Worth County’s boys are one of the littlest teams and are also one with the biggest hearts. Over the past three seasons, Coach Chris Healy has turned the boys team into one of the most fundamentally sound teams in the area and one which will swarm you and trap you to death. The term “squirt” is a compliment – other teams look at their small size, with their two tallest players at 6 feet tall, and think that they have an easy game when they play against the Tigers. Nothing could be farther than the truth.
Two seasons ago, Worth County’s boys were struggling to find an identity for themselves. They had just gotten their first win of the year, an ugly 28-22 affair against South Nodaway. They were playing Northeast Nodaway, with three kids who were 6’4” or taller. What looked like it was going to be a mismatch was instead a shocker – the little Tiger squad was swarming, hounding, and outworking the taller Northeast squad on their home court at every opportunity. They doubled the rebounding totals on Northeast and won the game.
Northeast’s kids promised that it would not happen again when the teams met for a regular season rematch in Ravenwood. But it happened again – the littler Tiger squad was pressing, swarming, and outworking the Northeast squad to death on their way to a second win against the much taller Bluejay squad. The shock of the loss was such that then-Bluejay coach Charley Burch kept his team in the lockerroom for 45 minutes after the second game.
Worth County would only win six games that year. And Northeast would get their revenge – they have won all three winter season meetings between the two teams since then. But those two wins set a tone for the whole program for the next two years – the little Tiger squad would press, hound, and swarm the other team to death and teams would leave the court shaking their heads at having just lost to the squirts from Worth County.
The scores do not always show the pace of the game – the tempo is usually the most frantic tempo of any game in the area. The Tigers are not afraid to push it up the floor and take a bunch of chances to get their points. And they are not afraid to gamble on defense and get steals. But beneath the surface, we see a team that knows how to play the game – if the other team retreats into a zone, the Tigers will change gears – they will work the ball around for 10-15 passes and it is only a matter of time before the other team’s defense breaks down and Worth County gets a good look at the basket.
Two years ago, the Tigers struggled to put points on the board, with their high point total for a game being 55. But last year the Tigers began to put points on the board in early season wins over Polo and North Nodaway as they took the consolation crown of the Albany Tournament. They got off to a strong start, went through a losing streak during the middle of the year, and then got back on track by taking consolation at Stanberry and beating Gallatin by making a strong defensive stand late in the game to preserve the win.
To show how little teams thought of Worth County’s chances, three different teams in Princeton, Albany, and Ridgeway picked the Tigers as their designated victims for their Courtwarming celebrations. The squirts crashed all three and won their own, a dramatic last-second win over Polo on Zach Harmening’s buzzer beater.
Going into the final stretch of the season last year, the Tigers needed to win on the road against a strong Ridgeway team that won 18 games that year and a Nodaway-Holt team that had beaten them earlier in the year. They won both those games to get their winning season and end the year on a positive note.
Last year, the Tigers had some size in Cole Buffington and Dylan Kinsella. But with Buffington lost to graduation and Kinsella out for the year with a knee injury, the Tigers were left with their two tallest players being six feet – Bryce Ross and Brian Hall; Hall had not played basketball all through high school. And Ross had been battling injury problems of his own over the last two years. But Ross has stayed healthy this year and led the Tigers in scoring, turning into a reliable go-to player for them. And Hall has been a quick learner, becoming a force off the bench.
With the loss of Kinsella, the Tigers got off to a slow start but then got rolling starting with a big win over North Nodaway. They stumbled at West Nodaway but then at the Northwest Missouri Tournament, they turned around and beat the same West Nodaway squad on the same floor in the semifinal game handily, playing the brand of ball that had gotten them that far. That led to a match with Maryville’s JV squad, who had manhandled Northeast Nodaway in the other portion of the semifinals. The Tigers fell way behind but then showed the heart they were known for as they fought back to win the tournament and get their first tournament win in 15 years.
After dropping a game to Jefferson, the Tigers did not start out the way they wanted to, dropping games to Northeast Nodaway and Gallatin. But with Worth County trailing by nine points at King City, playing a game that was moved due to the weather conditions, they suddenly found their rhythm and came back to win that one. They lost to Jefferson by 35 after playing them tough for a half but then started their current winning streak by beating a much taller Stanberry squad for 3rd place.
The Bulldog squad killed the Tigers on paper with several players who were 6’3” or 6’4”, with the kind of team speed that leads to a ton of foul calls and easy layups. But somehow, Worth County failed to follow the script as Bryce Ross refused to let them lose, having a big first half to get the Tigers a halftime lead that they would not relinquish. Needing to play King City just six days after having played them once, the Tigers responded again, overcoming a 21-point first quarter from King City to win by 5. Nodaway-Holt came into the game very athletic and willing to run up and down the floor to open up their 30-foot 3-point shooters. But the Tigers ran right with them and beat them at their own game Monday.
And at their Courtwarming, the Tigers figured to get a tougher test from an Albany squad that they had beaten in the first match by 17. Albany had gotten a quick point guard and was looking like a totally different team. But the Tigers jumped out to a 16-4 first quarter lead and never looked back, leading 32-14 at the break and cruising to the Courtwarming win to cap the sweep of Albany. Bryce Ross had 20 in the effort and Todd Harding 18.
Todd Harding, Worth County’s second leading scorer, played his freshman year. Raw and uncoordinated, he nonetheless brought more energy than anyone to the floor even though he was only a 5’3” freshman. The move by Coach Chris Healy has paid off as Harding has grown several inches and has become a consistent scorer for the Tigers. His patented floater in the lane is very difficult to guard as he can get it over much taller players; he is always a threat to steal the ball and take off with it down the court.
Alex Harmening is one of the leaders in steals for the Tigers. Only 5’6”, he has become one of the best 3-point shooters on the team and dropped 20 on Nodaway-Holt, a career high for him. He has matured over the last two years and has become a team leader for the Tigers.
Wyatt McClain made a splash last year when he took three charges in a game against Polo; since then, he has emerged into another floor leader as well as a steady point guard. He is one of the best passers on the team, always seeking to get it to the open man. Eli Mullock is another role player for the Tigers; he is usually one of the leaders in assists for the team and made a key defensive play against Nodaway-Holt when he stole the ball in the last minute of that game to help preserve the 60-53 win. He is not afraid to use his speed and can beat teams down the floor if they fall asleep at the switch. Jordan Harding has become one of the more physical players on the team. Two freshmen have earned some playing time this year in game situations as Travis Troutwine is a constant threat to pop it from outside and Andrew Mullock made several hustle plays on defense and scored a critical basket in the fourth quarter against Nodaway-Holt.
