Northeast Nodaway's boys used a strong 3rd quarter to put Worth County away for the second time this year, winning 61-46 and living to fight another day. The Tigers ended their season at 14-11 after getting their third winning season in four years. For Worth County, many of the things that they had counted on to get them over the hump against Northeast did not materialize. Some of the things that had been liabilities for Northeast in previous games did not happen Monday. With the game tied at 20-20, things were looking good for the Tigers; they did not dig themselves into a big hole like they had done plenty of times earlier in the year and they had limited Northeast's big men, Bryce Farnan and Tyler Davis, to 6 and 2 points respectively. And the 3rd quarter, which was one of Northeast's weakest quarters, was coming up. However, Northeast came out on fire and outscored Worth County 21-9 in that period and never led by less than 9 the rest of the way.
Another thing that did not go Worth County's way against Northeast was the 3-point shooting. Perimeter defense had been one of Northeast's biggest liabilities in their last few games as they had given up 3-pointers at critical moments; however, Northeast tightened up their perimeter defense Monday night and did not allow a single 3-pointer from Worth County. Not only that, they were able to take several charges when Worth County tried to go to the basket. Free throws, which had saved Northeast against Stewartsville Friday, were critical again for them; they went 22 for 27 from the line against the Cardinals. Against Worth County, they went 28 for 37 from the line for a total of 50 for 64 for the last two games. Worth County only went to the line 22 times during the game. Foul trouble was an issue for both teams, but Northeast pulled away during the latter part of the third quarter with Bryce Farnan on the bench with three fouls, while Worth County could not find anyone to pick things up after Zach Harmening saw extended time on the bench throughout the second half with foul trouble. Worth County had plenty of looks at the basket, but it is much different to try and shoot over bigger men than it is to shoot over someone your own size; Northeast picked up rejections from their big men at critical times.
Northeast looked to get the ball into Tyler Davis and Bryce Farnan (15 points) early, but Worth County was swarming the post inside and picked up some early steals. Bryce Ross (12 points), playing his best game since coming back from an ankle injury, scored off an Alex Harmening steal, but Bryce Farnan countered by lobbing into Tyler Davis to tie it at 2. The game continued with four ties in a slow, defensive struggle, but Northeast was getting some open driving lanes down the middle and they took full advantage, with Aaron Patton scoring to put Northeast up 10-8 after one.
James Burns came off the bench for Northeast to start the second quarter and contributed a monster stuff as well as a pass to the weak side to Kevin Stoll for a layup to make it 12-8, but Worth County, who was having shots go in and out during that stretch, finally got untracked as Zach Harmening drove into the high post and hit a floater. Harmening then went coast to coast and found an open Bryce Ross and then Alex Harmening got a steal and Ross put in the shot over Tyler Davis to put Worth County back up 14-12 at the 3:43 mark.
But then Aaron Patton got loose in transition to tie it up, ending a three-minute scoring drought for Northeast and then Bryce Farnan finally got untracked as Bobby Welch lobbed the ball in to him for a 3-point play to make it 17-14. Cole Buffington answered for Worth County to make it 17-16, but then three more free throws from Farnan made it 20-16 with 56.9 seconds left. Todd Harding (10 points) drove down the middle for a layup and then J.J. Mullock scored from inside over Bryce Farnan to tie the game up again at 20.
Northeast changed the tempo of the game to start the second half with immediate results. Bryce Farnan opened the scoring with a pair of free throws and then a Tyler Davis block led to a fast break layup from Colby Wiederholt (15 points) on the other end. Farnan followed with another rejection and then buried a 3-pointer off an inbounds play to make it 27-20. Then, following a scramble for a loose ball, Wiederholt picked up the carom and put it in to make it 29-20.
Worth County got a glimmer of hope as Bryce Ross cherry-picked the last basket and hit two free throws and then Bryce Farnan fouled J.J. Mullock and went to the bench with three after being stripped on a defensive rebound and Mullock hit one of two. Todd Harding followed with another 3-pointer to make it 29-24. If there was any time for Worth County to make a run to get back in the game, it was at that point with Farnan on the bench, but Bobby Welch went coast to coast and turned it into two free throws. Todd Harding answered with a drive and a shot over Davis, but then Colby Wiederholt hit two free throws and then Bobby Welch got a steal off the press and fed Chad Messner to make it 35-26 with 3:15 left.
Northeast then pushed the lead into double digits. Alex Harmening made one out of two free throws for Worth County, but then nobody matched up on Chad Messner, who was all alone for a layup. Following a miss, James Burns threw one of his patented bullet passes the full length of the court to Chad Messner, who found Kevin Stoll underneath the basket to make it 39-27. Todd Harding got a putback for Worth County, but then Colby Wiederholt hit two free throws to make it 41-29 after three quarters.
Tyler Davis opened the scoring with a putback for Northeast to make it 43-29, its biggest lead of the game, but then Eli Mullock did what he could to get Worth County back in the game as he scored off a fast break. Tyler Davis hit a techincal foul shot for Northeast off a delay of game technical foul, but Eli stole the ball and fed Bryce Ross on the left baseline and then got another steal and turned it into two free throws to make it 44-35 with 6:51 left.
Northeast's boys have had trouble protecting leads before in the 4th quarter, but this time they answered right back as Bryce Farnan found Tyler Davis inside and then Bobby Welch hit a free throw. Alex Harmening answered with a free throw and then Bryce Ross got a steal and was going down to the other end to try and cut it to nine, but Bobby Welch was there to take the charge for Northeast; Welch then found Farnan open in transition and Colby Wiederholt hit two free throws to give Northeast its biggest lead of the night so far at 51-36 with 4:13 left.
Alex Harmening hit a free throw for Worth County but then Bryce Farnan took a charge on Zach Harmening, drawing his 5th foul and hurting Worth County's efforts to get back in the game. Welch then hit two more free throws for Northeast to make it 53-37 at the 3:25 mark. Bryce Ross drew Welch's fourth foul and hit two free throws, but Aaron Patton slipped behind the Tiger defense and Tyler Davis found him with a long pass and Patton made one out of two at the line.
Garrett Hawk and Todd Harding tried to get Worth County back in the game in the last few minutes, but Northeast was able to make its free throws down the stretch as Alex Harmening and Eli Mullock followed Zach Harmening to the bench with 5 fouls.
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