Worth County's boys contained the 6'7" Zach Hilsabeck and were able to beat the South Nodaway Longhorns 53-34 to take consolation in the Stanberry Tournament as Bryce Ross led a balanced attack with 13 points for Worth County. It was the play of Ross which made a big difference for the Tigers, who had been searching for answers following a string of close losses as he followed his 23-point night against North Andrew with 13 more against South Nodaway. The Tiger freshman's output led a balanced attack as five different Tigers scored six or more points. Todd Harding added 12, Dylan Kinsella (going up against Hilsabeck) had 9, Eli Mullock 8, and Zach Harmening 6.
The Tigers had played South Nodaway four other times during summer ball and winter. In the games which the Tigers won handily, they were able to speed the game up against the Longhorns, while when South Nodaway was able to make a game out of it, they were able to slow the game down. The Longhorns were able to dictate the tempo against Albany in the consolation round, slowing the game to a glacial pace and beating the Warriors 32-23 for their first win of the year.
South Nodaway got an early 3-0 lead on the Tigers as they were hacking and fouling early. But then Bryce Ross began right where he left off last year as he got a kickout from J.J. Mullock to start his night with a jumper from the left wing. Eli Mullock added a pair of free throws and then Bryce Ross connected from the right baseline and then got a steal off the press to make it 8-3. For some reason, South Nodaway did not come out in their usual 2-3 zone, but tried to play a man to man, giving the quicker Worth County squad some easy driving lanes to work with. The Tigers were not having the best of shooting nights, having to shoot over Hilsabeck all night, but they more than made up for it by outworking the Longhorns on the boards.
Finally, South Nodaway switched back to their zone and were more effective with it. Dillon Heath had a drive to the basket and then South Nodaway added a fast break against the Tiger press after a free throw from Ross to cut Worth County's lead to 9-7. But then Eli Mullock got a kickout from Todd Harding with 25 seconds left in the first quarter and scored from the left wing to make it 11-7 after one quarter.
Hilsabeck opened the scoring for South Nodaway with a fast break and Ross answered with a baseline jumper following a Tiger steal off the press to make it 13-9. There was a long scoring lull as Worth County was out of control at times on offense and South Nodaway could not set up in their offense or buy a defensive board. Finally, Dillon Heath hit a pair of free throws to cut South Nodaway's deficit to 13-11. The Longhorns took Hilsabeck out and went to the diamond press that had worked against Albany in their last game, but the move backfired as Dylan Kinsella scored from inside and Todd Harding went coast to coast to put Worth County up 17-11 at the 2:50 mark.
Zach Hilsabeck checked back in and did all he could to keep South Nodaway close as the rest seemed to rejuvinate him. Worth County tried switching to a 2-3 zone to contain him, but he took a lob pass and scored over two defenders with 1:59 left. Zach Harmening countered with a couple of free throws and then Alex Harmening got a steal off a trap on the wing and kicked it to Jordan Harding underneath the South Nodaway basket. Harding threw a full length of the court baseball pass to Todd Harding, whose layup gave Worth County its biggest lead at 21-13.
But Hilsabeck kept right on coming as he converted a 3-point play after scoring over three Tiger defenders; Eli Mullock scored off a drive in which he had a nice pullup jumper in the paint from 12 feet, but Hilsabeck once again scored over three defenders to cut South Nodaway's deficit to 23-18 with 25 seconds left in the half. South Nodaway got another chance following a blocked shot by Hilsabeck and Brandon Cozine's half court shot, which might have changed the momentum of the game, went in and out at the buzzer.
Brock Ferguson got behind the Tiger defense just two seconds into the second half for a layup, but then someone forgot to account for Eli Mullock, who got behind the South Nodaway defense and hit two free throws. Following a Tiger stop, J.J. Mullock couldn't corral an errant pass into the post, but he managed to tip it towards Zach Harmening, who hustled in, grabbed it, and put it down. Mike Medsker hit a free throw for South Nodaway, but Dylan Kinsella scored from inside over Hilsabeck and converted the 3-point play for Worth County. On the other end, Kinsella then knocked away a pass intended for Hilsabeck. It caromed right to Medsker, who attempted to score from the right baseline, but Kinsella came sprinting over to reject the shot and grab the rebound. Then, he muscled his way free of Hilsabeck, got some separation, and made another bucket over him for a 32-21 lead.
South Nodaway made a comeback bid from there as Hilsabeck hit one out of two free throws and then Dillon Heath's driving layup cut Worth County's lead to 32-24. The Longhorns got a steal and a wide open layup that would have cut it to six, but they missed the shot and Zach Harmening alertly grabbed the defensive board and went coast to coast the other way for a 34-24 lead -- that was a four point swing in Worth County's favor.
Brock Ferguson kncoked down a free throw and then South Nodaway began outworking Worth County, chasing down offensive caroms and reversing roles during the next sequence. But then Brandon Corzine's 3-pointer that would have cut the deficit to six started a series of four straight plays in which South Nodaway failed to cut it to 6 or 7 as his shot went halfway down and then caromed out. Cole Buffington then managed to pressure Hilsabeck hard and force an airball; the Longhorns then got another steal, but for the second time in the quarter, missed a wide open layup. Finally, following their fourth consecutive miss, they overextended trying to get the ball back and Todd Harding went coast to coast for a 3-point play in a backbreaking sequence that put the game out of reach. Alex Harmening then scored his only points of the game, a 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer with a defender in his face. At the start of the fourth quarter, J.J. tipped an errant lob pass intended for Hilsabeck to Alex Harmening, who threw to Eli Mullock on the outlet; Eli Mullock aired it out to Todd Harding, who once against got behind the South Nodaway defense to put Worth County up 42-25.
Hilsabeck then scored from inside, but then Dylan Kinsella got a putback over Hilsabeck and then Alex Harmening stripped Hilsabeck in the post and aired it out to Bryce Ross with 5:39 to make it 46-27. Hilsabeck got another inside shot, but then Bryce Ross cut to the high post and scored off a Dylan Kinsella kickout, Todd Harding once again got behind the Longhorn defense (this time, following a defensive board), and Worth County took a huge chunk of time off the clock and got the ball to Harding in the high post for their biggest lead of the night at 51-29. Grant Parman scored a pair of free throws with 22.5 seconds left for the Tigers following a tieup by Wyatt McClain on defense.
No comments:
Post a Comment