North Nodaway's revenge tour continued Friday as they avenged an earlier loss by beating South Holt 52-48. They had crashed and burned against the Knights in the Mound City Tournament, not even getting 20 that night. But the pattern of always playing better the second time around held true for Sami Jackson's squad. They already have one conference loss this year and cannot afford another; the high-flying Mound City Panthers are unbeaten this year. But if Sami Jackson can somehow convince her charges that they are just as good as Mound City, it could turn into a showdown provided they run the table against everyone else.
The Knights had just erased a seven-point fourth quarter deficit as Emma Ezzell's driving layup gave them a 48-47 lead with 2:52 left in the game; Bethany Herndon missed a 1-1 and Ezell drove in for another layup in an effort to turn up the heat on North Nodaway. But she traveled with the basketball and Madison Thompson was knocked down hard by Madeline Prussman and got back up and hit two free throws to put North Nodaway back in front 49-48 with 1:48 left. The Knight sophomore then blew a wide-open layup off a backdoor pass and North Nodaway had the ball and the lead.
They ran the clock down to just over one minute, when Alisha Davison, who had carried the Mustangs all night, had the nerve to pull the trigger on a guarded 3-pointer that missed. But then Breann O'Riley, one of the smaller players on the court, somehow came away with the offensive carom and kept the possession alive; Davison redeemed herself with a free throw as Hailey Markt, whose presence bolstered the Knights despite not getting a lot of points, picked up her fifth foul as one of the South Holt partisans slammed the ball in frustration.
A basket would have tied it and South Holt had every reason to put the ball in Ezzell's hands since she had been slashing the baseline all night, but she missed three tries at the basket before Madison Thompson fouled her on the floor, a smart play as the Mustangs had fouls to give and it prevented another layup try. Ezzell tried again, but this time, Thompson blocked her and North Nodaway finally got a board. With South Holt frantically swarming and pressing, trying to get the ball back, the conventional play would have been to hold the ball and get fouled and get on the line. But Sami Jackson had been telling her players that the backdoor look was open all night; sure enough, there was a heartstopping moment for every North Nodaway fan in the gym as Breann O'Riley launched a long skip pass under fire from two taller defenders. But it was a perfect strike and an unguarded Kristin Herndon got the dagger to put North Nodaway up four at 52-48 with 15 seconds left.
South Holt put the ball in Ezzell's hands again in a last gasp chance to cut it to two and set up the press, but this time, Madison Thompson was there for the block. Ezzell tried again, but this time, Thompson stuffed her even harder and knocked her to the floor. Bethany Herndon corralled the most important board of the game and South Holt elected to throw in the towel even though there were still several seconds left on the clock. Madison forgot her shoes and had to borrow one of the boys' shoes; it must have been a good luck charm for her that night. Playing smart may have had something to do with it as well; she stayed out of serious foul trouble, as did most of the team. Consequently, they could afford to be very aggressive at the end when the game was on the line.
South Holt had every reason to expect a fairly easy win against North Nodaway, but the Mustangs had thrown a scare into South Nodaway and beaten Nodaway-Holt after falling to them the first time. Another card fell in North Nodaway's favor as they did not find themselves in their usual first quarter hole against good teams; they only trailed 8-7 after one instead of 5-10 points. North Nodaway's half court trap worked as well as it had all year early in the second as they got some quick steals to get a 13-8 lead. The Knights finally adjusted by working the ball into the middle, but the damage was done as North Nodaway maintained a 1 to 9 point lead most of the way until late. Finally, South Holt switched from zone to man in the last four minutes to create problems for North Nodaway, following South Nodaway's lead. Perimeter defense still continues to be an area of concern for North Nodaway; Sadee Prussman hit five triples for Mark Bolger's Knights, keeping them in the game. Two of them were from NBA range.
Alisha Davison got her second straight 20-point night to lead North Nodaway; apparently, her bright orange shoes were a good luck charm as well as Thompson borrowing one of the boys' players' shoes. Kelsi Oberhauser had 9, her most points since the Rock Port game at Mound City. Kristin Herndon had 8, none bigger than the last two points of the game. Madison Thompson had 7, Breann O'Riley had 4, Bethany Herndon 3, and Ashley Thompson 1. Madison Thompson had 6 blocks, three in the final 30 seconds of play; Bethany Herndon and Breann O'Riley had 1. Breann O'Riley had 7 assists, none bigger than her strike to Kristin Herndon. Alisha Davison had 4 assists, Madison Thompson had 3, and Kristin Herndon, Bethany Herndon, and Kelsi Oberhauser had 1.
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