Northeast Girls Back on Track with 56-32 Homecoming Win

Northeast Nodaway's girls got back on track following losses to Maysville and Jefferson with a 56-32 Homecoming win over DeKalb Friday night. Like the boys game, the girls game was played at a frantic up and down pace. "The pace was frantic and not very pretty, but we played hard and did what we had to do to win the game," said Coach Eric Fairchild. "They were very physical, but we were physical enough to compete, but we never got carried away. All five of our starters did well and I was pleased with the balanced scoring."

The focus of the game for Northeast was in getting back on track following their losses. Despite having a new coach, DeKalb still came out in their 1-3-1 halfcourt trap that has caused problems for numerous teams in the last few years and they still played the physical brand of basketball that they have been known for. But they lost everyone from the last few years and they had a completely different set of players out on the floor and they did not play with Northeast until the second half.

All five of Northeast's starters had seven points or more with Blair Schmitz leading with 17. After the first three minutes of the game without a field goal, Northeast finally got going as Blair Schmitz stepped around two defenders for a bucket to break a 2-2 tie. Emily Bryant (10 points) followed with a 3-pointer at the top of the key to make it 7-2, which prompted DeKalb to switch to man to man. Northeast spent a minute solving their man and couldn't get on the board, but Kristin Sherry (10 points) took the first of two charges for the night to stymie DeKalb on the other end. Finally, Blair Schmitz cut inside and got a pass from Rachel Runde (7 points) as Michelle Schulte (11 points) passed it out of the trap. The tiny but deadly Schulte girl followed with a shot from the left wing and a drive into the paint against three defenders to make it 13-2 with 1:46 left. Jaycee Nurski hit two free throws for DeKalb, but then Emily Bryant hit Rachel Runde on the left wing and then Kristin Sherry got a putback to make it 17-4 after one quarter.

Nurski hit again for DeKalb to start the second quarter, but Northeast switched from their man to man press to their zone press and one free throw from Runde and two from Sherry started the scoring for Northeast. Kristin Sherry would go on to get six points and take another charge on defense. Rachel Runde then lobbed it into Kristin Sherry for a layup and then added a steal and drive off the press. Blair Schmitz got a steal and then Michelle found her open on the top of the key and then Taylor Dougan hit Emily Bryant from the top of the key to make it 29-6. Free throws from Alyssa Jones broke the run and Blair Schmitz picked up her third foul, but Emily Bryant hit from the right wing and Kristin Sherry hit Michelle Schulte for a 3-pointer and then got a putback to put Northeast up 36-10.

During the halftime show, members of Ms. Whitney Wallaces' School of Dance entertained the crowd, dancing to the song "Hallelujah" and Coach Eric Fairchild treated his players to the show.

In the second half, DeKalb began rebounding at will on Northeast and went full court man to man press, which bothered Northeast. Kaley Pyles got a putback for DeKalb, but Michelle Schulte got a steal and drive and then Rachel Runde scored on a fast break in which Kristin Sherry beat the trap. Both Blair Schmitz and Michelle Schulte were shaken up during the sequence as DeKalb got more and more physical and started committing frustration fouls, including an intentional foul call; Blair hit both of the intentional foul free throws to give Northeast its biggest lead of the night at 41-12.

Back to back 3-pointers from DeKalb made it 43-20 and then they came to as close as 45-24 against Northeast's second string in the fourth before Coach Fairchild put some of his starters back in. Michelle Schulte and Blair Schmitz went 8 for 10 from the line as Northeast pulled back ahead by 55-26 at the 3:29 mark.