Worth County’s girls had every right to expect a tough contest against East Harrison in the district semifinal game. The Bobcats had been working on the best season in recent years for both the Ridgeway and Cainsville schools, winning the HDC Tournament and building up an eight game winning streak. They were up to 17 wins and had a nearly identical record to the Tigers. They had only lost by four to Worth County last year and by eight in districts last year, took North Nodaway to overtime this year, lost by four to NEN, and played two tough games with North Harrison.
The Bobcats had been in all but three of their games this year going into Friday’s contest; they had a way of hanging around even against strong teams. But what happened defied all expectations as Worth County completely dismantled the Bobcats with a 66-40 win Friday to punch their ticket into the district finals.
The whole Bobcat scheme is designed to throw teams off their rhythm; throw teams multiple looks and most teams will run into something they haven’t seen yet this year. But it didn’t seem to matter against Worth County, who got into an offensive rhythm early against East Harrison as Regan Allee hit two triples and made another basket in the first four minutes of the game. Kristin New scored off a drive and a putback and Anna Gladstone, fully healthy from an ankle injury the week before, scored inside as Worth County led 14-6 halfway through the first.
True to form, East Harrison hung around for the rest of the quarter and Worth County helped them out by missing free throws. Lauryn Waddle got a putback off a steal with 46 seconds left to make it 16-11 after one.
Try as they might, Worth County could not shake East Harrison through much of the second quarter as Alyssa Andrew scored their next eight points and they were still very much part of the game despite Waddle picking up her third foul, down 27-19. Kaylee McElvain got untracked from medium range and Anna Gladstone and Regan Allee chipped in with putbacks to keep Worth County in front.
But then Worth County got an offensive board and two free throws from Jessi Badell and all of a sudden, Regan Allee figured out that she could steal the ball from Andrew and the rout was on. She hit two free throws, then scored off a pass from Kristin New and a drive, buried a three from the top of the key after Merrideth Spiers got an offensive glass, and picked Andrew’s wallet again to make it 38-19 and giving her 12 points for the quarter and 20 for the half. Jessi Badell hit two more free throws off a pass from Jill Hardy and Kristin New scored off a Badell steal to cap Worth County’s 26 point quarter and put them up 42-16. Worth County had played nearly flawlessly the first half, only getting three turnovers and giving up two offensive boards.
Selby sat on the bench for that stretch of the second quarter for some reason, and Waddle was out with foul trouble. They came back to start the third and tried to chip away, but Worth County was getting out in transition at will. Anna Gladstone kicked out to Kaylee McElvain in transition, Kristin New got a putback, and Regan Allee scored in transition off a pass from Kaylee McElvain to make it 48-24.
Selby scored off a steal to make it 48-26, but Kristin New skipped one to Kaylee for another midrange shot, Anna Gladstone went coast to coast after a defensive board, and then to show she was completely back, she had the highlight film play of the night. Anna dove on the floor as she somehow pushed the ball to Kaylee McElvain in traffic, and she got the finish and the chance for a three point play. Kaylee missed the free throw, but Gladstone was there for the putback for the four point play to make it 56-26. Kristin New aired one out to Jill Hardy to give Worth County its biggest lead of the night at 58-26, and East Harrison never got closer than the final score.
Regan Allee had 22 points for the Tigers. Kaylee McElvain had 12, Anna Gladstone 9, Kristin New 8, Jill Hardy 7, Jessi Badell 4, and Megan Cassavaugh and EmiLee Brown 2.
Kristin New and Merrideth Spiers each had 1 block.
The Tigers had 48 boards for the night, leading to 18 second chance points. Anna Gladstone got 10, many of them defensive boards which fueled Worth County’s transition game. Fourteen different Tigers got boards, including both exchange students. Jessi Badell had 7, Regan Allee 6, Kaylee McElvain 5, Jill Hardy 4, Kristin New and Braidy Hunt 3, Merrideth Spiers 2, and Megan Cassavaugh, Haley Hunt, Jenna Smith, Christina Clementoni, Jessica Zhang, and EmiLee Brown all had 1.
Kristin New had 7 assists. Anna Gladstone and Jessi Badell had 3, Kaylee McElvain 2, and Regan Allee, Jill Hardy, Jenna Smith, Megan Cassavaugh, and Braidy Hunt all had 1.
Regan Allee and Anna Gladstone had 3 tips. Kristin New, Megan Cassavaugh, Kaylee McElvain, and Jessi Badell all had 1.
Regan Allee had 7 steals. Jessi Badell had 3, Anna Gladstone 2, and Kristin New, Jenna Smith, Jill Hardy, and Christina Clementoni all had 1.
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