COLUMBIA, MO – Ella Vaughn is affectionately called the “stat stuffer” by Fort Zumwalt South coach David German.
The Bulldogs’ freshman placed among the top five players in the GAC Central conference this season in scoring, rebounds, assists and steals.
“She doesn’t get a lot of glory because other people score more, but she plays a complete game, including being one of the best lockdown defenders around,” German said.
In the final minutes of the Class 5 third-place game last Saturday, Vaughn displayed every aspect of her all-around game to propel Fort Zumwalt South to a 38-35 victory over Helias at the 2025 MSHSAA Show-Me Showdown at Mizzou Arena.
Fort Zumwalt South (22-9), which captured its first state trophy in girls basketball program history, raised its record to 9-1 in games decided by seven points or fewer.
“We won so many close games this year, and all the credit goes to these girls. It’s nothing we did schematically, it was them,” German said.
Helias (19-13) erased a six-point deficit by going on a 10-0 run late in the second half. Layups by senior Kenadi Harrison and junior Claire Morris started the spurt, a baseline jumper by senior Madeline Larkin continued it, and when senior Alaina Meyer converted two free throws, the Crusaders grabbed a 30-26 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
“We were moving the ball faster, we started to push in transition, and we were able to get something going,” Morris said.
The experienced Crusaders, who had three seniors and two juniors on the court in the final minutes, looked to close out a young Fort Zumwalt South squad with no seniors and one junior on the roster. At one point, the Bulldogs played with three freshmen on the floor.
“Our kids our super-young and inexperienced, but they are so mentally tough and so gritty,” German said. “We won so many close games this year because they make plays down the stretch.”
Those clutch plays started with sophomore Jenna Mehrhoff, who drove the lane and scored to stop the Bulldogs’ scoring drought. A Mehrhoff layup from an out-of-bounds play gave Zumwalt South a 31-30 lead with two minutes remaining.
“Our motivation was that we knew we had the support of our teammates, everybody in the stands, and everyone back at home. We had to keep working,” Vaughn said.
A quick transition layup by Morris gave the lead back to Helias before the stat-stuffer Vaughn lived up to her nickname.
First, the Bulldogs’ freshman stole a pass in the midcourt, drove into the paint and scored to give Fort Zumwalt a 33-32 lead. Then, in a sequence reminiscent of Michael Jordan in Game 6 against Utah in 1998, she intercepted a post pass on the defensive end and sent the Bulldogs to the free throw line with 57 seconds remaining.
“I just knew we needed a stop. I read her eyes, and I saw where she was going,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn accrued eight points, 11 rebounds, four steals, two assists and a blocked shot.
The first basket from freshman Heaven Ward and two free throws by Vaughn completed an 11-2 run that allowed the Bulldogs to gain command of the game and a third place trophy.
“This game was like a synopsis of our season – overcoming adversity through grit,” German said.
The Bulldogs’ season began with a 26-point loss to Troy and a 36-point loss to Hazelwood Central. On Jan. 22, the Bulldogs had a pedestrian 6-5 record and twice had scored less than 18 points in a game.
“A lot was team chemistry,” junior Bridget Herwick said of the turnaround. “We all started hanging out more off the court and that helped our chemistry on the court.”
As the only upperclassmen, Herwick led by example.
“I tried to set the standard by working hard in practice and hoped that they would look up and say, ‘I want to work hard too.’ Everyone put in a lot of effort for us to be here in the final four,” Herwick said.
Fort Zumwalt South won 13 of 16 games to reach the Class 5 District 4 final. A one-point victory over St. Dominic and a quarterfinal triumph over University City placed the Bulldogs in uncharted waters – the final four at Mizzou Arena.
“When I walked in, I was just cheesing,” sophomore Taylor McCarty said. “I’m very grateful to be here, so every moment, good and bad, was a new experience and made me happy.”
The Bulldogs led eventual state champion Lift for Life 10-9 after the first quarter of their state semifinal matchup before the Hawks ran away for a 58-26 victory. German expressed to his team the value of the third-place game against Helias.
“We didn’t play our best game (in the semifinal). A lot of it is that Lift for Life is a phenomenal team, but we didn’t feel like we showed our true selves. We thought it was important to come out and show that we deserved to be here. It was not luck. It was not, ‘Oh, we got a great draw.’ We earned it. We won our conference, we won our district, we belonged.”
And when the third-place game was slipping away late in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs performed with a maturity beyond their years.
“It was definitely a mental game,” McCarty said. “Physically, we were there all the way, but mentally we were getting down on ourselves. When we were able to put that to the side, that’s when we were able to step up and pull through with the win.”
For a photo gallery of this game: Click the link below: