Drake Kinsella hit 19 points as the Tiger boys got their fourth win of the season, 67-33 over West Nodaway. Brevyn Ross followed with 11 points and six steals in a game that was surprisingly one-sided. Games between the Tigers and Rockets have been lively lately, but Worth County took a double digit lead in the first quarter and never gave it up.
It looked like it would be another close game as the score was tied at 4 and then 6 in the early going. Roger Johnson’s Rockets were getting the ball into post player Blake Farnan at will, opening everything up at will. Worth County moved ahead 12-8, but then things turned when Farnan picked up his second foul of the night and had to sit out the rest of the first quarter. In his absence, Worth County pulled away as Kinsella hit a pair of free throws, Ross scored off a Drake Simmons steal, Simmons hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key off a pass from Kinsella, and Simmons returned the compliment to find Kinsella inside to make it 21-8.
West Nodaway adjusted by driving to the basket with some success as Worth County was hacking and fouling and the Rockets were hitting their free throws. That kept their deficit down to 12 for much of the second period. But late in the second, Brevyn Ross scored off a steal, Caleb Parman scored from the right baseline off a pass from Simmons, and Drake Kinsella scored off a drive to make it 38-20 at half.
There was every reason to still be worried; West Nodaway had erased a double digit deficit in Burlington Junction last year and they have always been capable of scoring points in a hurry. But they came out in the third quarter in a rare 2-3 zone, which backfired as Cade Allee and Drake Kinsella hit back to back 3’s to put Worth County’s lead over 20 points to stay.
From there, Worth County did a much better job of staying out of foul trouble as they only had four in the second half after committing 13 in the first. The absence of fouls did not detract from Worth County’s defense at all; they gave up 13 in the second half after giving up 20 in the first half.
In the meantime, the transition game got going for Worth County as they were able to get stops and defensive boards. Chris Alarcon beat the Rocket defense on one transition look and Drake Kinsella converted a 3-point play off a Ryan McClellan pass. Ryan converted a Brevyn Ross steal into points and a block from Mason Hawk set up a breakaway from Ross as Worth County broke the 30-point barrier. Ben Badell’s driving layup with 1:12 left triggered the running clock for Worth County at the end of three.
Wayde Parman got on the board for his first varsity points as he blew by a defender late in the game for a layup.
Worth County forced 23 turnovers and only surrendered the ball 14 times, a stat that pleased Coach Bryce Schafer. His Tigers got 11 players in the scoring column led by Drake Kinsella with 19 and Brevyn Ross with 11. Cade Allee had 7, Ryan McClellan, Caleb Parman, and Ben Badell all had 6, Mason Hawk and Drake Simmons had 3, and Isaac Alarcon, Chris Alarcon, and Wayde Parman all had 2. Worth County stole the ball 15 times from the Rockets that night. "It’s good to get some momentum going into North Andrew," said Schafer.
The girls did not fare so well as they dropped a 38-37 overtime loss to West Nodaway. Coached by former Worth County alum Bryson Scott, they ended a 50+ game losing streak in the process, stretching out over two years.
Sean Thurm’s Tigers thought they had it won late in the third quarter, as Kennedy Galanakis’ free throw put them up 29-16 with 41 seconds. But in a momentum shifter, West Nodaway scored four points in the last 18 seconds to get it under double digits. From there, Worth County struggled with how to play with a lead in the fourth quarter; they were settling for jump shots instead of taking time off the clock and forcing the Rockets to come out and guard them; they were forcing passes inside that weren’t there instead of running their plays. On the other end, they were hacking and fouling on defense; they had four players foul out and nearly finished with four players.
Consequently, West Nodaway chipped away and tied the game on Hailey Hull’s free throw with 35.3 seconds left. Both sides missed chances to win in regulation, with Hull’s runner going in and out with 10 seconds left and Haley Hunt missing two free throws on the other end after getting the ensuing defensive board.
Once again, Worth County thought they had it won as they took a 35-29 lead with 2:45 left in overtime. But once again, West Nodaway chipped away as Brittney McIntyre hit six consecutive points to tie it and Madalyn Walker’s free throw put them ahead for good with 42.8 seconds left. After Tess Andrews missed two free throws, Worth County had to foul and West Nodaway pulled ahead 38-35. Dominique Findley’s guarded three that would have tied it was in and out and Jessi Badell’s putback with time running out was one point short as West Nodaway was able to hold the ball out of bounds and get it in for the win.
The Tigers had balanced scoring, but not enough of it. Jessi Badell and Rikky Hunt led the scoring for the girls with 8 points. Sidney Troutwine had 7, Tess Andrews 6, Dominique Findley 3, Haley Hunt and Payton Adwell 2, and Kennedy Galanakis 1.
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