Sessions, Gatluak do the dirty work, Kesler does the scoring as Hillcrest advances to TitleOne title game

IDAHO FALLS — When the season started, sophomore Reece Sessions was splitting her time between JV and varsity. She would play two quarters with each squad nightly, until varsity head coach Ryan Taylor decided that the varsity teams needed her for all four.

Taylor moved Sessions to being full-time varsity, then to being a varsity starter. That decision was followed by the then-winless Knights (4-5, 0-0) rattling off four straight wins, including a 56-38 victory over the Bishop Kelly Knights (3-6) in Friday’s TitleOne Tip-Off Classic semifinals.

“After a couple games, we were kinda like, ‘OK, no more of that JV because we needed her for all four quarters,'” Taylore recalled. “She’s moved into our starting lineup and just done a tremendous job for us.”

Sessions did not lead the team in scoring, or rebounding, or even in steals for that matter. But the sophomore was a scrappy defender all night, diving for loose balls and playing her role in the Hillcrest defensive unit. She finished with 10 points — after scoring 11 in Thursday night’s win against Twin Falls — to go with two rebounds and two steals.

She called it a “really cool” experience, moving into the varsity huddle permanently, and has felt welcomed by the “family” since the move was made.

“I love being a part of our team,” she said.

Joining Sessions on a Hillcrest frontline that has increased its effort and physicality in the defensive and rebounding aspects, is senior McKenzie Gatluak.

Gatluak, who scored five points, made her pressence felt in many of the same ways Sessions did, grabbing nine rebounds while swiping two steals and blocking two shots.

In a word, energy has been the key to Hillcrest’s recent surge, according to Taylor. But that energy wasn’t pushed to level 10 from the start Friday, the coach added.

Hillcrest pulled ahead early, heading into the second with an 18-15 lead. But that was a product of offense, rather than the defense they have relied on of late.

“We had a lot of different girls contribute tonight, who played well offensively. We got off to a slow start defensively — we gave up (15) points in the first quarter. We talked a lot about it after that quarter ended, and (Bishop Kelly) scored (23) the rest of the game,” the coach said.

“We can’t come out and have slow starts like that, but I was happy with how they responded,” he added.

The scoring, early and all night, came primarily from point guard Kaia Kesler, who led all scorers with 20. Junior Camryn Taylor, who rounds out the Hillcrest starting front court, chipped in with 10.

One night after Bishop Kelly overcame a massive first-half deficit to claim its first lead of the night in the fourth, and eventually beat the Kimberly Bulldogs, Taylor said his team was prepared for that same sort of rush after the half.

He said that Bishop Kelly made that rush off the potency of their full-court press, which fueled easy buckets. Hillcrest faced that same press, and held up — for the most part.

“We did turn it over a couple times, but for the most part we handled the pressure OK,” he said.

The result: Bishop Kelly scored just 13 second-half points.

This wasn’t the first time Bishop Kelly and Hillcrest teams have met in a battle of the Knights this season. The two schools’ football teams met less than three weeks ago in the 5A State Football Championship, with Bishop Kelly coming away victorious.

Asked if Friday’s TitleOne semifinal victory exacted a little bit of revenge for the Knights from Ammon, both Sessions and Gatluak said it did.

“For sure. For sure,” Gatluak said.

“Yes. Definitely,” Sessions added.

Gatluak, who, at 5-foot-10, is Hillcrest’s tallest starter, has taken on the role of rebounding, a key to the defensive effort Taylor spoke about. But her job, she said, isn’t just to gather misses. Sometimes, she concluded, her duty is to hold off the opposition’s big and allow teammates to get the statistical rebound.

It’s a job she enjoys and is proud to have.

“I’m just focused on boxing out, because I know my team really relies on me to do that,” she said.

And she know she will have to do precisely that when Hillcrest will, once again, be the smaller team on the court when they face the Borah Lions in the TitleOne championship game Saturday evening.

“We need to come ready to play tomorrow, bring the energy early on,” Gatluak said.

Taylor envisions the matchup coming down to Gatluak and her teammates doing exactly that.

“We’re gonna have to guard, we’re gonna have to finish possessions with box-outs and rebounds, because we can’t afford to give up second-chance points,” he said.

“We’re super-confident, and already on a (winning) streak, so we’ve just got to keep it up,” Sessions added.