Worth County’s teams celebrated Senior Night Thursday as both teams downed South Harrison. The girls downed the Bulldogs 61-23 to beat them for the second time this year. In the nightcap, when the boys downed South Harrison 59-45, the Tigers celebrated their most successful combined season ever. The boys reached their 20th win, while the girls reached their 17th, for a combined total of 37 wins. That shattered the record held jointly by the 1982-83 teams and last year’s teams. In 1982-83, the boys won 23 games and won Regionals for the first time ever, while the girls won 13 games. Last year, the boys won Districts for the first time since that year and got 22 wins and a trip to the Quarterfinals, while the girls got their first winning season since the 2005-2006 campaign and won 14 games.
The question for the girls was how they would do against South Harrison, playing their second game without Anna Gladstone, who rolled her ankle in the closing seconds of the NEN game three nights before. They had generally had a tougher time against teams they had beaten but had to play again; they beat King City 52-36 in Stanberry only to lose to them in conference play. They also beat Albany 50-25 in Stanberry, only to have a tougher test before winning 52-33 when they pulled away late.
But the early going quelled all doubts as Worth County played one of their best games of the year and put up 27 points in the first quarter on their way to the one-sided victory. South Harrison had shown improvement in the South Harrison Tournament after lopsided losses to Worth County in Albany and to North Harrison at the start of the second half of the season. They gave Northeast Nodaway all they could handle before losing 61-45. But they showed little of the spark that they had during the latter tournament, with only Karsyn Bennett making any kind of concerted effort to attack the rim for the purple shirts, scoring 13 of her team’s 23 points.
South Harrison kept trying to lob it into their 6’3” skyscrapers Hailey Henry and Brooke Blanton, only for the shorter Tigers to knock a ton of passes away; Kaylee McElvain, who gave up eight inches to the South Harrison posts, had seven tips for the night. And Jessi Badell, who gave up six inches, led the rebounding with 10 boards and blocked three shots, while Regan Allee had 8 boards. Merrideth Spiers came off the bench and put up some quality minutes underneath as well.
Regan Allee put the game away in the first quarter, grabbing 15 of Worth County’s 27 points in the period. She hit one from the top of the key off a pass from Kristin New to start the scoring. Bennett countered with a backdoor look, but Jill Hardy hit a free throw, Kaylee McElvain hit Regan Allee, McElvain hit a free throw, Jill Hardy hit Kristin new cutting inside and Regan Allee at the top of the key for another three, Kristin New’s drive set up Jill Hardy on the baseline, and Kaylee McElvain hit a shot from the baseline to make it 17-2 at the 2:47 mark.
The referees let Bennett eurostep her way to the line for two free throws, but then Kristin New drove the left side for a basket, New hit Allee for three after a Megan Cassavaugh steal, and Allee drove for a three point play after Jessi Badell had kept a possession alive, and Merrideth Spiers hit a wing shot at the buzzer after Bennett had connected again to make it 27-6.
South Harrison went to a box and one on Regan Allee, which slowed up Worth County; they slowed themselves down with 10 missed free throws in the second quarter. The Tigers still continued to slowly pull away in the period, raising their lead to 40-12.
The Tigers started clicking again in the third as Kaylee McElvain had the hot hand, getting 9 points in the period. Bennett went backdoor for South Harrison to start the scoring, but then Kaylee McElvain got a steal off a Jill Hardy tip and Kristin New converted. Regan Allee hit Kaylee McElvain inside, Kaylee hit a free throw, Kristin New got a quick outlet to McElvain, who threw to Jill Hardy for a finish, and then Kaylee McElvain jumped a pass for a layup to make it 49-14.
Worth County finally got some free throws to go down as Jessi Badell earned a trip to the line and two free throws after a third chance possession. Kaylee McElvain got loose in transition for a pass from Megan Cassavaugh, who was fueling the Tiger attack with four assists in the period. Jill Hardy drove straight down the middle into the teeth of the tall South Harrison players for a score, then Regan Allee and Kaylee McElvain finally connected at the line to make it 60-21 after three.
Regan Allee had 21 points for Worth County. Kaylee McElvain had 12, Kristin New 11, Jill Hardy 7, Merrideth Spiers 4, Megan Cassavaugh 3, Jill Hardy 2, and Jenna Smith 1.
Jessi Badell had 10 boards for the Tigers. Regan Allee had 8, Merrideth Spiers 4, Kaylee McElvain, Kristin New, and Megan Cassavaugh 3, Jenna Smith and Maddie Taute 2, and Jill Hardy 1.
Jill Hardy had 5 assists. Kristin New, Kaylee McElvain, Regan Allee, and Megan Cassavaugh all had 4, while Jessi Badell and Jenna Smith had 1.
Nine different Tigers had tips. Kaylee McElvain had 7, Jill Hardy 5, Kristin New, Jessi Badell, and Megan Cassavaugh had 4, Regan Allee had 3, and Merrideth Spiers, Anna Spainhower, and Christina Clementoni had 1.
Jill Hardy had 6 steals for the Tigers. Kristin New had 4, Kaylee McElvain, Megan Cassavaugh, and Regan Allee had 3, while Jenna Smith and Anna Spainhower had 1.
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