The Tigers won three games this year, which was more than either of their last two campaigns. The offensive struggles that characterized last year's team were still there, although they were never held to single digits this year like they were last year. Their shooting was their biggest weakness as they were struggling to crack the 25% barrier most nights. They took better care of the ball, as there were games in which they forced more turnovers than their opposition. They played well at times on the defensive end although they hurt themselves with a ton of fouls throughout the year.
They showed some promise early as they played a competitive game against Polo, a team they had trouble matching up against the two years before. They had every right to expect a win against a shorthanded North Nodaway squad, but they turned out to be no match for the scrappy Mustangs, who handed the Tigers a 20 point loss. West Nodaway also beat them by 20. The Tigers finally broke the 30 point barrier for the first time all year at the Northwest Missouri Tournament as they got 31 in a losing effort to Maryville JV.
Worth County trailed 36-1 to eventual district champion Jefferson at half in their final game before the break, but found something to build on as they played them evenly in the second half, giving hope that better times were on the way. After losing by a bunch to Northeast Nodaway earlier in the year, they came out of the gates and made them work harder for their win the second time around and then had to turn around and face Gallatin at their place. Gallatin, although down the last two years, had beaten Worth County 54-18 in last year's meeting. But this time was completely different. Worth County focused on breaking the Gallatin zone press and learned early on that Gallatin would struggle against zone defenses. They trailed at half, but then used a 13 point third quarter to take the lead for good and finished off Gallatin in the fourth for their first win.
The Tigers were blown out by Mound City in the opening round of the Stanberry tournament but better things were on the horizon as they gave South Nodaway all they could handle, leading them at halftime before losing. They played a good King City squad tough as well before losing by 11 at home. Finally, they put it all together, getting a team effort in a Courtwarming win over archrival Albany for their second conference win of the year. The wins over Gallatin and Albany were the first for Worth County over a GRC foe in three years.
Worth County had every reason to expect a winnable game against Princeton, a team which they had put points on the board against last year in Princeton. A win would have given their their first two game winning streak in three years. But were shorthanded for the next few games, getting running clock losses against Princeton, South Harrison, and Maysville. They finally saw some light at the end of the tunnel, going the distance against the Stanberry skyscrapers.
That led to the Ridgeway game and Senior Night. The Owls came in with a 15 win season and had manhandled the Tigers last year in Ridgeway for their first win over the Tigers in over 20 years. But what happened defied all expectations as it was Worth County who jumped out to the 20-6 lead. Worth County got into their usual foul trouble and Ridgeway was frantically putting on the press to chip away at the lead for the rest of the game. But it was two underclassmen who stepped up at the end after Worth County had fallen behind by one. Claire Andrews made a heads-up play for an offensive glass and made a free throw to tie. Then, sophomore Kiley Reynolds hit a free throw to put Worth County up by one and the Tigers hung on for their third win of the year to give Lauren Null and Brooke Gilland a nice sendoff.
It can take years to build up a program, as longtime Ridgeway coach Tom Hogan can attest. It has only been in the last two years that Ridgeway has no longer had to play their annual numbers game; this year, they had the most players come out for basketball in recent memory, all of whom can play varsity level ball. Worth County has not had that sort of a problem, but they have fallen on hard times in recent years. However, they return a shot-blocking presence in Jessica Garrett along with a strong freshman contingent from this year. Liz Novak, Claire Andrews, Kristen Andrews, and Katie Mullock all provided valuable minutes for the Tigers this year. The challenge for them will be to get more consistent at what they do well. Rebecca Moore and Kiley Reynolds will develop into tough defenders and will look to handle more of the scoring next year. And Kaitlyn Davidson and Sydney Thummel will provide some instant help as freshmen along with Alysa Lyle.
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