Sunday, January 14, 2018

Tiger Girls Clinch First Stanberry Tournament Trophy in Over a Decade

Worth County’s girls clinched their first Stanberry Tournament trophy in over a decade, dismantling King City 52-36 to claim the Consolation Trophy. The Stanberry Tournament had always been one of the more difficult tournaments in the area over the past decade on both sides. It was tough enough that two solid teams that normally are on the top of the brackets on the boys side, Stanberry and King City, battled it out for the consolation trophy Saturday. On the girls side, the top seven teams are all solid, while the eighth, Albany, has shown some improvement over recent years with some promising freshmen in their lineup.

The Tigers had every reason to expect a close game against King City, as the Wildkats had lost by only three to Worth County last year in Worth County, and the Wildkats had beaten Worth County in summer ball. But there were several factors that worked in Worth County’s favor. Anna Gladstone, tasked with guarding Grace Schottel, did so successfully and stayed on the floor for most of the day, getting only two fouls. Schottel had torched Class 3 Carrollton for 24 points in Trenton, but only scored six points Saturday morning. Worth County, after dominating the boards against Albany, did so again Saturday, getting 37 boards, led by Kaylee McElvain with 9 and Anna Gladstone with 8. The third was their conditioning; they were able to pull away from King City in the third quarter after King City had seemingly made a game of it by halftime.

The question was how well the teams would respond to playing in the morning; the game had been moved to 10:30 because of inclement weather Thursday. It was Worth County coming out of the gates strongly as Anna Gladstone scored off a pass from Regan Allee. King City lobbed one into Sage Howard for a free throw, but Regan Allee drove and hit Jessi Badell on the left side, Allee got a board and quick outlet to Anna Gladstone, whose breakneck push sprung open Kaylee McElvain. Gladstone then hit Regan Allee for three to make it 9-1.

King City hung around for a while, but then Worth County finished the first quarter strongly as Anna Gladstone took on three purple shirts and got two free throws after getting loose with a crossover. Haley Hunt’s putback made it 16-7 after one.

Kaylee McElvain hit Regan Allee on the right side for a 3-pointer and Jill Hardy went backdoor to make it 21-7 in the second. Shae Gilbert hit a 3-pointer, but Kristin New countered with one of her own after a pass from Regan Allee to make it 24-10. Jessi Badell cleaned up after a Gladstone miss and hit two free throws to make it 26-10.

King City made a late push for respectability as Madeline Saunders got the hot hand, getting seven in the last 3:12 of the period to bring her team to within 27-19.

But then Worth County started getting to the line at will in the third quarter as they outscored King City 18-4 in the frame. Regan Allee hit Jessi Badell on the baseline to start the scoring; free throws from Kaylee McElvain and Regan Allee hade it 33-19 and Worth County was back up 14.

King City tried to hang around, and Grace Schottel’s shot made it 38-23 with 4:20 left in the third, but then Regan Allee got two free throws after a drive, Anna Gladstone went coast to coast after a defensive board and took on four defenders for a layup, and she added a free throw. Jill Hardy got a pullup after a pass from Jenna Smith and Worth County took its biggest lead of the game at 45-23 after three. King City got no closer than 15 in the fourth.

Regan Allee had 16 points to lead Worth County. Anna Gladstone had 15, Jessi Badell 8, Jill Hardy and Kaylee McElvain 4, Kristin New 3, and Haley Hunt 2.

Regan Allee and Kaylee McElvain had 1 block each.

Kaylee McElvain had 9 rebounds to lead Worth County. Anna Gladstone had 8, Regan Allee and Jessi Badell had 6, Haley Hunt and Jill Hardy had 2 each, and Merrideth Spiers, Jenna Smith, Megan Cassavaugh, and Kristin New had 1 each.

Regan Allee had 6 assists for Worth County. Anna Gladstone had 3, Kaylee McElvain and Kristin New had 2 each, and Jill Hardy, Jenna Smith, and Jessi Badell had 1 each.

Regan Allee had 7 tips for Worth County. Kaylee McElvain and Jessi Badell had 5 each, Kristin New had 3, Anna Gladstone 2, and Jenna Smith 1.

Regan Allee had 4 steals for Worth County. Kristin New had 3, Haley Hunt and Jessi Badell 2, and Kaylee McElvain and Jill Hardy 1 each.

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