DRY RIDGE, Ky. – Jeff Stowers has been balancing his basketball family with his biological one for a long time.
The Simon Kenton head girls basketball coach will be able to focus on his children and grandchildren after coaching his final game Tuesday night.
Stowers and the Pioneers lost 77-67 to Anderson County in the KHSAA Eighth Region quarterfinals at Grant County High School. SK finished 17-13 season with their loss to the Bearcats (27-4), who are ranked eighth in the state in the Associated Press poll. Anderson moves on to Friday night’s semifinals.
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Stowers’ final loss came to one of the top teams in the state. Anderson is led by senior Amiya Jenkins, who has signed with the Kentucky Wildcats and is one of the leading contenders for Kentucky Miss Basketball.
“It was a good run. They gave me all I could ask for,” Stowers said. “If we came out and flopped tonight, I wouldn’t feel so good. But I got from them everything I could get out of them this year.”
Stowers will retire after collecting 427 wins with the Pioneers and 527 all-time, counting 100 at Seven Hills in Cincinnati. The wins at Simon place him fourth all-time in girls basketball wins at a Northern Kentucky school.
Stowers, a 1976 Northern Kentucky University graduate, was inducted into the NKU athletic hall of fame in 1999. Stowers graduated No. 8 on the NKU all-time scoring list with 1,410 career points and is currently 12th all-time. He averaged 14.8 ppg during his career.
“I’ve accumulated a lot of daughters over time,” he said. “Seeing the girls progress from freshman year to senior year, getting the message that it’s not about basketball. It’s things you will encounter in your life that you learn through basketball; how to handle the situation. That’s all I’m in it for.”
Jenkins, averaging 20 points per game, had 38 points, 23 in the first half. At that point, the Bearcats were fighting to stay with the Pioneers, who got off to a hot start.
Simon Kenton led by seven after one quarter, 26-19. Anderson gradually came back and pulled ahead but could not put away the Pioneers.
Leading Simon Kenton by six, 65-59, the Bearcats got two straight layups off putbacks to go up by 10, 69-59. The first one came off the fifth shot of the possession.
The Pioneers cut the lead to four at 69-65 following two 3-pointers by Anna Kelch, but Simon Kenton missed a three that could have cut the deficit to one.
Simon Kenton, with five fouls at the time, tried to commit one to get to six and pull within one of sending the Bearcats to the line for a one-and-one bonus. But the Pioneers were called for an intentional foul on the play, giving the Bearcats two free throws (Jenkins made both) and the ball to end the comeback hopes.
Senior Sereniti Webb led the Pioneers with 27 points. Junior Emilee Eggleston had 22. Senior guards Alexis Baker and Teanna Griffin played their final games as well.
“I’m really proud of how we performed,” Webb said. “I know everyone thought we were the underdog and we were going to be blown out. But I’m really proud of how we fought and I couldn’t ask for a better team. It’s been an amazing six years.”
Baker averaged nearly 12 points a game this season. Griffin wasn’t asked to score but was a major part of the rotation.
Webb, a post player, averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds for the season after missing all of last year to a torn ACL.
“That poor child,” Stowers said. “She’s played on one leg all year long. She still has the ACL on her mind. When she releases that, she will be one hell of a player for somebody.”
Webb enjoyed being a player for the veteran coach.
“We wanted to send him out on a good note,” she said. “I know we didn’t get the win today but our energy showed we were ready to compete. He’s one of the best coaches. No matter what, I can call him and he’ll be right there. He’s always there for me and he’ll always go the extra mile to help us get ahead.”
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