Predicting the Pink & White Lady Classic (White Division)

The annual Pink &amp; White Classic held at Drury University in Springfield is one of the cream of the crop girl's basketball tournaments in the state. A bolder and more cocksure person than I would say that it's the best, period, and a lot of that is because girls high school basketball in southwest Missouri is no joke. From large Class 6 schools close to Springfield on out to smaller rural schools, the area is a hotbed of talent. And the Pink &amp; White regularly features Class 5 and 6 powerhouses against Class 2 and 3 ones, which adds much intrigue to those who follow it. So here we will break down the matchups, starting with the earliest games for each round, and predict how things shake out in the White division. The tournament starts on Monday December 27th and the schedule can be found <a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2021/12/preview-pink-white-lady-classic-pink-division/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>First Round Games, Monday December 27th</strong></span> <strong>#7 Blue Eye vs Clever</strong> - Blue Eye made the Class 2 final four last season and returns all 5 starters, who happen to all be seniors. They are athletic, experienced, and just plain good. The Arnold twins make things go for them on both ends, but fellow seniors Kyla Warren, who leaps very well and plays bigger than her 5'4 stature, along with Makyla Johnson and Gracyn Fairchild can bring it as well. They are on a mission to win a Class 2 title before these seniors are done. Clever has a poor record, but they have more talent than the win-loss ledger would indicate and they have lost some close ones. Start with senior Mariah Robinson, who has a knack for scoring and is as tough as they come. She has improved her perimeter shooting and made 7 3's in a game earlier this season. She has always been lethal at getting to the rim and scoring on a mix of floaters or drawing the foul. Fellow senior Ruthie Brown is a 3 year varsity starter and can score inside or out, and she gives the Lady Jays a much-needed presence on the boards and inside defense. Sophomore Ireland Jones is the lead guard and is an aggressive defensive player and a capable scorer at all three levels. Prediction: Turnovers have been an issue for Clever and Blue Eye likes to pressure and create turnovers and they have the personnel to do it. But Clever has the talent to give Blue Eye a game. Blue Eye wins by 15 as they cause some turnovers late and pull away. <strong>#2 Nixa vs Bolivar</strong> - The Lady Eagles return most of their top players from last season which gives them an edge over their main rivals Kickapoo, Ozark and Republic. They have been on the road a lot to start the season, even playing in a tournament down in Florida. Macy Conway, [player_tooltip player_id="107968" first="Ali" last="Kamies"] and [player_tooltip player_id="107981" first="Rhianna" last="Gibbons"] are all seniors, and all will play at the D2 level in college. Some younger players will flank them and what the Lady Eagles lack in size, they make up for with athleticism and talent. Their pressure will give teams fits. Bolivar lost two top players from last season and are basically in rebuild mode. They have size but they lack the ball handling, speed and perimeter shooting to keep up with Nixa. Prediction: Nixa rolls by 30+ <strong>#6 Willard vs Catholic</strong> - Willard lost 4 starters from last year's stellar team and are building this season primarily around returning point guard [player_tooltip player_id="107996" first="Brielle" last="Adamson"]. Willard again lacks size or a post presence but their style of play is predicated on creating turnovers and getting transition baskets,or knocking down 3's in the half court offense off of drive and kicks. They have the athletes and shooters to do it. Along with Adamson, there is athletic Kaylin Washington and sharp-shooter Carolina Crawford, both juniors. They fit the Willard mold well. Catholic is another team that lost multiple talented starters from last season and are somewhat in rebuild mode. They return Avery Swisshelm as the team's leading scorer and have good close wins over Glendale, Rogersville and Parkview so far this season and they will not be an easy out for Willard. Prediction: Catholic gives Willard way more of a game than most people would think but ultimately Willard wins a close one. <strong>#3 Strafford vs Rogersville</strong> - Strafford is loaded once again this season, didn't lose much to graduation and gain all stater [player_tooltip player_id="171112" first="Laney" last="Humble"], who transferred in from Sparta. They are deep, experienced, can shoot it, and have a good inside presence in senior Mattie Walker. Fellow seniors [player_tooltip player_id="162385" first="Emma" last="Compton"] and Emma Mullings return to create havoc on defense. Both are great on the ball defenders and Compton is a great floor general, able to get to the rim off the bounce or kick out for 3's. Humble is an offensive talent who can light it up from 3 or get to