Northeast Nodaway’s girls won back to back titles at the Platte Valley Invitational Friday as they beat North Nodaway 48-40 to claim the tournament title. It shaped up to be an evenly matched game. Northeast Nodaway had an easier time in the first round, beating Union Star 81-7, while North Nodaway had early trouble with Stewartsville before pulling away to a 19 point halftime lead and beating the Cardinals 41-11. But North Nodaway won handily over DeKalb in the semifinal round, as Kandace Damgar was on fire that game and the Mustangs won 57-36. Northeast, on the other hand, held off a frantic South Nodaway rally after leading 34-16 in the fourth quarter at one point. The Longhorns were swarming, pressing, and trapping and had one chance to tie and one chance to win it, but fell short 36-34.
The game was very evenly matched statistically, with both teams putting up similar numbers in rebounds and steals. The score reflected the play for a long time, with the two teams knotting it up 6-6 after one quarter and knotting it up again at 12 at the 4:04 mark in the second. North Nodaway was pressuring the ball as well as they have under Sami Jackson, but NEN was getting it into Madelynn Mattson.
Finally, NEN got some separation after Ashley Thompson picked up her second foul; Makayla Adwell connected from the right wing off a pass from Paige West and Gerry Runde drove and scored with 10 seconds left off another pass from West as the Bluejays got a 16-12 halftime lead.
Blair Stoll, who had been scoreless in the first half, got a pass from Page West and connected from the left baseline and got a pass from Makayla Adwell which she turned into three to make it 21-14. But then North Nodaway came back and cut it to two as Keagan O’Riley hit a driving Kristin Herndon and then hit Kandace Damgar for three to make it 21-19.
Things looked shaky for NEN, as Mattson picked up her third foul with 3:11 left, and the score was stuck there for the next 1:30. But then Paige West jumped a pass and took off down the floor. Kristin Herndon hustled down the floor and tried for a chasedown stuff, but Paige West put on a perfect fake and put it in as Herndon flew by, sparking her team. Makayla Adwell and Blair Stoll added back to back threes to start the fourth as NEN gained some separation to go up 29-19.
What followed was an epic battle, as both teams got red hot from the field. Northeast put up 25 points in the fourth quarter, while North Nodaway put up 21. First, North Nodaway made a run as Kandace Damgar connected twice from behind the arc and Kristin Herndon scored twice as the Mustangs cut the lead down to 33-29. But then Madelynn Mattson put NEN on her back as she scored the next five points to put the Bluejays back in front 38-30. Keagan O’Riley dropped a 3-pointer with a hand in her face with 1:54 left to make it 38-33, and North Nodaway had every expectation of making a game of it, as NEN had struggled closing out South Nodaway and Albany.
But Northeast did a much better job of taking care of the ball down the stretch, and they made 9 out of their last 11 free throws to close out the game, although there were some anxious moments. North Nodaway put on a full court man to man press, but NEN broke it. Blair Stoll got loose for a layup attempt, but Audrey Trimble’s chasedown stuff denied the two points. However, Makayla Adwell hit two free throws with 1:38 left to make it 40-33.
North Nodaway got it into Ashley Thompson to cut it to 40-35, and Kristin Herndon played perfect help defense on Madelynn Mattson, stuffing her and getting the defensive board. North Nodaway had a chance to make it one possession, but Audrey Trimble’s 3-point attempt and Kristin Herndon’s putback try were both off the mark. North Nodaway was forced to foul and put Paige West on the line. She made the first and missed the second. But Gerry Runde, who had only two points up to that point, got the putback for a 3-point play to make it 43-35.
Paige West got a steal and went in for a layup, but Kristin Herndon got a chasedown stuff for North Nodaway. But NEN got it into Runde, who hit both free throws with 33 seconds left to make it 45-35.
North Nodaway had a glimmer of hope as Keagan O’Riley drove up the floor, pulled up, and hit a three to make it 45-38 with 26 seconds left. But Paige West hit a free throw, a Mustang lob attempt sailed out of bounds, and West hit two more free throws to clinch it.
NEN was able to get the ball into Madelynn Mattson when they needed to, as she had 16 for the night. Paige West had 10, and she filled up the stat line as she added 9 boards, 9 assists, 9 tips, and 7 steals for the Bluejays. Blair Stoll had 8, Makayla Adwell had 7 points and 5 steals, Gerry Runde had 6, and Cassy Redden had 1.
For North Nodaway, Keagan O’Riley had one of her best games as a Mustang, as she had 14 points. Kristin Herndon had 9 points, 4 blocks, and 10 boards. Kandace Damgar also had 9. Audrey Trimble had 4 points, 5 assists, 6 tips, and 7 steals. Ashley Thompson had 4 points and 9 boards.
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