Lafayette's Hipp Leads Lancers to District Championship

Some surprises came out of the Class 5 District 4 girls final on Friday night, and they added up to a 51-36 home win for Lafayette over Eureka.

The best surprise, for the Lafayette fans, was junior guard Ashley Hipp’s shooting. Hipp scored a game-high 17 points despite averaging just 7.1 per game this season. It was Hipp’s 11 second-quarter points, which included three 3-pointers, that rocked the Lancers. The Wildcats raced to a 32-13 halftime lead.

Hipp deflected attention, though, following the big victory. “It’s all my teammates, too. I don’t take credit at all for my shots,” she said. Hipp credited junior guard Jordynn Martin for passing her the ball “multiple times, and I thank her for those shots.”

Lafayette coach Jennifer Porter said, “Kayla (Hall) and Jordynn (Martin) attract a lot of attention, so usually somebody is open,” she said. “If they’re going to double one of those two, then somebody is going to be wide open ... Ashley stepped up and made some big shots for us.”

Another big surprise in the equation was that Lafayette held Eureka star Alex Hillyer to eight points. She has averaged 20.7 points per game in the season.

“We worked on it yesterday to focus on Hillyer,” Hipp said. “She’s such a focal player, very tall, very skilled. So, we tried to front her, both front and back, to try to shut her down. I think we executed pretty well.”

With the Wildcats’ tough defense, combined with some foul trouble, Hiller was held in check all night.

Eureka coach James Alsup said the game was a battle of styles. “Guards vs. post play, and their guards took care of today. It was a battle of styles and they won.”

Alsup was impressed with Hipp, as well. “If you told me we were going to hold Martin and Hall to 20 points, I would have told you we were going to be walking out of here with a W tonight,” he said. “You got to give Ashley Hipp a lot of credit for having the game of her life.”

Martin averaged 21 points per game and junior forward Kayla Hall was at 11 coming into Friday’s game.

Martin scored 14 points and Hall netted four. Lafayette sophomore forwards Hannah Schneider and Hannah Finley each added eight. Eureka senior forward Jamie Miller had a team-high nine points.

“As hot as they were shooting it, that’s as cold as we were shooting it,” Alsup said. “And they did a nice job on Alex, jamming up the post. But I got to give Lafayette credit; they were the better team tonight.”

Lafayette will play St. Joseph’s Academy at the University of Missouri-St. Louis next Wednesday, March 2, at 7:45.