the rim where she uses her strength to score inside. Then throw in senior Bailey Chrisman and talented sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="344792" first="Lauren" last="Jones"] and you see why Strafford is ranked #1 in Class 3. Rogersville has undergone coaching changes in each of the past 3 seasons, but return 20 per game scorer Gracie Kibby as well as fellow seniors Lauren Williams and Kierra Clark, so they are experienced enough to maintain their composure against Strafford's fierce man to man defense. Prediction: Strafford just beat Rogersville recently by 15, but they didn't play well and didn't have Walker in that game. This time Strafford rolls by 25 as they just have too many weapons to contend with. <strong>#8 Camdenton vs Central</strong> - Southwest Missouri is loaded with talented 2022 players. It is one of the deepest classes in some time in the area, and Camdenton is yet another team like that, returning 5 key seniors. Payton Kincaid is one of the best athletes around and is good for regular 20 point, 10 rebound games and fellow senior Elle Turner is a guard who can facilitate, defend and knock down the 3 ball. Throw in Mya Hulett, Charlotte Kurtz and Sarah Holmes and Camdenton has plenty of talent and experience. They are 6-2 with an especially impressive win over a good Helias team. Central has junior twin towers [player_tooltip player_id="170383" first="Heaven" last="Shockley"] and [player_tooltip player_id="170382" first="Aaliyah" last="Pittman"]. Both are 6' and few teams in the area can match up with that. There was some question about guard play coming into this season especially with the graduation of prolific scorer Makayah Brooks, but sophomore Desteny Pierce has stepped up her game and given Central some steady ball handling. They have an impressive win over Willard but also have lost to Branson and Carthage, so how they do will depend on which version of them shows up. Prediction: Central's bigs give Camdenton fits, but ultimately, Camdenton's pressure defense wears Central down and they win by 15. <strong>#1 Georgetown vs Glendale</strong> - Georgetown hails from Texas and along with Cabot on the Pink side, gives this tournament a second out of the area team. They bring size and experience to the table and like to keep the scores low. 6'4 post Niah Williams will literally be a load for any team in this tournament to handle and 5'9 guard Jacqui Spencer is also very good. This team has talent that runs 8-10 deep which also trumps pretty much any other team in this tournament and it's why they get a #1 seed. They have a 15-4 record playing against stiff competition down in Texas. Glendale has some good wins over Forsyth and Clever in the early going and they welcome back 5'11 junior Reilly Heman, who has missed the season so far with a wrist injury. Her size will be needed against Georgetown. She pairs nicely with fellow 5'11 junior Rachel Flewell who gives them another threat down low. Skylar Bencsek is a 5'5 junior guard who can stick the 3, as can 5'6 senior guard Anna Sallee. Prediction: Georgetown by a lot. Glendale lacks a go to player on offense or a true floor general and just will not physically be able to handle this Georgetown team. <strong>#5 West Plains vs Hillcrest</strong> - If not for some dubious officiating and scorekeeping in a game at the Fair Grove tournament that resulted in 4 fouls in the first quarter on West Plains super stud [player_tooltip player_id="213690" first="Ashton" last="Judd"], West Plains would have likely gotten a #2 or #3 seed. But that happened, and with Judd on the bench for about two quarters, West Plains lost to Fair Grove. Otherwise, they have been shredding their competition, beating a very good Ava team 74-40 in the very next game, with Judd scoring 45 in that one. Judd is simply the biggest difference maker on any team in southwest Missouri. We saw what happened when she got into the foul trouble at Fair Grove. She does everything for her team and opponents can't stop her from doing it. That is why she is fielding D1 offers left and right. She is flanked by talented 6' sophomore Allyssa Joiner and some key backcourt players. Hillcrest has not had a lot of success in recent seasons but do have some talent. Senior post Jimm'esha Davis is good for 20 and 10 on any night and fellow senior Kiley Coffelt gives them an experienced ball handler and outside shooter. Chloe Sutherland gives them another talented player with size. Prediction: West Plains has won games by obscene margins this season - 67-22, 89-15, 64-16, etc. This game is going to be like one of those. <strong>#4 El Dorado Springs vs Marshfield</strong> - El Dorado Springs has one of the best duos in the area, if not the entire state, in senior Reese Schaaf, a Drury signee, and junior [player_tooltip player_id="170205" first="Macie" last="Mays"]. The two average around 40 points per game between them and are flanked by 5'10 senior [player_tooltip player_id="107980" first="Tevi" last="Gurley"] who gives more even more scoring and rebounding. They have an impressive 8 point win