Monday, February 28, 2011

Tigers Edge South Nodaway in Opening Round

Worth County's boys advanced to the second round of districts with their 46-42 win over South Nodaway in the opening round of districts. It was the first time in three years that they had advanced past the first round, getting stymied by West Nodaway two years ago and Northeast Nodaway last year. South Nodaway, which had improved a lot despite having 6'9" player Zach Hilsabeck quit the team in the middle of the season, had been in all their games since their 56-11 loss to Jefferson and have something to build on for next year.

The Tigers raised their record to 17-9 with the win, their best season since 2006-2007, when they beat Bethany on their own gym for the second time in 30 years and made district finals in Class 2. They did so by catching fire at the right time, winning for the 11th time in their last 13 games and pulling out another close one.

Worth County built up a 10-6 lead in the first quarter; Todd Harding hit from the top of the key following a 13 pass possession; Bryce Ross got a free throw; Eli Mullock cut inside for a layup, Alex Harmening hit a 3-pointer from the left wing, and Harding got a finger roll to go down for Worth County. But South Nodaway began driving to the basket at will in the latter stages of the first quarter, getting layups from both Dakota Murphy and Brandon Cozine to tie it before Silas Nielson's free throw put South Nodaway up 11-10 after one quarter.

The Longhorns had been dictating the pace of the game in the first period, slowing the game down and playing at their pace; however, Worth County was able to change the tempo of the game and speed it up, starting with a fast break from Jordan Harding after a long pass from Bryce Ross. Todd Harding added a steal and drive; Bryce Ross scored from inside while Alex Harmening hit a 3-pointer from the left wing and Todd Harding threw a long pass to Eli in transition as Eli was able to use his speed to get behind the defense and make it 21-11. South Nodaway burned three timeouts during that stretch trying to stop the run.

A pair of defensive lapses by Worth County cost them and let South Nodaway back in the game as consecutive 3-pointers from Dakota Murphy and Brandon Cozine made it 21-19 and South Nodaway had plenty of chances to tie before Wyatt McClain hit Bryce Ross inside to make it 23-19. Todd Harding then got a steal off the press in the closing seconds to make it 25-19 at the break.

Worth County followed the lead of the Northwest women against Southern the other night and went ice cold from the field as Cozine began driving at will against Worth County to lead his team back to within 27-25. Dalton Murphy's free throw made it 27-26, but then coach Chris Healy called timeout and made an adjustment, spreading the team out more on offense. The move worked as the Tigers were more effective offensively, getting a lot more spacing and movement and a lot more driving lanes to work with. Alex Harmening hit a 3-pointer off an inbounds play and then Eli Mullock scored from the high post, getting the Tigers out of the danger zone at 32-26.

Todd Harding warmed up at the start of the fourth, getting a floater in the lane off a drive and later adding a free throw to make it 35-28. Dakota Murphy got a drive to make it 35-30, but then Todd Harding got another one of his floaters after grabbing an offensive board and then Eli got a steal off the press and a 3-point play to make it 40-30 with 4:49 left. South Nodaway would fight back as Silas Nielsen scored from inside to make it 40-34, but the Longhorns passed up some chances to make it closer and Alex Harmening hit a free throw and Bryce Ross hit another to make it 42-34 with 1:41 left. South Nodaway chipped away, using free throws from Dillon Heath and a basket from Cozine to make it 43-38, but then Bryce Ross' free throws made it a 3-possession game with 43.8 seconds left. Cozine hit from inside and Todd Harding hit another free throw to make it 46-40 and South Nodaway tried for a 3-pointer that would have made it one possession, but Heath's 3-point try missed. Todd Harding was tied up with 8.8 seconds left and the possession arrow favored South Nodaway, but Worth County did a good job stopping the 3-point attempt and South Nodaway had to settle for free throws from Dakota Murphy with 5.5 seconds left to make it 46-42. The Longhorns tried to deny the inbounds pass, but Worth County got it to Todd Harding, who dribbled out the remainder of the clock to secure the win.

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