Running Clock Win 1st for Tiger Girls Since 2006

Worth County’s 58-20 win over Ridgeway was the first running clock win for the Tigers since 2006, when Worth County beat Rock Port in the West Nodaway Holiday Tournament by 30. Ridgeway had hung with Northeast Nodaway for a while in the South Harrison tournament, so it figured to be a game for the Tigers. However, a lot depends on matchups and Ridgeway did not match up well with Worth County because they did not have the size to stop their post players.
The Tigers made full use of their size advantage as they collected 12 of their 19 first quarter points off of putbacks as Ridgeway did not have anyone who could block either Kacey Smyser or Kaitlyn Davidson out and keep them off the boards. Kaitlyn was an animal on the boards, picking up 15 against the Owls; she had 17 in the 59-51 Courtwarming loss to Princeton and would have had 20 if she had not hit her head on the floor taking a charge on defense late in the game.
It was one of those games which surprised everyone. Some of the players’ friends who were not at the game and who were texting back and forth with the girls during the boys game thought that it was the other way around and that the girls had lost. It was Worth County’s third win in their last four games and raised their record to 6-12. It was their third straight game of scoring 50 or more points.
They have now improved on their record from last year and are now battling Stanberry for the 5th seed in districts, which take place at home. They have lost two games to Stanberry this year, but they still have one more game to play against them this year. The win over Ridgeway, a district opponent, will lock up at least the 6th seed. Northeast Nodaway, which has beaten Stanberry this year, has the 4th seed likely locked up. North Harrison, who beat Northeast in Bethany this year, will likely take the third seed although they still play Worth County. Jefferson will likely take the 2nd seed and Mercer the top seed.
Kaitlyn Davidson had 10 points in the first quarter for Worth County. Kacey Smyser had four and Kristen Andrews had two, all of them on putbacks. Claire Andrews hit a shot at the buzzer off a kickout from Danielle Funk at the buzzer and Sydney Thummel added a free throw as Worth County led 19-6 after one quarter.
There were still three quarters to go, but Coach Bryce Shafar felt comfortable enough that he started putting in his second string late in the first quarter and early in the second. Kaylen Carlson was the only Owl who could match up with Worth County, hitting two 3-pointers in the first quarter and hitting all night long as she did all she could to keep her team in the game.
But after Ridgeway played evenly against a mixture of starters and JV, Kacey Smyser got loose in transition and got a pass from Dylanie Abplanalp and then Claire Andrews, who was hitting everything in pregame warmups and hit seven 3-pointers in a row at one point, started getting behind the Ridgeway defense at will as the Tigers scored the last 14 points of the second quarter. Claire then lobbed it into Kaitlyn Davidson and then followed with another shot; Kristen Andrews added consecutive steals off the press and then Sydney Thummel added another as Worth County led 35-9 at the half.
Worth County had been in this position before against Nodaway Holt, only to run into their third quarter woes. But this time, they played strongly in the third quarter as Kaitlyn Davidson converted a fourth chance putback, Haven Schottel hit a 3-pointer with a defender in her face, and Kristen Andrews scored off a steal to make it 42-9 and put the game out of reach.
Danielle Funk then got behind the defense for a layup, followed by consecutive breakaways from Claire Andrews. Kacey Smyser converted a 3-point play off a backdoor layup, Kaitlyn Davidson hit a free throw, and Danielle Funk got a putback as Worth County led 54-17 after three quarters and triggered the running clock.
Danielle banked home a shot from the high post and Dylanie Abplanalp got behind the defense for a long pass from Rebecca Moore in the fourth quarter.
The boys failed to capitalize on their win over Princeton and lost in ugly fashion to Ridgeway. They led 8-7 at the 3:54 mark of the first quarter and looked like they had come to play against the state-ranked Owls. But following a Ridgeway score, a lazy inbounds pass turned it into a four point play, a momentum-changing play that swing the action into Ridgeway’s favor. Worth County kept it within five points until early in the second quarter, but then all hell broke loose as the boys fell back into their old habits of making crazy passes on offense and taking bad shots as Ridgeway scored the last 19 points of the half and led 40-16. Frustration set in during the second half as two players picked up intentional fouls.