BY JESSE SMITHEY
CLARKSVILLE — The King’s Academy Lady Lions came to FM Bank Arena this week seeking a state basketball title, that gold trophy that narrowly escaped their grasp in last year’s Division II-A season finale.
But a nightmarish start in Friday’s semifinal round, coupled with some sensitive whistles from the officials, doomed TKA’s quest seemingly from the opening tip.
Providence Christian Academy, a team that TKA smoked by 21 points in last year’s semifinal, got a chance to return the favor, downing TKA 68-43 on Friday afternoon.
PCA (27-5) will play University School of Jackson (24-5) in Saturday’s championship game.
The season ended in frustration for TKA (27-9), which was led in scoring Friday by junior guard Skylar Walden’s 17 points and Kyle Young’s 12. The Lady Lions couldn’t get a bucket to fall in the opening minutes of the contest.
Moreover, most of its starting lineup got relegated to the bench in foul trouble quickly.
“It’s tough to win when you got five people fouling out,” said TKA coach Dante Turnipseed.
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THE FOULS
Officials whistled TKA for a total of 30 team fouls Friday, as four players fouled out and one finished with four fouls.
TKA forward Adit Kuol, who is 6-foot-4 and a Minnesota signee, picked up her fourth foul with 4:19 left in the first half. In one possession late in the third, PCA got three consecutive offensive rebounds because Kuol had to stay out of the scrum so she didn’t pick up a foul. PCA finally scored on the fourth try on that possession, increasing its lead at the time to 49-35 with 18 seconds left in the quarter.
Kuol finally fouled out with 5:21 left in the fourth.
Jenny Bitounou, a 6-5 forward for TKA, fouled out with 4:53 left in the third.
Olivia Loveday fouled out at the 2:38 mark of the third. Emily Atchley exited with five fouls with 2:12 left to play.
PCA, which finished with only 14 total team fouls, cashed in at the free-throw line, where it went 26 of 32.
“It’s hard to adjust and hard to play in the post if you can’t touch or put hands on people,” Turnipseed said.
THE COLD START
TKA trailed 15-0 in the first 6:37 of the contest. It went 0-for-9 shooting to start the game, didn’t score a point until a Adit Kuol free throw at the 1:01 mark of the first quarter, and didn’t make a field goal until Kyle Young’s 3 from the wing fell through with 34 seconds left in the first quarter.
“Definitely was tough, coming out and the score not being in our favor,” Walden said of TKA’s start. “But I think everyone was kind of looking at the scoreboard instead of focusing on what we needed to do, and I think that affected us. But, at the same time, we just have to be mature enough to know that the game’s not over at the beginning and that you have more than just those first few minutes to play the game.
“We just have to be mature enough to realize there’s more time to fix stuff and you have to realize what’s working and not working and adjust to it.”
PCA led by as many as 22 points (37-15) before the break, shot 55 percent in the first half and out-rebounded TKA, 18-10.
Walden didn’t get on the board offensively until she made a jumper in the late with 2:10 remaining in the second quarter. That got her going and she reached the half with seven. Her score just before the end of the second quarter cut PCA’s lead to 37-20 heading into the half.
TKA dialed up its defensive pressure and trapping in the third quarter. And that worked. It trimmed its deficit to 10 on Young’s two free throws at the 2:30 mark of the third, but it went 0-for-2 shooting with a turnover during the remaining stretch of the quarter.
PCA took a 14-point lead into the fourth. TKA went 2-for-16 shooting in the fourth, just unable to chip away at the lead any longer.
TKA wound up shooting 14 of 50 from the floor, 4 of 24 from 3 and 11 of 15 at the foul line.
PCA won the rebounding race, too, 55-21.
MILESTONE MAKER
Skylar Walden needed one 3-pointer Friday to reach the 400 career 3-pointers milestone. She knocked that down with 1:22 left in the first quarter. She made one more Friday, giving her 401 for her career with one season left of high school basketball.
The state record? Bailey Trumm of Powell made 416 from 2016-20.