Worth County and Northeast Nodaway tangled up in the championship game of the Northeast Nodaway Junior High Tournament and the Tigers came away with the 32-23 victory Friday night. It started out as a tight defensive struggle, but then Alex Rinehart carried the team on his shoulders to get the win. Alex Rinehart had 25 points in Worth County’s 50-39 opening round win over Avenue City, scored 16 more against St. Gregory’s in the semifinal match, a 44-30 win, before the Tigers came away with the title win.
Alex Rinehart started off the scoring with a coast to coast look, but they could only manage two more baskets in the quarter as neither team gave up much. Jackson Runde got a putback and Aydan Gladstone got a layup after Runde aired one out as Worth County led 6-3 after one. Northeast countered with a free throw from Brayden Munns and a putback from Austin Pride.
Aydan Gladstone, one of Worth County’s top ballhandlers, picked up his third foul in the second and Worth County couldn’t keep Austin Pride off the offensive glass, but it didn’t matter as Alex Rinehart put the Tigers on his back, scoring all eight points while Northeast went scoreless in the frame. He was able to get to the rim at will, while he added a coast to coast look off his own block that put the Tigers up 14-3 at halftime.
Gladstone came off the bench and aired it out to Rinehart for a 3-point play with 5:29 left. Northeast made a bid to get back in the game with a Munns free throw and an inside shot from Pride off a pass from Munns after some good ball reversal to make it 17-6. But Worth County put so much defensive pressure on that such looks were few. Northeast had a chance to get it down to nine, but Jackson Runde got a steal, Jackson Smith hit Ayden Gladstone on the baseline, and Alex Rinehart aired one out to him to make it 22-6. Pride’s free throws made it 27-14 with 15 seconds left, but then Gladstone kept a possession alive with an offensive board and hit Lucas Wake with 5 seconds left to make it 29-14.
Alex Rinehart’s free throws to start the fourth gave Worth County its biggest lead, and Northeast never got closer than the final score.
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