Northeast Nodaway’s girls and North Harrison hooked up in a semifinal game in Gilman City that was just as exciting as the first one in Bethany two weeks before. It didn’t go into overtime like the first one, but the outcome was the same as North Harrison came away with the 40-37 victory, putting them in the championship round against Princeton.
NEN came into the game determined to stop Payton Craig, who had torched them for 25 in their first game. They played a tandem and three, in which they faceguarded Brandy Rivet, Payton Craig, and Emma Craig and dared the rest of the team to beat them. The first quarter was tied at 2, 4, 7, and 9 before North Harrison finally moved ahead 12-9 at the end of one. But the stat line for the Shamrocks was totally different – it was Olivia Babinski who was leading the scoring with 4 points. Payton Craig had 3, dishing it out when she got doubled, while five different Shamrocks got into the scoring column.
The game continued to be tied at 16 and then 18 before Addie Slaughter all of a sudden started wreaking havoc on defense, getting three steals in the closing stretch of the half. Slaughter fed Payton Craig for a drive, Emma Craig hit Mason Cracraft in the high post for two free throws, Payton Craig scored off one of Slaughter’s steals, and Brandy Rivet hit Slaughter backdoor as North Harrison went ahead 26-18 at the half.
But then Northeast made an adjustment and went to a straight 2-3 zone. Brandy Rivet’s triple put North Harrison up 29-20, but then as everything else started clanking off the rim, Gerry Runde started going on a rampage. Against Gilman City, she went into Steph Curry mode and hit six triples and 24 points in their opening round 56-24 win, but against North Harrison, she went into human bulldozer mode, driving the baseline at will and scoring eight points in the period.
Runde’s pass to Makayla Adwell made it 29-28 before Brandy Rivet finally stopped the bleeding by hitting Emma Craig for a drive to make it 31-28 after three.
The lid stayed on the basket for North Harrison until NEN got a chance to take a lead. But Payton Craig got a steal and hit two free throws to take the lid off and make it 33-30 with 5:10 left. But then Paige West got her revenge after Payton Craig had thrown one hard off of her out of bounds earlier; she stripped Craig and hit Adwell got a free throw. Adwell then added a steal with 4:15 left to tie it at 33.
Once again, Northeast had a chance to take the lead as they got the stop and the ball back, but then Brandy Rivet got a steal. She went in for a layup, only for Gerry Runde to chase her down and swat it out of bounds. Emma Craig missed inside, but North Harrison got the stop on defense and Emma Craig secured a board and hit Payton going coast to coast to make it 35-33.
Northeast had done as well as anyone in stopping Payton Craig, holding her to 14 points all game, tied for her second lowest point total of the year. But once again, she would break their hearts after Emma Craig stole a lob to Runde that would have tied it up again. Payton Craig went down the left side of the lane, right into the teeth of Northeast’s interior defense, threw up a prayer, and landed on her chest as the ball went in. She got the free throw as well, making it 38-33 with 2:25 left. When the Sacramento Kings were in Kansas City during the late 1970’s, they had a point guard by the name of Phil Ford, who made that sort of play like it was routine.
Madelynn Mattson scored off a drive to cut it to three, then Payton Craig missed a runner. Makayla Adwell missed a runner for Northeast, Addie Slaughter airballed a 1-1 for North Harrison, then Madelynn Mattson missed off a drive. Slaughter got the board was fouled immediately with North Harrison up 38-35. Slaughter, who had airballed one previously, made both this time with 23.4 seconds left to make it 40-35.
North Harrison went to a diamond halfcourt trap to slow up Northeast and take time off, but Makayla Adwell got behind it and hit two free throws with 10.7 seconds left to make it 40-37. But then North Harrison got it in to Brandy Rivet, who dribbled five seconds off the clock before NEN could foul her. She missed the 1-1 and Northeast tried to rush it up the floor for a tying three. But Payton Craig stole an errant pass and dribbled out the clock for the win.
For North Harrison, Payton Craig had 14 points. Addie Slaughter had 8, Brandy Rivet and Emma Craig each had 5, and Olivia Babinski and Mason Cracraft had 4 each.
Payton Craig had the lone block for the Shamrocks.
Emma Craig had 9 boards to lead North Harrison. Payton Craig and Addie Slaughter had 8 each, Mason Cracraft had 4, and Olivia Babinski and Brandy Rivet had 3.
Payton Craig had 5 assists for North Harrison. Addie Slaughter and Brandy Rivet had 3 each, while Emma Craig had 2 and Olivia Babinski had 1.
Brandy Rivet and Emma Craig had 3 tips each for the Shamrocks. Payton Craig had 2, while Olivia Babinski had 1.
Payton Craig had 7 steals for North Harrison. Addie Slaughter had 3, Emma Craig had 2, and Brandy Rivet had 1.
For Northeast Nodaway, Gerry Runde led all scorers with 15, Makayla Adwell had 9, Madelynn Mattson had 8, Blair Stoll had 3, and Paige West had 2.
Madelynn Mattson had 2 blocks for NEN, while Angela Standiford and Gerry Runde had 1.
Gerry Runde had 8 boards for Northeast. Mason Cracraft had 7, Makayla Adwell 6, and Paige West 4.
Makayla Adwell had 4 assists for Northeast. Blair Stoll and Gerry Runde had 2 each, while Madelynn Mattson, Paige West, and Cassy Redden had 1.
Gerry Runde had 2 tips for Northeast, while Madelynn Mattson and Paige West had 1.
Makayla Adwell had 6 steals for Northeast, while Paige West and Gerry Runde had 1.
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