Rachel Runde Gets Career High 18 in Sweltering Gym; Bluejay Girls Down CFX

Northeast Nodaway's girls used a career high 18 from Rachel Runde as the Bluejays overcame a sweltering gym, foul trouble, and a hot CFX squad that had won 12 out of its last 14 games to win 53-39 last Tuesday night. It was the hottest gym that they had played in since last year's Rock Port game in districts. But they played through the adversity and got the win over an explosive CFX squad.

There were plenty of bad memories to go around from the game in the same gym in which Northeast could not buy a stop against Whitney Harrington and Amanda Geib and lost; the same officials that did that game were there. Geib's younger sister Rebecca Geib showed she could become the real deal next year; she showed some of the same mobility and athleticism that her older sister showed. Dustin Barnes, the same coach who led them two years ago, came back this year to coach them again, obviously seeing a ton of potential. But this time it was Northeast who got off to the hot start; after falling behind 4-2 early, they suddenly reached back and showcased the same kind of insane shooting that Hayes did against Northwest earlier this year.

Emily Bryant hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key as Blair Schmitz found her open. Big Bad Blair then went coast to coast in transition for a layup and then kicked it out to Rachel Runde on the left side. Kristin Sherry picked up her second foul trying to guard Geib, but then Blair kicked it out to Michelle Schulte on the left wing and then Michelle hit Taylor Dougan, who had come in to replace Kristin. Taylor added another 3-pointer and then Blair Schmitz hit Rachel Runde and Runde hit her 1st ever 3-pointer to make it 21-8 after one quarter of play.

CFX came out of their zone and went man to man and they began jumping passes and doing a better job crashing the boards. Blair threw a long outlet to Kristin to keep it at 25-12, but then Kristin picked up her third foul shortly afterwards. Blair hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key off a pass from Rachel Runde to make it 28-14, but then without Kristin, Northeast struggled on the boards and CFX began jumping passes at will, getting a lob to Geib to start an 11-0 run that cut it to three at the half. Baylee Lewis slipped behind the defense for a layup, Emily VanGundy cleaned up on a steal, Geib jumped another pass for a layup, and then VanGundy scored in transition at the buzzer to make it 28-25 at the break.

With Kristin Sherry back in, Northeast righted the ship as she got a putback and then threw Rachel Runde a backdoor pass to make it 32-25 to get the game out of the danger zone. Nicole Heits hit two free throws as Kristin picked up her fourth foul with 5:30 left, but this time Northeast did a much better job of responding with Kristin Sherry on the bench. Blair Schmitz got a badly needed putback and then hit Rachel Runde on a backdoor cut as Northeast went back in front by nine at 38-29. Kristan Judd, who came in to replace Kristin Sherry at the post, picked up her fourth foul and sat down and freshman Taryn Farnan saw her first extended varsity playing time, playing hard and keeping CFX off the boards. Blair Schmitz's 3-point play made it 43-34 after three quarters of play.

Kristin Sherry came back in and Northeast did a much better job of guarding Geib, only allowing her one point in the final quarter and stopping the lob passes. Everyone played much smarter on defense as nobody fouled out despite the rash of foul trouble. CFX went to their fullcourt press to try and get the ball back, but Kristin Sherry beat the press and threw it to Rachel Runde for the layup to make it 46-35. Darian Burke cut it to nine, but Runde got behind the press and got another pass from Kristin and then went backdoor for Kristin Sherry's third assist of the quarter. Burke scored off a steal, but then Michelle Schulte hit a free throw and then Kristin Sherry hit two free throws to put it out of reach with one minute left.