Northeast Nodaway's Junior High boys took a big early lead on Worth County Thursday and then held off a late rally to win 36-31. "These kids are going to play hard every night," said Bluejay Coach Charley Burch. "We just have to make better decisions down the stretch and have better shot selection." After the first half, Worth County went to a 1-3-1 zone which Coach Burch said bothered his players. "We waited too long to get going," said Tiger Coach Chris Healy. "But I was pleased with how we fought back and how we never gave up."
Brandon Auffert's three-pointer jump started a 10-0 run for Northeast that left them up 12-1 after one quarter of play. Garrett Jackson followed with a pair of free throws, Steve Schulte hit another free throw, and then Shaun Burns cleaned up after a steal and then had a nice crossover move to end the first quarter.
J.T. Welch came off the bench for Worth County to start the second quarter and kicked one out to Cole Parman for a baseline shot, but Garrett Jackson answered with a free throw and then Steve Schulte, seemingly channeling his two standout older sisters, went coast to coast on two consecutive plays against the press for two easy layups to make it 17-3. Welch connected from the wing, but Schulte once again beat the Tigers down the court and this time, drew a foul and hit the free throws. Austin Jones and Garrett Jackson followed with free throws to give Northeast its biggest lead of the game at 21-5. Travis Troutwine, channeling his aunt Tiffany, banked a 3-pointer from the left wing with 28 seconds left in an omen of things to come in the second half; Schulte responded with a coast to coast layup to leave Northeast up 23-8 at the break.
Cole Parman started off the scoring for Worth County with a fast break and a shot from the right wing and then followed it with a 3-pointer from the wing to make it 23-13. That seemed to take the lid off the basket for the Tigers. Shaun Burns grabbed an inbounds pass and drove right past a defender for Northeast to make it 25-13. Wyatt Rush then got a putback for Worth County. Brandon Auffert hit a 3-pointer from the right wing with 3:38 left, but Rush scored from inside again to make it 28-17. Shaun Burns drove the lane and hit a floater and then Joel Scroggie drove from the wing and threw up a prayer that went in to make it 32-17, but Aaron Green drove the left baseline with time running out in the third to make it 32-19.
Green hit a free throw to start the fourth quarter and then Andrew Mullock scored after a steal from Travis Troutwine to make it 32-22. Steve Schulte scored after a steal, but then Aaron Green cleaned up after a steal and then Shaun Burns picked up his fifth foul, which seemed to open the floodgates for Worth County. It was still 34-24 with 2:56 left, but then Cole Parman scored from the right side and then Travis Troutwine hit a 3-pointer from the right wing and it looked like he might break Northeast's hearts for the second year in a row; his free throws last year at Ravenwood completely cold off the bench had put that game out of reach for Worth County as they handed Northeast their first loss of the year in junior high.
Troutwine's three-pointer left it 34-29 with 1:45 left, but Worth County missed two chances to make it a one-possession game. Finally, they put Steve Schulte on the line as they were forced to foul to try to get the ball back; Schulte missed both free throws, but then got his own board. Northeast worked the ball to Brandon Auffert; showing no conscience whatsoever, he let fly a high floater from the left baseline, throwing Coach Charley Burch into convulsions. But the shot dropped through and proved to be the dagger as Worth County could only manage a steal and layup from Aaron Green in the closing seconds.
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