Biggest Win of Coach Ryan Davis' Career

In what was the biggest win of Coach Ryan Davis' career, the #6 Northeast Nodaway girls, behind 16 points from Jacqueline Schulte, knocked off #4 Jefferson 39-36 in the Platte Valley Conference showdown last Tuesday. Coupled with Northeast's subsequent 57-42 win over DeKalb, the win means that Northeast is nearing a Platte Valley Conference Tournament title for the first time in 10 years; conference games with Elwood and Stewartsville remain.

Northeast came in as the underdogs in the fight; the Eagles, despite losses at the North Platte Tournament and to Maryville, had not lost a regular-season game to a Class 1 school besides South Nodaway in almost three years. Jefferson had graduated a ton of seniors from last year's team which finished third in the state, but Chelsea Merrigan and the Eagles still knocked off Northeast by 8 last year in summer action even though Northeast had made strides in that game. And the Eagles, after relying on Kendle Schieber and Chelsea Merrigan all year, showed signed of diversifying their attack in Tuesday night's game.

But this time Northeast was up to the challenge, turning back Jefferson's third quarter comeback bid. In many of their close games this year and last summer, they used some last-second heroics. However, this time, they made some critical defensive plays at the right time to preserve the win as Coach Davis' emphasis on defense came full circle. And the most important stat was on the other side of the ledger -- Northeast held Chelsea Merrigan to an unheard-of five points. The critical difference was this -- Northeast had won twice when Jacqueline Schulte was held to 4 points as her teammates were able to make up the difference. But Jefferson could not put up enough points to make up for Merrigan's lack of scoring Tuesday. There was little celebration on the part of the players after the win -- Northeast and Jefferson will likely play again in the district championship game on the same court. The challenge now for Northeast will be to elevate their game in the same way Jefferson does -- the Eagles have wiped out many teams over the last 20 years in both basketball and softball districts who had beaten them during the regular season. Northeast will be helped by the return of Kristin Sherry from an illness; she subsequently returned to action in Friday's win over DeKalb, providing them with valuable ballhandling which they needed badly Tuesday night. And not only did Northeast beat a tough Jefferson squad, they had to play against the officials, who blew all sorts of calls against both sides.

Blair Schmitz scored inside off a drive from Rachel Runde and then Jacqueline Schulte hit a pair of free throws after drawing a foul on Chelsea Merrigan, who came over too late on the help to make it 4-2 at the 5:18 mark. Rachel Runde then scored from the right baseline off a Schulte kickout to make it 6-4. But then the Bluejays began to struggle against the vaunted Jefferson press and a couple of bad calls by the officials did not help. Ashley Merrigan beat the Northeast press and then Ashley Chor hit a shot from the top of the key to put Jefferson back in front at 9-6. Then, the referees, who were obviously missing a good game, were not paying attention as Coach Ryan Davis was trying to call timeout as Northeast turned the ball over. On the very next play, Blair Schmitz had a perfect take on Chelsea Merrigan and drew the foul on her, only to have the refs fall asleep on the play and not call the obvious foul. Jill Henry's free throw capped the 6-0 run and gave Jefferson its biggest lead of the night at 10-6.

Despite a little more help from the officials for Jefferson, Northeast managed to cut the lead to two after one quarter. Hallie Oelze found a cutting Jacqueline Schulte to make it 10-8, and then the refs gave the ball back to Jefferson even though it was obvious that the ball had gone out of bounds off Kendle Schieber; however, no harm was done and Northeast was still very much a part of the game.

And then Michelle Schulte took over, turning around yet another game for Northeast and putting them in control. Jacqueline Schulte found Michelle on a long outlet and she beat the Eagle defense down the court for a fast break to tie it at 10. Despite more interference by the officials -- this time, a non-call on a Jefferson player obviously over Hallie Oelze's back on a rebounding situation -- Blair Schmitz took Chelsea Merrigan to the rim and converted it into two free throws. As Jefferson began turning the ball over, Michelle Schulte got loose in transition again and then fed Hallie Oelze for two free throws to make it 16-10.

