in today's state semifinal on the Hearnes Center floor in Columbia, Mo.

In Kickapoo (29-0), the Indians will face a team not only ranked No. 1 in the state but 14th nationally in the USA Today poll.

"We can go up there and say, 'Golly, why us?' or you can say "We've got the chance to play a nationally ranked team.' And how often do you get the chance to do that? I think the girls are really looking forward to playing them," Jackson coach Ron Cook said.

Jackson (21-8), a perfect 7-0 in quarterfinal games after a 41-37 victory over Nerinx Hall on Saturday, brings in a 21-8 record and a defiant attitude.

"We wanted to play them just because we're ready for the challenge, and we have a lot of confidence going in," said Jackson senior Jenna Leet, who leads the team with 17.3 points per game. "There's nothing we can't do right now. We're ready, and we're going to win."

Leet, one of four seniors in the starting lineup, is the only Indian averaging in double figures in scoring.

"We're up for the challenge, especially against a really decorated team," senior center Whitney Werner said. "They're No. 1 in the poll and undefeated. We don't have the pressure. They have the pressure. We just have to play our game."

Kickapoo, which starts just one senior, has assembled its perfect record despite facing some of the best competition in the country. They own victories over Fort Smith Northside (Ark.) and Chaminade-Julienne (Ohio), ranked fifth and seventh in the nation, respectively, at the time.

"They're tough," Cook said. "They're the real deal."

Kickapoo's second-year coach, Stephanie Phillips, said she never thought her team would go undefeated.

"Never in a million years," Phillips said. "We lost three starters last year, and we had a tough schedule."

Kickapoo went 25-3 last season and didn't reach the final four. The Chiefs' season ended with a 54-50 double-overtime loss to Hickman in the Class 4 quarterfinals.

Kickapoo avenged that loss with a 55-42 win over Hickman in Saturday's quarterfinals.

Six-foot-three center Laura Granzow, headed for the University of Denver, is one of only two seniors on the Chiefs' roster. One of four players to average in double-figure scoring, she leads the team at 15.7 ppg. More impressively, she's shooting 67 percent from the field. The Chiefs also have more size in 6-foot-1 junior Kailey Mock.

Kickapoo's big players also are mobile.

"They can press you full-court and then drop back into a half-court game," Cook said.

The Chiefs, who've started two sophomores and two juniors this season, also have a couple of likely future Division I players: junior point guard Molly Clark and sophomore guard Heather Ezzell.

"They probably have the best point guard in the state and the best inside person," Cook said.

He joked, "We probably need to play a 3-1-3."

One thing working against Kickapoo is the recent loss of sophomore guard Greta Wiersh, who averages 12.2 ppg, to a knee injury.

Leet, Werner and junior Ashley Bartels all started for Jackson when it made its last state appearance, finishing third in Class 4 in 2001. Howard, coming off knee surgery, also saw action in Columbia.

Kickapoo won the last of its three state titles that same year, but doesn't have as many players with state experience as Jackson.

"I don't know how many of them have been up there at state and have that experience, but a lot of us have been up there and know what it's like," Leet said.

jbreer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 124