Nodaway-Holt came into the game with a 2-1 mark; with a proven coach in Shawn Emerson, who captained South Nodaway to success several years ago with Sami and Lyndsi Jackson (now North Nodaway’s girls coaches), they won handily over St. Joseph Christian 45-30, fell by 21 to powerhouse and Class 2 foe East Atchison, but beat a solid Rock Port team to take third place in Mound City.
There was nothing fancy about what the Trojans were up to – screen and cut on offense until the defense makes a mistake, fly to the offensive glass, sit back in a 2-3 zone, contest every shot, and get the defensive board and get out in transition.
Northeast struggled to buy a board on the defensive end – they gave up 21 offensive boards to the Trojans. They struggled to find a rhythm until the second half, when they were already down ten. Yet for all that, they fought back and took the lead at one point, only for the Trojans to regain it and get the win.
An early scoring burst by Breanna Day put Nodaway-Holt up 8-4 at the 2:30 mark of the first quarter, but Northeast fought back and knotted it up at 8 on Makayla Adwell’s free throws with 7:02 left in the second. But they would not score again for over five minutes as Nodaway-Holt struck twice in transition and once on a putback as NEN was flinging shot after shot without success. Kloe Jenkins’ free throw put Nodaway-Holt up 15-8 with 2:43 left in the second. Finally, Paige West broke the drought with a putback with 1:53 left and added a free throw with 51 seconds left to make the deficit 15-11.
Everything threatened to get out of hand in the third quarter; the margin was still 18-13 halfway through, but then Day was all alone for an easy basket, Halle Clement was all alone for three, and Amanda Bohannon chipped in as well to put the red shirts up 26-16 with 1:56 left.
But then Anne Schieber’s triple, her only points of the night, sparked NEN, and everything started clicking for them. They struggled to get tips and steals in the first half, but finally started getting more pressure on the ball; they finally saw some of their shots go down. Makayla Adwell cut inside and scored to make it five before Day scored on a putback to make it 28-21 after three. She was getting offensive boards even when NEN was boxing her out perfectly, outjumping everyone for the boards.
Adwell connected twice in the fourth to shoot the Bluejays back into the game, down only 28-25 now. Bohannon hit a free throw, but Madelynn Mattson’s third chance putback and Paige West grabbed a defensive board and went coast to coast to tie it up at 29. Shaina Culp, on the bench for most of the night with foul trouble, hit a free throw and scored from inside to put the Trojans up three at 32-29, but Paige West hit Gerry Runde for three to tie it up again with 1:50 left. One of the red shirts scooped up a loose carom – one of two such plays for the Trojans – and scored, but Runde struck again from three to put the Bluejays up 35-34 with 1:19 left in the game.
But then Nodaway-Holt raced right back down the court and Kloe Jenkins hit from the right baseline with 1:10 left to put them back up 36-35 with 1:10 left. Blair Stoll had a good look from three, but missed and Culp hit a free throw with 47.5 seconds left to make it 37-35. Makayla Adwell’s three was blocked, but Kloe Jenkins’ layup attempt missed to give NEN another chance.
Blair Stoll’s 3-point attempt for the lead was blocked, but Paige West scooped up the loose ball, and her 3-point attempt was in and out. After a scramble, Nodaway-Holt got possession on a tieup with two seconds left, and they successfully got it into Culp, who hit one of two to seal the win.
Gerry Runde had 10 for NEN. Makayla Adwell had 8, Paige West 7, Madelynn Mattson 5, Anne Schieber 3, and Blair Stoll 2.
Madelynn Mattson, Makayla Adwell, Blair Stoll, and Paige West all had 1 block.
Paige West had 21 boards for Northeast. Madelynn Mattson had 14, Makayla Adwell 9, Gerry Runde 3, and Blair Stoll, Ilenia Ricci, and Anne Schieber 1.
Gerry Runde had 4 assists for the Bluejays. Paige West had 3, and Makayla Adwell, Madelynn Mattson, and Anne Schieber had 1 each.
Paige West had 8 tips for NEN. Gerry Runde, Blair Stoll, Makayla Adwell, and Madelynn Mattson all had 2.
Paige West had 5 steals for Northeast. Anne Schieber had 3, and Gerry Runde, Makayla Adwell, and Blair Stoll had 1.
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