Stephens leads Willard back to district title game

SHELBY — Go with what gets you there. Mckenna Stephens has consistently led Willard all season in scoring and on Thursday, it was no different. Stephens pumped in a career-high 33 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the top-seeded Crimson Flashes to a 57-44 win over Carey in a Division III district semifinal at Shelby High School. "She is just all heart," Willard coach Barry Pfahl said of his senior. "She plays about four inches taller than she really is. She never quits and she is an unbelievable competitor. If you go to the Kentucky Derby, you ride your best horse." Willard improved to 20-3 and advances to Saturday's district championship game back at Shelby at 2 p.m. "We watched a boatload of Carey tape and that is a great ballclub," Pfahl said. "They have penetraters and they can shoot 3s. If you give too much help on the inside, somebody is open on the outside." The Flashes opened their biggest lead of the game at 39-26 after a turn-around jumper from Layla Dials, but the Blue Devils (20-4) made a run. Sadie Arend scored before Ady Stewart made a 3-pointer. Willard went scoreless over the last 3:47 of the third quarter and a bucket by Alaina Tiell drew Carey within 39-33 after three quarters. "Their run did not surprise me at all," Pfahl said. "We were starting to get tired on the inside. Carey was able to take advantage of that. This game was not going to be over until we got under a minute. It is too good of a team." Tristin Buurma opened the fourth-quarter scoring for the Flashes, but Tiell answered with a three-point play for the Blue Devils to slice the lead to five points with 6:30 left. But, Stephens was there to save the day for Willard. She scored on back-to-back possessions for the Flashes for a 45-36 lead. Avarie Stewart hit a field goal for Carey, but Grace Hall countered with a triple for Willard to extend the lead back to double digits. "Grace Hall was ice cold for the whole game," Pfahl said. "We tell her all the time to keep shooting. She hit a big one when we needed it. That is why we tell her to keep shooting." Stephens added a bucket off of a Blue Devils turnover and the lead never dipped below 11 points the rest of the game. The Flashes forced Carey into 19 turnovers and took advantage. "This game was a team effort against a tough team," Stephens said. "Our defense was amazing, and we are grateful to get another day of practice. We are excited for Saturday." Carey coach Phil Vaughn said Stephens is "an absolute all-state player." "The scouting report was right on," he said. "She was strong and an incredible post-up player. She plays stronger than she looks." Willard led 15-12 after one quarter and pushed the lead to six points when Kalli Sowers dropped in two free throws. The Flashes kept the pressure up and opened a nine-point lead when Stephens made a pair of free throws. Despite Sowers and Dials playing with two fouls apiece, Willard extended the lead to 30-20 at halftime. "I thought we were really in sync and everything was going good," Pfahl said. "There are times when you go into halftime when you really don't want to — you want to just keep playing. The guards did a great job at the end of the half." Tiell topped the Blue Devils with 16 points. Carey made just 2 of 12 3-pointers. "I thought our defensive guards did a great job too," Pfahl said. "We wanted to set everything going to the left side of the floor. I thought we did a nice job of pushing it that way and taking away the penetration." Dials tallied nine points for Willard while Buurma finished with six points and 13 rebounds. "We are not very big, but we go hard inside," Pfahl said. "Layla Dials has great legs and she will go in and get rebounds too. The real heart of that is Mckenna Stephens will go up in a crowd of four people and she is able to control things." CAREY (20-4) Ellison Roark 3-2—8, Alaina Tiell 7-2—16, Avarie Stewart 3-0—7, Ady Stewart 2-0—5, Sadie Arend 1-4—6, Hunter Hart 1-0—2. TOTALS 17-8—44. WILLARD (20-3) Kalli Sowers 1-3—6, Layla Dials 4-1—9, Mckenna Stephens 11-11—33, Grace Hall 1 0—3, Tristin Buurma 2-2—6. TOTALS 19-17—57. Carey 12 8 13 11 — 44 Willard 15 15 9 18 — 57 3-point FGs: (C) Av. Stewart; Ad. Stewart; (W) Sowers, Hall