North Nodaway took an early 11-0 lead and then had to win the game all over again after Worth County had come back to take a 2-point lead. But Tyler Bix took over in the fourth quarter, getting a steal at the end of the third to tie it up at 16 and then scoring four more in the final period. The fourth quarter was a battle of wills, with neither side willing to blink; the game remained tied at 16 in the fourth quarter until Karson Oberhauser hit a contested shot from 12 feet out to put his team up for good at the 3:29 mark. Bix followed with a drive to the basket with 3 minutes left after he was isolated and then added an inside shot with 1:42 left to make it 22-16.
Worth County was not done as Ethan Thomas pulled up and hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key with 6.7 seconds left to make it 22-19. North Nodaway missed a one and one, but Jaxon Anderson traveled to give the Mustangs the ball back in the backcourt. The ensuing 1 and 1 with three tenths of a second didn't hit the rim, which meant no time went off the clock and Worth County had another chance to send it to overtime, going the length of the court. Ethan Thomas caught the ensuing pass from 30 feet away, but couldn't get turned around in time to get a shot off at the buzzer.
Jake Shipman's team sought from the outset to relentlessly attack the rim and get quality shots. Worth County tried to press them and then half-court trap them, but nothing worked as the Mustangs sliced through the press and the trap at will in building up a 9-0 lead after the first quarter. Bix drove and broke the ankles of a Tiger defender to make it 11-0 early in the second, but then Todd Simmons switched to a half court man to man and his Tiger squad came out of their slumber. Jaxon Anderson got the Tigers on the board with a pair of free throws and Zayne Swope buried a kickout from Ethan Thomas to make it 11-4. Tanner Parman converted a steal into a free throw and it was 11-5. Dalton Smyser went coast to coast and converted it into a free throw to put his Mustangs up 14-7 with 3.7 seconds left, but then Ethan Thomas collected the ball on the second shot and pushed it up the floor to Zayne Swope at the buzzer to make it 14-9.
The Tigers came out on fire in the second half as Jaxon Anderson somehow came up with an errant pass from Thomas for a layup. Ethan Thomas buried a 3-pointer to tie it at 14 and all of a sudden, it was a ballgame. Hunter Simmons saved a ball to Anderson for a two-shot foul, which he converted to make it 16-14. But as he was driving in to make it a four point game, he was called for a charge, which was his fourth foul, which forced him to the bench until the closing minutes. That seemed to sap the momentum from Worth County's sails and set up North Nodaway's comeback win.
For North Nodaway, Tyler Bix had 8 to lead his squad. Dalton Smyser had 5, Logan Keho 4, Karson Oberhauser 2, Ryan Riley 2, and Austin Bird 1. For Worth County, Ethan Thomas had 8 points and two 3-pointers. Jaxon Anderson had 6, Zayne Swope 4, and Tanner Parman 1. Thomas, Anderson, and Swope all scored their first points in "A" team junior high action.
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