6A girls: West knocks out unbeaten South; Derby wins

Destiny Pittman, who transferred from South to West for her senior basketball season, had the ball – and the fate of two City League teams that couldn’t have been further apart in recent seasons – in her hands on Thursday.

Deadlocked after most of 32 grueling minutes, Pittman took an inbound pass from another transfer, Brianna Johnson, and drove hard toward the basket.

Near the free-throw line, she crashed uncontrollably into South’s Loan-Anh Johnson as the ball flew away.

Johnson was called for blocking. Pittman sank two free throws, then intercepted South’s desperation attempt and launched it toward the goal as the horn sounded.

West, winners of nine games the previous 13 seasons, stunned South 44-42 to end the Titans’ 53-game winning streak in the Class 6A girls quarterfinals at Koch Arena.

“It was attack and keep going and make them foul you,” said Pittman, who scored 11 points. “I was holding my breath. I didn’t know if he was going to call or charge or not, but I knew she was moving, so I expected them to call a block.”

West (15-8), the No. 8 seed, advanced to Friday’s semifinals and ended the four-time defending champion’s reign atop 6A. South’s season ended at 22-1.

West, led by Samaj Muldrow’s 12 points, won for the 12th time in 14 games. One of those losses was a 56-43 decision at South on Feb. 21 in which the Titans called a timeout in the final second and broke its huddle by yelling Pittman’s name.

The Pioneers, who also lost to South 54-22 on Jan. 6 before an influx of transfers helped alter West’s fate, stood toe-to-toe with the Titans in a hard-fought battle. West shot 31 percent (17 of 55), missed all seven of its three-point attempts and hit just 10 of 22 free throws.

“We got out of character tonight,” said South coach Antwain Scales, whose team lost for the first time since Kapaun Mount Carmel defeated the Titans 48-45 in the 19th game of the 2014-15 regular season. “We didn’t play our game.

“We didn’t execute like we should have, and when you leave loopholes and cracks against a good team that has motivation and belief, that helped them get the win. I give the credit to them.”

But the Pioneers’ 42-30 rebounding edge and a fistful of grit helped them overcome it. West led 30-26 after three quarters before South opened the fourth flashing the heart of a champion.

The Titans, who got 13 points from Kyla Callins, 11 from Johnson and 10 from Tre’Zure Jobe, scored the first seven points of the final quarter to take a 33-30 lead. But West’s Mikayla Shaw, who had eight points and nine rebounds, scored on a putback. Then Pittman worked around a screen for a basket to give West a 34-33 lead, and the stage was set for a classic finish.

Callins, who had eight in the fourth quarter, hit a 15-footer and an underhand scoop, then dished to Haley Beard for a layup that gave South a 42-38 lead with 1:20 remaining.

But the rest of the scoring belonged to Pittman.

She scored on a drive and was fouled with 1:10 to play, missing the free throw to keep it at 42-40. But Brianna Johnson grabbed the offensive rebound and connected with Pittman for a basket that tied it at 42.

South ran most of the remaining time down, but Loan-Anh Johnson’s shot couldn’t connect. The Pioneers rebounded and called timeout, setting up the play that gave them the victory.

“All that was going through my head was knock down your free throws and act like you’ve been here before,” Pittman said. “As I was walking off, I had to take a double look at the scoreboard and make sure I could believe what I was seeing.”

West, making its first state appearance since 1981, played the Titans to a 20-20 tie at halftime despite shooting 28 percent and missing all five of its three-point attempts. The Pioneers trailed for most of the first two quarters, but held South without a field goal over the final five minutes.

West scored seven unanswered points during that stretch. Dy’Mond McElrath hit a floater, Brianna Johnson added a free throw, then Muldrow converted a turnover into a three-point play to tie the score at 19.

Both teams traded a free throw for the only points over the final two minutes of the half.

Derby 40, Olathe East 33 – Freshman Sydney Nilles atoned for a foul that cost Derby the lead with a three-point play, starting a game-ending 10-0 run that propelled Derby into the semifinals.

Derby (19-4) avenged a 51-39 loss to the Hawks in last year’s quarterfinals behind 10 points from Nilles and 10 from sophomore Aliyah Myers. Nilles scored five points and Myers added four during the run that erased a 33-30 deficit.

Nilles committed the foul that gave Olathe East the lead with 3:13 to play. As the Hawks’ Caroline Hoppock hit a three-pointer, Nilles fouled Cameron Kincaid trying to fight through a screen. Kincaid made the free throws. After the teams traded possessions, Nilles scored on a drive and was fouled, tying the score at 33.

Olathe East missed its final four shots, and Myers gave Derby the lead at 35-33 with a 15-foot baseline shot with 1:30 to play. As the Hawks continued to come up empty, Myers added two free throws, Nilles hit two and Madi Young added one.

Sophomore Kennedy Brown was held to seven points on 2-of-10 shooting but grabbed 13 rebounds for Derby. Hoppock and Kincaid each had 10 for Olathe East (18-5).

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 8:39 PM with the headline "6A girls: West knocks out unbeaten South; Derby wins."