Mustang Boys Second in Platte Valley Invitational

North Nodaway’s teams were looking for a change of scenery when they switched from the Mound City to the Platte Valley Invitational Tournament for this year. Boys coach and athletic director Jake Shipman said that they wound up playing the same teams over and over, meaning they would see some teams 3-4 times during the course of the year. The result was successful for both the boys and the girls teams, which each finished second.

For the boys, the result was a badly needed shot in the arm after a long season last year. They started off the year ragged, and the championship game did not go the way they wanted it to, but they came out of the event with a 2-1 mark.

The Mustangs first started off against Union Star, who they beat 43-24 in the first round game. They sputtered frequently against a Trojan squad which had shown a lot of improvement over last year, but played well in spurts, using a strong first quarter and a strong third quarter to pull away for the win.

Ryan Riley sparked the Mustangs with a 3-pointer to start the scoring, and the Mustangs continued to pull away as Arron Coleman and Cody Wood hit two free throws each and Wyatt O’Riley kicked one out to Arron Coleman for three to make it 10-0 at the 5:26 mark. Kagen Barnett’s steal cut it to 10-4, as North Nodaway went through a scoring drought of nearly four minutes, but Ryan Riley scored from inside off a pass from Arron Coleman, and Coleman went coast to coast to make it 14-4 after one.

Consecutive steals from Karson Oberhauser and Cody Wood gave North Nodaway its biggest lead of the half at 18-4 early in the second. Christian Dyer’s drive cut it to 21-11 with 2:20 left, but Arron Coleman scored from inside and added a putback to make it 25-11 at the half.

The Mustangs broke through the 14 point barrier in the second half as Wyatt O’Riley hit two free throws and Coleman cleaned up off a Wood steal to make it 29-11 at the seven minute mark of the third quarter.

Star fought back to 17 at 32-15 on Caiden Sharp’s putback with 5:07 left, but North Nodaway got it up to 24 despite Cody Wood being on the bench with four fouls. Ryan Riley scored from backdoor, Wyatt O’Riley scored from inside, and Arron Coleman scored a 3-pointer in transition to make it 39-15 after three.

North Nodaway went through another scoring drought, this time one of over eight minutes, as Union Star chipped away back to 17 at 39-22. But O’Riley broke the run with 2:22 left in the game and Ryan Riley added a paid of free throws at the end.

Arron Coleman had 17 points, 12 boards, and 4 blocks for the Mustangs. Ryan Riley had 12, Wyatt O’Riley 6, Karson Oberhauser 5, and Cody Wood 4.

In the second round, the Mustangs used an 11-4 third quarter to go up by six against NEN and held them off in the fourth quarter to take the win. Cody Wood had 23 points to lead the Mustangs. Arron Coleman had 9, Ryan Riley 4, and Karson Oberhauser 3.

That set up the championship round with South Nodaway at Northwest Missouri State. Both teams seemed shellshocked playing in the conditions, with a lot of sloppy play on both sides. But the Mustangs were snakebit in the first quarter, going scoreless in the period; it was a funk from which they could not recover. Meanwhile, Taylar Freemyer was the one player on either side who thrived in the atmosphere, getting 18 points for the Longhorns as they pulled away for the 47-25 win. Ryan Riley had 12 points, Cody Wood 9, Arron Coleman 4, and Karson Oberhauser 1.