Worth County started off the tournament with a 70-23 win over South Harrison. The Bulldogs brought back a lot of their players from last year, but despite navigating some early foul trouble, Worth County used a big second quarter to pull away and get the win. That set up a showdown with Princeton, which Worth County won 40-39.
Princeton pulled out all the stops for this year after their former coach, Wade Hall, moved on to Tri-County, where he became the principal. They brought coaching institution Bill Goodin out of retirement and he took the reigns of the program, loaded with standouts Jaelyn Steeby-Thomas, Payton Goodin, and Lindsey Batson.
Sure enough, it looked like Princeton would run Worth County right out of the gym, just like they had so many times with Goodin at the helm in the past. Steeby-Thomas was on fire in the first quarter, putting up 10 in the period as Princeton raced out to a 15-10 lead after one quarter. Steeby-Thomas got her total up to 13 in the second quarter as Jasmine Allen caught a lob to make it 22-14 in the second quarter.
But after Worth County switched to a man to man, they held Princeton scoreless for the remaining 5:19 of the period. Despite losing Jill Hardy (ankle) during the stretch, they chipped away as Jessi Badell got a putback and Kristin New scored off a drive to cut their deficit to 22-18.
Regan Allee got loose for the Tigers against two defenders after Anna Gladstone dove on the floor to get a defensive board and Kristin New pushed it ahead. Anna Gladstone’s drive tied it up at 22.
Payton Goodin broke the drought for Princeton, scoring five straight points for the Blue Tigers to put them back up 27-24, but then Regan Allee stole the ball and went in for a layup and Kaylee McElvain drive and got a reverse layup to make it 28-27 Worth County. Kennedy Norton’s free throws put Princeton back in front, but Anna Gladstone’s drive with ten seconds left put Worth County ahead 30-29 going into the fourth.
Worth County gained some separation in the fourth quarter as Kaylee McElvain connected to make it 38-33, but back to back 3-pointers from Kennedy Norton put Princeton back in front 39-38 with 1:50 left. But then Anna Gladstone took the inbounds pass against pressure and raced down the court coast to coast with 1:38 left to put Worth County back in front.
Princeton threw the ensuing possession away, but Kristin New missed the front end of a one and one with 57 seconds left. But Regan Allee got a block and Anna Gladstone a defensive board. Princeton elected to play for a turnover, but Worth County was able to run it all the way down to nine seconds left. Regan Allee missed a one and one, but as Princeton was driving the middle of the lane, Kristin New stole it away. Princeton knocked it out of her hands, but the ball rolled into the backcourt and Anna Gladstone was able to tip it away as time expired.
Anna Gladstone had 16 points for the Tigers. Regan Allee had 12, Jessi Badell 6, Kaylee McElvain 4, and Kristin New 2.
But while Worth County had a good tournament and had their best result in 15 years at Albany, Stanberry showed they are the team to beat this year unless someone else shows otherwise. Worth County had a chance at halftime, as they were down 24-15 at the break, still a manageable deficit. But all hell broke loose in the third quarter as the Bulldogs scored 20 points to get the lead over 20 as they got the 59-38 win. Worth County turned the ball over 27 times in the defeat; Stanberry was quicker and more organized, and they were beating Worth County up and down the floor all night. Kristin New had 11 points to lead the Tigers. Regan Allee and Kaylee McElvain had 6 each, Anna Gladstone 5, Jessi Badell 4, Jenna Smith 3, Haley Hunt 2, and Megan Cassavaugh 1.
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