Worth County’s boys won the Albany Tournament for the first time in 22 years, downing Jefferson 37-27 to clinch the title. The Tigers last won the tournament in 1995, when P.J. Sanders was playing, along with Ben Fletcher, Nate Combs, Dustin Lambert, Daniel Gladstone, and Adam Houk. Just like this year, the Tigers were coming off winning the Eight Man Football Title. Mark Fletcher, who was the head coach for the Tigers in 1995, was in the building again, this time as an assistant. Les New, who is a half-brother to P.J., was in the building as another assistant.
There were other parallels as well; Worth County beat Jefferson in the championship game in order to win the title, with Hall of Fame skipper Don Edwards coaching for the Eagles. It was one of Fletcher’s two victories against the Eagles; the other one came in 1996, when the #7 Tigers improbably wiped out a 10 point lead by #2 Jefferson in the last three minutes of the game to win a shocker in the first round of the Stanberry Tournament. The 1995 team had to beat Tim Jermain as well; the current Eagle skipper was coaching Albany at the time, and the Tigers used an intentional foul to win in the closing seconds 53-51. Since then, Worth County has played in the title game several times, but has not won it all.
The Tigers did so despite playing short-handed. They lost both Cade Allee (calf) and Isaac Alarcon (knee) during the course of the Stanberry game, which they won 41-28. Despite that, Nick Groomer, the Stanberry coach, said that Worth County had completely outplayed them. Alarcon is likely to be out for the year. Allee will be out a month, depending on how well it heals.
Neither team could get anything going in the first quarter. Worth County’s only points came from a rare transition opportunity when Caleb Parman hit Mason Hawk for a layup early on and Ryan McClellan hit two free throws off a Drake Kinsella steal, when he aired one out behind the Jefferson defense. Clayton Wilmes countered for Jefferson with a baseline shot and another one where he got behind Worth County’s defense. The teams played to a 4-4 tie after one quarter.
Nobody led by more than two points in the second quarter. The game was tied at 6, 8, and 10 before Mason Hawk completed a 3-point play to make it 11-10 with 1:40 left. But Clayton Wilmes went right back to work, going backdoor after one of the other Jefferson players blatantly took three steps on a drive without the officials seeing it and dished it off to him.
Chase Farnan was a force on defense for Jefferson in the first half, neutralizing Worth County’s vaunted size advantage and he drained one from the high post to make it 14-11. But then he picked up his third foul as Worth County fought to come back. Jacob New hit Mason Hawk inside and Mason Hawk hit Ryan McClellan backdoor twice to make it 17-14 before Nate Jermain drained one from the top of the key to make it 17-17. There was a heartstopping moment at the end of the quarter, when Ryan McClellan stuffed one of the Eagle players’ 3-point attempts at the buzzer and nearly fouled him in the process. Jefferson coach Tim Jermain ranted and raved at the officials, demanding a 3-shot foul at the buzzer, but to no avail.
Farnan picked up his fourth foul in the fourth and had to be careful the rest of the way; Worth County found the way to the paint much easier going in that frame as they racked up 20 points to pull away for the win. All of the time and conditioning they spent in the weight room paid off on the court as well as the football field.
First, Ryan McClellan picked up two free throws; then, Caleb Parman hit Drake Kinsella inside to give the first two possession lead for either team as Worth County led 21-17 at that point. Caleb Parman fed Ryan McClellan and he drove to the rack to make it 23-17.
Clayton Merrigan, brother of Chelsea and current NEN Junior High skipper Ashley, kept several possessions alive with offensive boards and did all he could for the Eagles; his free throw made it 23-18. But then Drake Kinsella hit Mason the Hawk inside and Ryan McClellan on a backdoor look and then Caleb Parman got him the ball inside to get it to double digits at 28-18 with 3:02 left.
No lead against Jefferson is a safe lead and the Eagles fought back after Merrigan got a free throw to stop the run. Mason Hawk hit a free throw, but Nate Jermain got a free throw and Jefferson lobbed it into Farnan to make it 29-22 with 2:02 left, still an eternity. There was a heartstopping moment as Jefferson got a steal on their subsequent possession, but Ryan McClellan took a charge on defense. Instead of milking the clock and seeing if Jefferson would foul, Caleb Parman hit a triple in the corner – his only three points of the game – to extend Worth County’s lead to double digits again at 32-22.
The game looked to be all but over when McClellan’s free throws made it 36-24 with 53 seconds left and Worth County got the ball back, but then Koby Stoll swiped an errant pass and hit a 3-pointer to make it 36-27 and Jefferson got the ball back after two missed free throws. But they missed a 3-pointer and McClellan hit a free throw with 13.9 seconds left to seal it.
Ryan McClellan led the Tigers in scoring with 15 points. He went off in the fourth, getting nine points in that frame. Mason the Hawk had 11, Drake Kinsella 6, Caleb Parman 3, and Jacob New 2.
Ryan McClellan and Caleb Parman each had 1 block.
Mason Hawk had 13 boards. Drake Kinsella had 8, Caleb Parman 5, Ryan McClellan 3, and Jacob New and Tevin Cameron 1.
Caleb Parman had 4 assists for the Tigers. Drake Kinsella had 3, Ryan McClellan, Jacob New, and Mason Hawk all had 2 each, and Jaxon Anderson had 1.
Ryan McClellan, Drake Kinsella, and Tevin Cameron all had 4 tips. Jacob New had 3, and Mason Hawk and Caleb Parman had 1 each.
Ryan McClellan had 5 steals for the Tigers. Mason Hawk, Drake Kinsella, and Jacob New all had 2, while Tevin Cameron had 1.
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