Worth County's boys, after falling behind 19-7 against West Nodaway, nearly came back and toppled the second-seeded Rockets in the opening round of district action Tuesdaybefore falling 64-55. The Tigers matched up well against West Nodaway, and they had given them a battle before falling 41-36 in the championship game of the Northwest Missouri Invitational Tournament. West Nodaway obviously wanted to avoid a repeat of that game and started off the game by pushing the ball up the floor as much as possible. It worked for much of the game as the Rockets led by as much as 16 at times. However, the Tigers matched their largest point total of the year as they finally started attacking the West Nodaway defense, in contrast to their passive play on offense over the last two weeks.
West Nodaway jumped out to an early 5-0 lead. But Worth County kept up for much of the first period as Kyler Hiatt found a seam against West Nodaway's zone press, Jonny Hughes scored from inside, and Todd Harding got a backdoor layup against West Nodaway's man to man. The game was marked by similar strategies from both teams as both sides threw multiple defensive looks at each other in order to throw each other off balance. But the Rockets closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run to lead 15-7 after one, and subsequently pushed it to 19-7 on the strength of their transition game.
But then Worth County got much more aggressive on defense, jumping some passes and taking away West Nodaway's aggression. Eli Mullock jumped a pass and went in for a layup; Alex Harmening got a putback and Jonny Hughes followed with a 3-pointer after the Tigers had forced a turnover off their man to man press. But West Nodaway solved that defense as they used two breakaway layups against the press to fuel a 9-0 run that gave them their biggest lead of the game at 30-14.
Worth County broke the run with a strong postup move from Kyler Hiatt and a baseline jumper from Todd Harding. Connor Nicholas got a steal and drive to push the lead back up to 33-18, but Eli Mullock scored off a backdoor cut and Kyler Hiatt scored off an inbounds play in the final 37 seconds of the first half and Worth County went into the lockerroom down 33-22.
West Nodaway went back up 37-24 off a Kolton Jones layup as they continued to try to push the pace. Jonny Hughes drew a 3-shot foul after getting a kickout from Eli Mullock and made all three shots, but the Tigers overreached on their press and Heath Harris was all alone for a layup to spark a 6-o run for the Rockets that pushed it back out to 16. But then, Coach Chris Healy put in Rylee Goolsby, and the 6'4" junior provided an immediate spark for the Tigers off the bench. He broke the West Nodaway run with a putback and Todd Harding hit a 3-pointer from the left wing . Goolsby drew a foul after grabbing an offensive board and then Kyler Hiatt scored inside off a quick hitter to get the deficit back under double digits at 43-35.
But West Nodaway went to Connor Nicholas to break the run and he went to the rack several times to put the Rockets back up 53-40 early in the fourth quarter. Kolton Jones' 3-point play capped the West Nodaway response, but Jonny Hughes hit a baseline 3-pointer to keep the Tigers afloat. Hiatt followed with a bucket off an inbounds play and Alex Harmening scored off a Hiatt steal to make it 55-47. West Nodaway began slowing it down to try to run out the clock, and they got a basket from Kolby Jones and a free throw from Nicholas to make it 58-47. But Hiatt scored consecutive baskets off a lob inside and a steal off the press to make it 58-51. Kolton Jones scored from inside and Nicholas scored a free throw to make it 61-51 with 1:44 left, but Hiatt answered right back with a strong cut and inside shot.
Rather than run the clock out, West Nodaway took an ill-advised shot that Hughes blocked and rebounded. Eli Mullock scored in inside shot to make it 61-55. Kolby Jones missed a wide-open layup and Worth County had a chance to cut it to 4, but Alex Harmening missed two free throws and Kolby Jones scored a layup against the Worth County press as they were trying to get the ball back.
No comments:
Post a Comment