Tiger Girls Can't Stop Northeast's 1-2 Punch

Worth County's girls could not stop Northeast Nodaway's 1-2 punch of Blair Schmitz (21 points) and Michelle Schulte (15 points, 5 steals) and remained winless on the year, falling to the Bluejays 58-26 as the game went to the running clock in the fourth quarter. The score could have been much more lopsided, but Northeast coach Eric Fairchild took off the press after Northeast had opened the game on a 26-0 run and began subbing freely by the end of the first quarter. Northeast filtered their starters in and out throughout the second and third quarter before turning the game over to his reserves in the fourth.

The Tigers had no answer for Blair Schmitz inside as Emily Bryant lobbed it into her to open the scoring. Michelle Schulte scored from the left wing off a kickout from Blair and then the tiny but deadly Schulte girl beat the defense down the court and drew a foul, hitting both free throws. Blair then followed with a nice spin move and then tipped an errant pass to Michelle Schulte, who threw it back to Blair for a layup. Kristin Sherry then hit a free throw and then missed the second, but Blair was there for the rebound to make it 13-0. By the middle of the first quarter, Jessica Garrett had picked up her second foul trying to guard Blair, and Worth County had no answer for her. Schmitz hit a free throw and then scored from the left side; Kristan Judd then came off the bench and hit Taylor Dougan for a 3-pointer. Taylor set a career high with 11 points that night. Emily Bryant then scored off a Michelle Schulte steal, Blair Schmitz got a putback, and Taylor Dougan hit a 3-pointer from the left wing after getting a pass from Taryn Farnan to cap the run.

Worth County finally got on the board as Claire Andrews split the defense and drew a foul and then Brooke Gilland got a putback with 5.5 seconds left to make it 26-4. The starters came back in for Northeast at the start of the second and Blair Schmitz got a free throw and Michelle Schulte ran over a defender and turned it into a three point play after a Rachel Runde steal. Katie Mullock pushed it up the floor and hit a pair of free throws and then hit Kacey Smyser inside to make it 30-8. Katie was a bright spot for Worth County as she was constantly pushing the ball up the floor on offense and was applying ball pressure and getting some steals on defense. Lauren Null then added a pair of free throws after a putback to make it 30-10.

But just as Worth County was warming up and starting to make a game of it, the tiny but deadly Schulte girl struck again as she got a steal and fed Kristin Sherry. Claire Andrews countered with a shot from the right wing, but the Michelle hit back to back 3-pointers, Emily Bryant hit Taylor Dougan from the left wing, and then Bryant lobbed it into Blair Schmitz to make it 42-12 with 1:32 left. Brooke Gilland scored in transition for Worth County and Taylor Dougan hit a free throw to make it 43-14 at the half.

Blair Schmitz drove through three defenders for a layup and then hit from the high post to start the scoring for Northeast in the second half. Michelle Schulte scored off a steal before the starters came out and the second string came in with the score 49-14. Kristan Judd then hit a free throw for Northeast to cap the run.

Worth County managed to have some success against the second string as they were having trouble getting into their offense against Worth County's pressure. Kacey Smyser got hot for Worth County, scoring six straight points off an inbounds play and four three throws to make it 50-20. Emily Bryant hit a free throw and Kristan Judd hit a basket to make it 53-20 after three and trigger the running clock.

Lauren Null got a putback for Worth County to make it 53-22, but the Tigers could never stop the running clock in the fourth. Taylor Dougan hit a pair of free throws for Northeast; Brooke Gilland countered with a pair of free throws for Worth County. Holly Redden scored her first career basket as a Bluejay, scoring in transition and Claudia Wiederholt hit a free throw for her first career point. Liz Novak hit from the right wing for Worth County.