North Nodaway went through a gauntlet last week, having to play Jefferson and East Atchison back to back. The Mustangs played respectable in both games, but not well enough to win either, dropping the Jefferson game 42-33 after leading at halftime. They then had their chances against the Wolves, but fell to them as well 61-45.
The danger of so-called “moral victories” is that they can snowball into long losing streaks in a hurry. It looked like it might be the case when Osborn came in running a halfcourt trap with disruptive player Mackenzie Meek at the head forcing errant passes and the orange shirts flying to the offensive glass.
North Nodaway took an early 6-1 lead, only to see most of it evaporate as the Wildkats forced five turnovers and gained four extra possessions during the frame, closing to within 8-7 after one. Osborn has been a doormat since 2008-2009, but this year, they are up to seven wins as of Monday night. They do it with aggressive defense and strong rebounding on both ends of the floor. They have beaten East Harrison this year by 22.
There was a scary moment early in the second when Kristin Herndon hurt her right arm and had to come out after she had scored six in the first quarter to keep North Nodaway in the game. But she came right back in and soon afterwards, North Nodaway began pulling away as they turned out to match up well against Osborn. The Wildkats sought to take out Ashley Thompson by taking the ball right at her time and time again, only for her to swat away shot after shot. She kept her cool, only committing two fouls and ripping away a ton of boards. Audrey Trimble got five points in the period including a triple, Herndon chipped in with a baseline shot, Kandace Damgar had a three, and Ashley Thompson hit an inside shot as the Mustangs pulled out to a safer 20-9 lead at half.
For some reason, Meek sat for much of the second for Osborn, allowing much more freedom of ball movement for North Nodaway; they committed three turnovers the remainder of the game after committing five the first quarter.
The third quarter belonged to Ashley Thompson, who scored six in the period as North Nodaway finally began getting it in to her. They got the lead up to 28-11 on Keagan O’Riley’s drive before Osborn assistant Jim Cox started screaming at his players that they were playing like a bunch of sissies and that they didn’t have to take it anymore.
That seemed to jolt Osborn back to life temporarily, as Hannah Cochran went backdoor to make it 28-16 after Kylee Grimes hit a 3-pointer, but Keagan O’Riley hit Kandace Damgar on the left wing just inside the arc to make it 30-16.
Alisha Davison hit Audrey Trimble for three and Emma Hart hit Ashley Thompson inside to make it 35-16. Grimes, doing all she could to get her team back in the game, launched an NBA three that went in, but Davison hit Damgar for a triple to restore order. Davison added one of her own and then Kristin Herndon’s driving layup gave North Nodaway its biggest lead of 43-19 with 2:20 left.
With the win, North Nodaway comes within one game of a winning season, as they went up to 13-9. They have been 11-4 since starting off the year 2-5. Osborn’s total of 20 points is the second lowest total that any team has held them to. The Wildkats came in giving up only 36 points per game, but North Nodaway scored over that offensively.
Ashley Thompson had 12 points to lead the Mustangs. Kristin Herndon had 10, Kandace Damgar and Audrey Trimble had 8 each, Alisha Davison had 3, and Keagan O’Riley had 2.
Ashley Thompson had 7 blocks for the night. Kandace Damgar had 2, Kristin Herndon 1, and even Keagan O’Riley got 1.
Ashley Thompson had 12 boards for the Mustangs. Kristin Herndon and Kandace Damgar had 5 each. Emma Hart and Audrey Trimble had 3 each, while Keagan O’Riley and Jadon Dobbins had 2 each.
Keagan O’Riley had 7 assists for North Nodaway. Audrey Trimble had 5, Alisha Davison 3, Kristin Herndon 2, and Emma Hart 1.
Kristin Herndon and Audrey Trimble had 6 tips each. Keagan O’Riley and Alisha Davison had 2 each, and Ashley Thompson, Kandace Damgar, and Jadon Dobbins each had 1.
Kristin Herndon had 5 steals to pace North Nodaway. Ashley Thompson and Audrey Trimble had 3 each, while Keagan O’Riley had 1.
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