Worth County's girls had two unlikely heroes step up after a horrific rash of hacking and fouling in the second half almost derailed their game over Princeton as they held off a late charge by the Blue Tigers and won 38-35 Friday night. It was made even better by the fact that they were playing the second of back to back nights. Sydney Thummel had fouled out halfway through the fourth quarter and without her handling the ball, Worth County was rudderless as Princeton erased what had been a six point Worth County lead in the period and took a 32-31 lead with 2:04 left, wiping it out in a span of a little over two minutes. The foul differential in the half was 10-6 in Princeton's favor at one point.
Finally, Sidney Troutwine hit Payton Adwell on the left wing for a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding with 1:22 left and put Worth County back in front 34-32. Princeton then went through a stretch where they only hit one out of their next six free throws as Worth County hung by their fingernails despite continuing to hack and foul at every opportunity. Worth County could not buy a board on the defensive end against the Blue Tigers, who are a good offensive rebounding team. Finally, Worth County secured one and Princeton had to foul, sending Rikky Hunt to the line with 32.4 seconds left. She knocked down both tries to put Worth County in front 36-33. Hunt had not scored all night until the last minute of the game.
Paige Phillips struck back for Princeton, getting a putback to make it 36-35 with 17.6 seconds left, but Hunt got on the line again and hit one out of two to make it 37-35 with 15.8 seconds left. That left Princeton with a chance to tie or take the lead but Phillips, who had broken Northeast Nodaway's hearts in Bethany earlier in the year, could not do the same to Worth County. She had a good look at a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but it was long and Worth County freshman Aubrey Ragan, who was pressed into service thanks to three players fouling out, hit one out of two with 2.4 seconds left and Princeton only had a desperation heave from three quarters as time expired.
The win helped Worth County climb further out of the GRC cellar. They posted their second win in the conference after beating Albany for their Courtwarming; they won three out of four with the win despite playing with only eight players.
Worth County had led most of the way before the frantic fourth quarter. Sydney Thummel's cut inside and pass from Payton Adwell put Worth County up by their biggest lead of the night, 29-21 with 36 seconds left in the third. Thummel was carrying the team when she was not on the bench with foul trouble. They also led by eight at the start of the third, when Sidney Troutwine's shot from the top of the key with 7:22 left put them up 21-13. Worth County fended off a Princeton rally that brought them within two at one point before Worth County pulled back ahead.
Nobody led by more than 4 until Thummel took control of the game late in the first half. She broke a 12-12 tie in a tight defensive struggle with two free throws; she followed with a steal and 3-point play to make it 17-12 with 1:07 left in the half. Sidney Troutwine's shot from the left wing off a pass from Payton Adwell made it 19-12 before Maddie Enright's free throw made it 19-13 at the half. Much of Worth County's gameplan was focused on trying to stop Enright, who was a constant threat to drive to the basket much of the night.
Kaitlyn Davidson had 12 points and 21 boards, raising her career high in the rebounding chart. The school record is 25, held jointly by Charlea Lewis and Sue Steinhauser. She also added four blocks, including one in the last minute that would have put Princeton ahead. Sydney Thummel, despite playing with foul trouble most of the night, still had 7, as did Payton Adwell. Sidney Troutwine had 4 and Rikky Hunt had 3. Tess Andrews and Ally Buffington had 2 each and Aubrey Ragan had 1.
The boys lost 49-34 as they were no match for a Princeton squad who features five players who can dunk it; they have one player who is 6'8" and three others who are 6'4". They did a good job limiting Brant Faulkner, who had torched them in Worth County's previous two losses to Princeton this year. However, they could not stop Stephan Elliott, who was able to drive on Worth County all night despite his 6'8" frame and who carried the Blue Tigers. Cade Allee led with 9 points, Chris Alarcon, Josh Warner, and Mason Hawk had 6, Drake Kinsella had 5, and Ryan McClellan 2. Worth County dug itself into a 38-16 hole early in the third quarter before coming back and making a game of it. However, they could never get any closer than 10 early in the fourth before Princeton ran out the clock through most of the period.
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