Jill Henry cleaned up on a steal for Jefferson to break the 10-0 run. Jacqueline Schulte countered with a pair of free throws but then Kendle Schieber countered with two of her own to make it 18-14 with 2:01 left. But then Michelle Schulte made a free throw, Jacqueline Schulte had a driving layup, and Blair Schmitz connected from the left baseline following a steal by Emily Bryant to make it 23-14 at the half.

But then Jefferson turned to Ashley Merrigan to get them back in the game, and she started off the scoring with a step-thru move. Then, Ashley Merrigan went to the rim and Jacqueline Schulte had a perfect block from behind. However, the officials, who let Chelsea Merrigan block shots from behind all night long, called Schulte for a foul and Ashley Merrigan hit two free throws. Then Ashley Chor became a disruptive force on defense, collecting some steals and scoring off a shot from the right side and a steal. Ashley Merrigan then followed with a shot from the high post as Jefferson wiped out Northeast lead in just under three minutes and went up 24-23 at the 5:23 mark.

But then Chor became overly aggressive and got into foul trouble; she picked up her third foul shortly afterwards. Jacqueline Schulte then got a drive to the rim and Blair Schmitz hit a pair of free throws after a step-thru move to put Northeast back in front at 27-24. Schulte's shot from the top of the key made it 29-26, but then Chelsea Merrigan finally got loose, turning a cut inside into a 3-point play to tie it at 29 and drawing Blair Schmitz's 3rd foul in the process. But then Ashley Chor picked up her 4th as Jacqueline Schulte took her to the rim and turned it into two free throws; Blair Schmitz picked up two more after a drive to put Northeast up 33-29 after three quarters.

It looked like Northeast was in control at that point, having pulled off many of these games, but then Sarah Kemper, who had been quiet all night for Jefferson, suddenly hit a 3-pointer from the right baseline to make it a one-point game. Hallie Oelze caught Jefferson napping as she flew down the court for an easy layup to make it 35-32, but then Ashley Merrigan worked the high post for a shot to make it a one-point game. For the next 2 1/2 minutes, neither side could take care of the ball and the score was stuck at 35-34, but finally, Chelsea Merrigan got loose on the boards and put Jefferson up 36-35 with 4:10 left to go. Hallie Oelze then missed a 3-pointer and Jefferson had the chance to take control as Sarah Kemper got an open look from downtown with 3:10 left, but her 3-pointer went astray and Blair Schmitz worked a perfect high-low play to Jacqueline Schulte to put Northeast back up 37-36 with 2:54 left.

Jefferson worked the ball into Ashley Merrigan in the high post once again, but this time, her shot from that area, which had gone in all night, rimmed out and Northeast got the ball back with a chance to run clock. But Chelsea Merrigan got a steal and Jefferson had a 1 on 1 opportunity at the other end. But Hallie Oelze stuffed Ashley Merrigan and the ensuing jump ball arrow went to Northeast with 2:11 left.

It was now Northeast's ballhandling against Jefferson's pressure defense and the Bluejays were able to run the clock all the way down to 1:12. But finally, Kendle Schieber got a steal for Jefferson, giving them a chance to take the lead. But then with 52 seconds left, Jefferson tried to throw the ball inside and nobody was there but Michelle Schulte for Northeast. Emily Bryant then cut backdoor and drew a foul; she hit both free throws to make it 39-36 with 47.7 seconds left.

From there, Northeast could not put it away and Jefferson could not get the shot to tie or cut the lead. First, Bryant stole an inbounds pass with 39.1 seconds and was fouled and couldn't hit the 1-1. Then, Ashley Merrigan lost the ball out of bounds for Jefferson, but Blair Schmitz couldn't convert from the line with 25 seconds left. Kendle Schieber then missed an 8-foot floater in the lane that would have cut it to one, but Hallie Oelze couldn't make the front end of a 1-1 for Northeast after Jefferson fouled her. Finally, Jefferson got a look at a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied the game, but Kendle Schieber was 1-2 feet behind the arc and her shot was rushed and long as time expired.