The question for Worth County's boys after an opening-round 48-35 loss to Stanberry was where their scoring would come from this year. They had lost Kyler Hiatt and Jonny Hughes to graduation and were not close to finding the answer before Wednesday night. They seemed to have balanced scoring, but not enough of it against the 3rd-seeded Bulldogs. But they seem to have come up with an answer -- get balanced scoring and get a little more of it, along with a stingy defense as they beat Polo 65-41 in the elimination round of the Albany Tournament. The Tigers put up some eye-popping numbers on defense, as Zach Harmening came within one of the school record with 8 steals (several different players hold the record with 9), and Wyatt McClain came off the bench to perch himself atop the new athletic website's charge chart by taking three charges for the night.
Worth County was plagued by foul problems all night, but more than made up for it with their deep bench as Coach Chris Healy used all of his varsity players against Polo. Consequently, despite the high point total, only two players reached double figures -- Zach Harmening with 12 points and Todd Harding with 11.
Alex Harmening hit a floater in the lane with 6:33 left to put Worth County up 3-0 in the first quarter. After Justin Hazleman hit from the left wing to make it 3-2, Zach Harmening converted a 3rd-chance bucket, Dylan Kinsella got a putback, and Jordan Harding scored off a Bryce Ross steal to make it 9-2. Both teams put on a press, but Worth County's was much more effective as they were able to get steals and drives all night long.
Josh Junco began slashing to the basket effectively and Polo rallied to cut Worth County's lead to 11-9 with 1:15 left. But after Cole Buffington scored from inside, Wyatt McClain came off the bench to take the first of his three charges and Buffington ran the floor and got behind the Panther defense as J.J. Mullock got him the pass with 6 seconds left to make it 15-9. Duncan Parker's shot from the right side at the buzzer made it 15-11.
Polo kept it close through much of the second quarter as Worth County began struggling on offense as they were a little out of control and they were hacking and fouling too much on defense, leaving Polo in the double bonus. But all of a sudden, Garrett Hawk got open from the right baseline for a 3-pointer to spark a rally late in the half; Polo then overextended on their press, leaving Todd Harding open for another three-pointer. After Wyatt McClain took his second charge of the night, Zach Harmening scored off a putback with 33 seconds left to make it 32-19. Garrett Hawk connected from the baseline with 7:42 left in the third to continue the Tiger rally and then Zach Harmening got a steal and drive to give Worth County its biggest lead of the night so far at 37-19.
Polo scored the next five points as the hacking and fouling returned, but Dylan Kinsella got behind the Polo defense for a layup following a pass from Jordan Harding, Todd Harding made the first of two free throws and J.J. Mullock put back the second after it went astray, and then Bryce Ross scored from inside to make it 44-24 with 1:31 left. Toby Poje hit a pair of free throws for Polo, but Todd Harding got a steal and put a fake on a defender for a layup and then Wyatt McClain took his third charge of the night to set up Worth County's final bucket of the night with 12 seconds left. The ball was knocked out of bounds with 0.7 seconds left and Coach Chris Healy called timeout to set up a final play. Eli Mullock, who had not scored all night, grabbed an alley oop pass from half court and put it in to beat the buzzer and put Worth County up 48-26. The Polo coach protested that Mullock had traveled, to no avail. J.J. Mullock got a fast break feed from Alex Harmening to start the fourth quarter to put the Tigers up 50-26.
Polo made a mild rally to make it 50-31, but J.J. Mullock got behind the Polo defense to start another Worth County run. Zach Harmening followed with a steal, Todd Harding got a layup off another Harmening steal, and Garrett Hawk posted up inside to make it 58-31 with 4:31 and put the game out of reach. Polo scored the next seven points to make it 58-38 with 3:23 left, but Dylan Kinsella scored from inside with 2:19 left, J.J. Mullock got alone for a backdoor layup off a drive by Todd Harding, and Harding connected for a 3-pointer to account for the final score.
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