over Skyline this season and gave Republic a battle before losing by 8, their lone loss of the season. Marshfield has been inconsistent, but are also young, and sometimes those two go together. But while they may be young, they are talented. Sophomores 5'8 [player_tooltip player_id="255500" first="Abby" last="McBride"] and 5'11 [player_tooltip player_id="255499" first="Lauren" last="Luebbert"] give them two good sized perimeter players. Molly Thomas is yet another sophomore to keep an eye on. Marshfield is a tough team to get a read on but the talent is there. Prediction: Marshfield has the size to contend with El Dorado Springs, especially on the perimeter. If their shots are going in, they can give them a game. But nonetheless, El Dorado Springs takes it by 20 or so. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Second Round Games, Tuesday December 28th</strong></span> <strong>#2 Nixa vs #7 Blue Eye</strong> - These teams are very similar even though the school sizes are not. Blue Eye is Class 2 with 160 students and Nixa is Class 6 with over 1,700 students. Both teams lack size but are led by athletic, experienced seniors. In fact, the Arnold twins from Blue Eye played on the same junior high team in Nixa with [player_tooltip player_id="107968" first="Ali" last="Kamies"] and [player_tooltip player_id="107981" first="Rhianna" last="Gibbons"] before the Arnolds transferred out before their high school years. But that story line gives this game some intrigue at least. Nixa has the edge depth wise but Blue Eye has the stamina to make that not matter. So this should be a really good game. Ultimately, we expect that Nixa wins a close one and moves on. <strong>#3 Strafford vs #6 Willard</strong> - Strafford has already beaten Willard this season by 27 and while Willard certainly could make this a game, we don't see it happening. Strafford wins by a similar score again. <strong>#1 Georgetown vs #8 Camdenton</strong> - Camdenton is plenty battle tested this season and won't be intimidated by this Georgetown team and they will play with poise. But Georgetown is just too loaded and they win by 15-20 in a low scoring game. <strong>#4 El Dorado Springs vs #5 West Plains</strong> - This will be a fun game to watch and normally when a #4 plays a #5 we'd say that the #5 winning would be an upset. But the reverse is the case here. West Plains should be seeded higher and a win by El Dorado Springs here would be an upset in our book. If Judd gets in any kind of foul trouble, Eldo will roll, but we don't see that happening and expect a 10-12 point win by West Plains. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Third Round Games, Wednesday December 29th </strong></span> <strong>#2 Nixa vs #3 Strafford</strong> - Now this will be a game! Maybe one of the best ones of the tournament. Both teams have speed, quickness, depth, shooting, defense, etc... and it's very tough to predict how this one will go except that it will be very close. We think Nixa has the athletes and talent to win this one and if they can make some perimeter shots and get some transition baskets, we see them winning this one. Strafford has plenty of weapons of their own and Compton should be able to handle the pressure Nixa brings. Ultimately, it's Nixa with the win, in a very close game. Foul trouble could be a factor in this one. <strong>#1 Georgetown vs #5 West Plains</strong> - Another great matchup. Judd will hold her own in this game and between her and Joyner, they have the size to contend with Georgetown. But we think Georgetown has too much depth and talent and come out with the close win. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Championship and Third Place Games, Thursday December 30th</strong></span> <strong>#1 Georgetown vs #2 Nixa</strong> - An intriguing matchup, Nixa's speed and quickness vs the size of Georgetown. Georgetown controls the tempo, slows the game down, and Nixa has trouble scoring in the half court offense and don't get enough transition baskets, so we predict Georgetown wins a close, low scoring affair. <strong>#3 Strafford vs #5 West Plains</strong> - Another great matchup that should go down to the wire and come down to who stays out of foul trouble. It can go either way, but ultimately, we pick the team with the best player, and that is West Plains and Judd. The West Plains zone limits the penetration of Compton and Judd has a big game. West Plains wins. <span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Consolation</strong></span> On one side, it'll come down to Clever vs Catholic or Rogersville. We think it'll be Rogersville and in a rematch between Clever and Rogersville, Clever wins this time, after losing to Rogersville by two in their previous matchup. On the other side, Central vs Glendale will be a really good one. We see Central winning that one and then facing Marshfield and knocking them off as well, as the Central bigs prove to be too much, literally. In the consolation final we are going to go with Central over Clever in another tight one. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;