Northeast Nodaway’s girls won their first tournament since 2011 as Madelynn Mattson exploded in the fourth quarter and Northeast Nodaway’s unbeaten season, at 4-0, remained intact. When it was all said and done and the players were walking off the floor, Paige West grabbed onto the huge trophy that the Bluejays had earned and would not let go if it for a long time. It will likely be the first of many for this group.
DeKalb is one of those teams that is always trying to push other teams around. It was a brutal physical contest, with neither side being able to solve the other’s defense for a long time. Paige West’s pass to Blair Stoll on the baseline, on a fourth-chance possession for Northeast, was the only tally for either team in the first quarter until Taylor Coffelt passed one out of pressure to Paige West, who threw it to Madelynn Mattson backdoor with 1:35 left to make it 5-0. Kirstian Goddard’s free throw was DeKalb’s lone tally in the period as they trailed 5-1 after one.
Goddard was the anchor of DeKalb’s interior defense, and when she sat down early in the second period, Northeast finally started getting untracked. Whenever she was on the floor, DeKalb held their own against Northeast; when she was on the bench, Northeast found daylight.
Paige West kept a possession alive to start the second, and that led to Blair Stoll hitting Gerry Runde inside with 7:09 left to make it 7-1. Nobody else scored for the next three minutes of the second quarter. Finally, Taylor Coffelt hit Runde inside and drew Goddard’s third foul and Runde hit both free throws with 4:04 left to get Northeast untracked. Gerry Runde hit Makayla Adwell cutting inside. Adwell got a steal, threw it to Blair Stoll, who threw it back to Adwell for a layup. Morgan Parsons finally got DeKalb untracked with a 3-pointer to make it 13-4, but Paige West hit Gerry Runde, whose drive made it 15-4 at halftime.
Like the other three teams who Northeast has played, nobody has been able to run their offense so far against them. The frontcourt duo of Paige West and Makayla Adwell collected a ton of tips and steals along with Taylor Coffelt, while Coffelt (despite her small size) and Gerry Runde anchored the defensive boards, meaning one shot down the court.
When playing against good teams, it is usually only a matter of time before they make a run. DeKalb tried to make one in the third quarter as they finally kept Goddard on the floor for most of the quarter. Makayla Adwell had the hot hand for Northeast, scoring seven of their nine points. But DeKalb finally got going against Northeast offensively and got it down under double digits late in the third quarter as Goddard split two defenders inside to make it 20-12. But then disaster struck for DeKalb as she picked up her fourth foul as Gerry Runde hit a cutting Makayla Adwell and drew the contact. She missed the free throw, but then Tiger sharpshooter Morgan Parsons followed Goddard to the bench shortly afterwards with four fouls and Angela Standiford hit Taylor Coffelt to make it 24-12.
In desperation, DeKalb put Goddard back in and she made a basket with 7:15 left to cut Northeast’s lead to 24-14. It looked like the Tigers were gearing up for a run to make things interesting, but then Goddard fouled out and the floodgates opened for Northeast.
All of a sudden, Northeast figured out they could lob it into freshman six-footer Madelynn Mattson at will, and there was nothing DeKalb could do to stop it. First, it was Blair Stoll who lobbed one into her. Taylor Coffelt kept a possession alive after an Adwell steal and hit a free throw. Then, Makayla Adwell lobbed one into Mattson, Mattson grabbed a putback, Adwell lobbed another one into the tall six-footer and added a steal, and then Angela Standiford lobbed one into her to make it 37-14 as Northeast scored the final 13 points.
Madelynn Mattson and Makayla Adwell each had 13 points for Northeast. Gerry Runde had 6, Taylor Coffelt had 3, and Blair Stoll had 2.
Gerry Runde and Madelynn Mattson had 2 blocks each.
Gerry Runde had 9 boards for Northeast. Taylor Coffelt had 8, Cassy Redden 5, Blair Stoll and Makayla Adwell 4 each, Paige West and Madelynn Mattson 2 each, and Angela Standiford 1.
Paige West had 4 assists for Northeast along with Blair Stoll. Gerry Runde, Makayla Adwell, and Angela Standiford had 2 each. Taylor Coffelt and Cassy Redden had 1 each.
Makayla Adwell had 9 tips to lead Northeast. Paige West had 8, Taylor Coffelt 7, Cassy Redden 5, Blair Stoll 4, Gerry Runde 3, and Angela Standiford 1.
Makayla Adwell had 5 steals for NEN. Paige West had 4, Taylor Coffelt and Gerry Runde 3 each, and Cassy Redden and Blair Stoll 2 each.
No comments:
Post a Comment