Sunday, December 8, 2013

Bluejay Girls Win 1st Trophy in Two Years; Off to 3-1 Start

Northeast Nodaway’s girls beat Stewartsville 59-18 to take their first trophy in two years, getting the Consolation Trophy of the Platte Valley Tournament. They had a surprisingly easy time with the Cardinals, who had figured to give Northeast a run for their money.

The focus of the game was to shut down post player Ashley Schultz and guard Randi Schottel, both of whom went off on Osborn in Stewartsville’s 50-26 win over the Wildkats in the consolation semifinals. Northeast had beaten Osborn by 22 last year, so it figured to be a dogfight for consolation. In particular, Schultz had eaten Northeast alive two years ago in Stewartsville when the Cardinals won by one point. Last year, Northeast won handily at home when she didn’t play. Since Schultz was an intimidating presence in the paint, Northeast had to get production from their guards in addition to their post players.
But not only did Northeast get good production from their guards, they got their usual production from post players Taryn Farnan and Dallis Coffelt. Northeast’s players showed no signs of being afraid of going in and attacking Schultz this time, getting to the basket and getting on the line. Northeast was able to get the Cardinals in foul trouble, a big factor since they only have eight players on their roster this year.
After a sluggish start, Northeast was able to jump out to a 10-2 lead after one quarter. Northeast was able to get some steals off the press and they forced a pair of 10 seconds calls in the period. One difference between this year and two years ago is that Northeast was much more able to pressure the Cardinals and force them to play at Northeast’s pace. Dictating the pace had been a problem for Northeast each of the last two years. One change that Coach Vance Proffitt did that helped was putting Taryn Farnan on top of the press; that helped create a lot of tips and steals as it was very difficult for them to throw over her.

Stewartsville hung around for a while in the second quarter, but then the whistles and fouls on the Cardinals started mounting and Northeast scored the last 19 points of the period to take a 33-9 halftime lead. Taryn went relentlessly to the basket and collected points and trips to the line, Dallis Dawn was jumping some passes off the press, and Kerrigan Adwell got into the act, collecting baskets off a steal and a putback.
 Brianna Riley also scored off a steal and Bailey Judd got an offensive glass that she got to Dallis for a basket.

The team rode Taryn’s back through most of the third quarter as the Bluejays continued to pull away as she collected six in a three-minute span; that opened up Holly Redden for a 3-pointer. Normally a 3-point shooter, Holly got behind the defense as Jill Spire threw a long outlet to Bailey Judd who threw to Holly for the finish. Claudia Wiederholt added a steal and Dallis added a pair of free throws. Taryn had one play where she clobbered a Cardinal defender football style, drawing the blocking foul on Stewartsville.

Taryn Farnan had 15 points and Dallis Coffelt had 13 for Northeast to lead eight people in the scoring column. Talina Nelson came off the bench and got behind the defense repeatedly for Northeast, collecting six points, a personal best.

Northeast ran into an improving Union Star squad that has gone the distance in all of its games so far, but Northeast still won handily 42-15 against the host Trojans. Dallis Coffelt battled foul trouble but still had 10 to lead the Bluejays. Taryn Farnan and Jill Spire had 8 each and Bailey Judd 6 for the Bluejays as they had a balanced attack against the Trojans. They landed 10 in the scoring column that night.

Northeast lost 42-37 to South Nodaway in the first round of the tournament in a highly physical game. Brianna Riley played the best game of her career for Northeast and collected 9 points, along with Jill Spire. Dallis Coffelt and Holly Redden had 6 each.

The boys lost both of their games in the tournament. They gave up 31 points in the second quarter and suffered one of their worst defeats in recent memory, 78-31 to North Andrew. Joel Scroggie had 16 points for Northeast in the loss. The hope was that North Andrew would still be adjusting from having just won the state title, but that was obviously not the case Monday night.

It didn’t get any easier Tuesday night in the consolation semifinals as they were matched up with a Union Star squad that has been playing some of its best basketball in recent memory. But they gave a better accounting of themselves than they did previously; after digging themselves into a 21-point hole after three quarters, Northeast outscored Star 22-10 in the final period and their rally fell short 58-49. Joel Scroggie had a career high 19 points and Garet Jackson followed with 12. Scoring for the first time in a Bluejay uniform were Dalton Auffert with 4 points and Rowdy West with 2. If they can develop some depth, then coach Chaim Jenkins will have more options and there will be less pressure on the starters to stay out of foul trouble.

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