Tiger Boys Can't Buy a Bucket vs. NEN in 4th

Worth County's boys came back from a big first-half deficit, took the lead against Northeast in the second half, but couldn't buy a bucket in the fourth quarter and fell to the Bluejays 49-41 to start off the new year. Bluejay coach Ryan Madden made good on his promise; the Tigers beat Northeast in sudden death during summer ball and Madden promised that "it would not happen again" come winter. "It wasn't the way I envisioned it; we had 33 turnovers against Worth County," he said. "We finally started spreading it out more and running our offense and that's what got things turned around." Madden said that he was proud of the play of Bryce Farnan. "The bloodiest fights are between brothers," said Madden, referring to the highly intense nature of the struggle. "I was proud of how Bryce got a bunch of rebounds and how he kept his head when things didn't go our way."

Colby Wiederholt got two quick fouls right off the bat, but Coach Madden gambled and kept him in the game and Colby responded by getting to the line and scoring off another drive off his left hand to get his team going. Aaron Patton scored off a steal and then Kevin Stoll scored off a fast break to make it 11-2 with 2:36 left in the first. Worth County fought back as Jordan Harding got a putback, Todd Harding scored off a drive, and Brian Hall scored from inside to cut it to 13-8 with 30 seconds left.

But the situation got critical for Worth County as Colby Wiederholt scored off a fast break following a quick outlet from Bryce Farnan and then Bryce and Colby began scoring at will. Colby went coast to coast for another fast break and then Bryce Farnan scored from inside off a pass from Dalton Welch. Todd Harding countered with an off-balance floater in which he split two defenders, but Colby and Bryce each scored again to make it 23-12.

But then Coach Chris Healy began pressing Northeast and a swarming Tiger defense began forcing turnovers in bunches and fighting back. Bryce Ross hit a pair of free throws, Todd Harding scored off another one of his patented floaters and then added a 3-pointer from the left wing and then Alex Harmening hit a free throw with 1:34 left to make it 23-20. Aaron Patton went coast to coast on a fast break, but then Todd Harding got another off-balance shot to go down and then added a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put Worth County up 26-25 at the break.

Worth County continued to swarm the offensive glass, which prompted Coach Ryan Madden to bench both Kevin Stoll and Bryce Farnan. With Farnan on the bench, Bryce Ross began establishing himself as Jordan scored from the right baseline and then Ross got alone underneath as Todd Harding pushed it up the floor and then Eli Mullock threw a long outlet to Ross to make it 32-25.

But then Northeast began attacking the basket more and then Kevin Stoll, who had thrown up a bunch of 3-pointers without success all year, hit his second 3-pointer of the year to break the run. "We talked with Kevin Stoll all during break about being more aggressive and he did it tonight," said Madden. Todd Harding split the Northeast press and hit a floater over Bryce Farnan, but then Clayton Judd got a steal off the press with 4.8 seconds left and turned it into a free throw to make it 36-32 after three quarters. Judd made another critical play as he drew Alex Harmening's fourth foul and knocked down both free throws to make it 36-34 after grabbing an offensive carom to start the fourth.

Bryce Ross scored from inside over Bryce Farnan to make it four and then Worth County had a golden opportunity to go back up seven again as Ross was wide open for a 3-pointer. But his shot went in and out as did the putback try and then from there, it was all Northeast. Colby Wiederholt scored off his patented left hand and then Bryce Farnan got behind the Worth County press as Northeast started doing a much better job of attacking it as they tied it up at 38 with 4:56 left.

Bryce Farnan used a perfect seal to get on the line and then get one out of two; Bryce Ross made a perfect spin move against Farnan and got loose and drew the foul, but missed both free throws for Worth County. Free throw shooting killed the Tigers as they only went 5 for 12 from the line and were 1 for 6 from the line in the fourth. Northeast began doing a much better job of crashing the offensive glass as Colby drove to the basket with his left hand into a crowd of defenders and missed, but kept the possession alive as he tied up the rebounder. Colby missed the front end of a one and one, but once again the possession stayed alive as Northeast got the ensuing board and Bryce Ross knocked it out of bounds off of Bryce Farnan's hands. Aaron Patton missed a 3-pointer badly and Todd Harding fell out of bounds chasing after the ball, but saved it to Eli Mullock.

Bryce Farnan then blocked Jordan Harding at the other end but Todd Harding grabbed the ensuing carom after it was tipped around and went for one of his patented floaters. But the shot once again went in and out as Bryce Farnan grabbed the ensuing rebound. Colby Wiederholt once again went to his left hand and got on the line to hit two free throws to put Northeast up for good with 2:19 left and then Jordan Harding traveled against the press. Kevin Stoll then faked a 3-pointer, drew the defense, and hit a 12-footer from the baseline to make it 43-40. On the ensuing possession, Alex Harmening got behind the defense, but Bryce Farnan got back in time to alter the layup try and get the defensive board with 58 seconds left.

With Worth County pressing and trying to get the ball back, Colby Wiederholt had one of his patented left handers, but pushed off on his defender and turned it back over to Worth County with 46.1 seconds left. Northeast got a stop on defense, but Todd Harding got a steal and drew a foul on Kevin Stoll. But once again, the lid on the rim held firm as Harding missed both free throws. Bryce Farnan once again got the defensive board and Colby Wiederholt drew contact with 35.5 seconds off a drive and made one free throw to make it a two-possession game at 44-40. He missed the second but Farnan got the offensive board and went up for a putback attempt. Alex Harmening blocked his first putback attempt, but Farnan made his second putback attempt to make it 46-40.

The action got really frantic during the next stretch; Northeast got a defensive stop but then Alex Harmening stole the ball. Colby Wiederholt stole the ball back only to have Bryce Ross steal it from him and draw the foul and make one out of two to make it 46-41 with 17.8 seconds left. But then Bryce Farnan hit three out of four from the line down the stretch to put it out of reach.