Underclassmen guide Kewpies

From 8 a.m. until 3 p.m,, Taylor Ford is a 9th-grader at West Junior High. She is an upperclassman, respected and admired by those younger than her, if only because she is older than most of the other students at West.

At 3:30 p.m., once her mother drops her off at Hickman High School, her status changes.

While she does not attend Hickman, Ford is a member of the Kewpies girls’ basketball team. In a roster laden with juniors and seniors, most would assume that Ford and sophomore Chasity Prince could just ride the bench unnoticed, like any other underclassmen.

However, Ford and Prince are no ordinary underclassmen — they start for the No. 2 Kewpies.

Once she steps on the court, no one would have any idea that Ford is in her first season of varsity basketball. Coach Tonya Mirts entrusts Ford to set up the offense. Most of the time, Ford brings the ball up the court, before deferring to junior Yvonne Anderson and senior Lauren Nolke. While Ford’s role doesn’t involve much scoring, it does require her to set up scoring chances for Anderson and Nolke. Her unselfishness is evident.

“From someone else’s perspective, it looks like I’m scared to shoot,” Ford admitted. “But I don’t think twice about taking a shot.” Ford went on to say that with explosive scorers Nolke and Anderson on the team, she doesn’t feel much pressure to force her shots.

While her contributions to the team may not show up in the box score, they are evident at the games. In last night’s 61-42 victory over rival Jefferson City, Ford only netted two points. However, those two points came when the Kewpies needed them most. Down by five at the end of the first quarter and with star Yvonne Anderson on the bench, Ford assumed Anderson’s usual role as slasher. She took the ball at the top of the arc, faked right, and drove to the basket, hitting a difficult left-handed lay-up to pull Hickman within three.

From there, it was all Kewpies.

Chasity Prince, a sophomore and the only other underclassman on the veteran Kewpie roster, is relied on to score more than Ford, despite being one of the youngest. The 5-foot-10-inch forward is the third scoring option, behind Nolke and Anderson. On Tuesday night, however, she led the team with 17 points, with 15 coming in the second half to help the Kewpies pull away.

“She’s an unbelievable shooter,” Mirts said after the game. “She spreads the defense. If the opposing team is going to sit in a zone, we’re going to put Chasity on the perimeter and just let her shoot.”

Prince credited her big second half to calming her young nerves at halftime.

“In the first half, I was a little bit nervous about playing Jeff City,” Prince said, explaining the Jeff City has usually been the top seed in their conference.

“After the half, I got my head in the game.”

Prince went on to talk about being the second-youngest on the team.

“I think it says that in the long run we’re going to be great players for Hickman,” Prince said of she and Ford.

Mirts credited both Ford and Prince’s athleticism and maturity as the reason for their playing time.

“Taylor can handle the ball, which relieves that stress from Yvonne (Anderson) and Yvonne can just look to score,” Mirts said. “Chasity is just an unbelievable shooter.”

While most of her teammates waited for her in the lobby after the game, Ford said that it took awhile for her to fit in with the team, because she was reluctant to talk to the older girls. As the season progressed, however, she became closer with all the girls.

“They even gave me a nickname,” Ford said. “Chevy.”