Taryn Farnan hung 22 points on Albany and Dallis Coffelt had 18 more as Northeast Nodaway's girls' season started off with a bang with a 63-36 win over Albany Tuesday night. Northeast showed that they had improved a lot from last year's eight-win season. Asked if he had said anything to light a fire under Northeast's players, Coach Vance Proffitt said that he didn't need to because they were ready to play someone after some strong practices at the beginning of the season.
Albany had problems matching up with Northeast; they only had one player in their regular rotation over 5'4". That meant that post players Taryn Farnan and Dallis Coffelt both had a huge height advantage on the Warrior defenders, meaning a lot of post-up and second chance opportunities.
A strong defensive team, Northeast needed to get better offensively if they were to continue to improve. They showed a lot more team speed on offense this year, did a much better job of recognizing transition opportunities, and did a much better job of running their half-court sets in the win. They return nearly everyone from last year, meaning that they have played together a lot and were on the same page a lot more this year.
Shelby Fish did all she could to carry her team in the first quarter, getting 11 of her team's first 13 points as Albany led 13-10 at the 2:17 mark of the first quarter. But Taryn Farnan would not let Albany take control of the game, getting the last eight points of the period in a 1:28 span as Northeast took control with a 20-13 lead after one. Taryn had 14 just in the first quarter while Dallis Coffelt had the other six.
Brianna Riley scored the first points by someone else besides Taryn or Dallis at the start of the second, getting behind the defense after a steal and hitting two free throws. She showed that she was one of the most improved players from last year, showing a lot more willingness to attack the basket and using her speed a lot better to create transition opportunities. On the next play, Brianna drew Shelby Fish's second foul of the game, sending her to the bench as Northeast continued to pull away. Brianna added a free throw, Taryn got behind the defense and took a pass from Jill Spire, and Jill added a putback to put Northeast up 27-13.
Shelby Fish came back in to try and stop the bleeding, but Dallis got a putback and a driving layup and Kerrigan Adwell found Taryn inside to make it 33-13 with 1:48 left. The 33 points that Northeast scored at that point was more than they scored in a lot of entire games last year.
In most games, it is only a matter of time before the other team makes a run of some kind and Albany made one late in the second and early in the third to get back to within 36-21 with 5:57 left in the third. They were doing a better job attacking Northeast's three-quarters press and getting to the offensive glass. Taryn Farnan made some free throws to put Northeast back up 39-21, but there were some anxious moments to follow as she was shaken up and had to come out after that as Albany trimmed it to 39-23. But Northeast rallied with Taryn on the bench as Kerrigan Adwell hit a free throw, Claudia Wiederholt scored off a drive, and Dallis Coffelt scored off a steal and added a putback to put Northeast back up 46-23. Much like Worth County's Drake Kinsella, Dallis Coffelt showed the ability to play the post strongly, but play defense like a guard; she collected a ton of steals off the press during the game.
Jill Spire grabbed an offensive glass and kicked it out to Dallis Dawn and Holly Redden hit Brianna Riley for a basket to make it 50-25 after three.
Fish got going again for Albany, hitting consecutive shots to make it 53-32, but then back to back 3-pointers by Holly Redden squelched the rally as Northeast took their biggest lead of the night at 60-32 following a free throw from Jill Spire. Bailey Judd hit a free throw with 6.3 seconds left to become the 7th player to score for Northeast.
The boys got off to a promising start and got career highs from 4 different players, but fell to defending Class 2 District Champ Albany 69-58 in the nightcap. Northeast led by as much as 18-8 in the first and 36-21 in the second quarter. But after Albany scored three 3-pointers to start the third quarter, Northeast forgot what got them the lead; they panicked against Albany's pressure and threw the ball away against it and then committed makeup fouls afterwards and they settled for contested 3-pointers instead of running their plays and getting a good look. After the 5:48 mark of the third, they didn't score another field goal until 51 seconds were left in the game, when it was already decided. But Coach Chaim Jenkins said that it was not a bad effort for having the team together for the first time all year due to football commitments. "We know what we need to work on now," he said.
For Northeast's boys, Joel Scroggie had 17, Steve Schulte 16, Shaun Burns 10, Garet Jackson 8, and Andrew Freemeyer 7. Steve earned a lot of respect for his play and was congratulated by two of the Albany players afterwards. For the team, the focus in the Platte Valley Tournament will be on staying on the floor and not getting into foul trouble, keeping composure, and developing some depth.
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