Tiger Girls Win Cliffhanger, Bring Down Stanberry

Worth County’s girls turned around their season in a three game stretch that included wins over St. Joseph Christian, Mount Ayr, and a 31-30 win Stanberry Thursday. The Tigers were at a low point following their heartbreaking 40-37 loss to North Andrew. They were in the throes of a three-game losing streak which was started by Stanberry. Every time, something different went wrong; against Stanberry, they couldn’t take care of the ball, throwing it away 27 times. Against Maryville, they couldn’t buy a board, losing 46-36 despite holding Serena Sundell to 24 points. And against North Andrew, they couldn’t hit a free throw, only going 10 for 23 from the line.

But they righted themselves with a balanced effort against Christian, taking a 60-36 win. They dug themselves into a 26-13 hole against Mount Ayr early in the second quarter Tuesday. The Raiderettes, which are a powerhouse team, got off to a slow start, dropping their first two games, but had righted their ship, winning their last three.

But all of a sudden, Worth County realized they could play basketball with their Class 2 rivals and got the deficit down to 32-30 at the half. The Tigers completely outplayed Mount Ayr in the second half, hit plenty of shots, and got ahead by as much as 17 before fending off a comeback bid to win 64-55. Regan Allee had 19, Kristin New 17, Anna Gladstone 15, Jessi Badell 8, Jenna Smith 3, and Kaylee McElvain 2. The Tigers finally hit their outside shots with Allee getting four threes, Kristin New three, and Smith one.

That brought them close to the end of their Hell Week – six games against solid teams. The team that started their tailspin was coming into town; Stanberry came in with a record of 8-0 and had not been seriously challenged so far. They were a juggernaut, taking down even solid teams like Mound City, Jefferson, and Mercer and leaving them in their wake. Sure enough, Stanberry started off right where they left off in their 59-38 win over Worth County in the Albany Tournament as Sydney Mattson and Lily Osborn hit back to back threes to erase an early 6-5 Worth County lead and go up 11-6 at the 3:51 mark of the first quarter.

But all of a sudden Worth County, similar to the Mount Ayr game, realized that they could play basketball with Stanberry and started coming back. They took much better care of the ball, surrendering it 16 times Thursday after turning it over 27 times two weeks ago against the same team. Regan Allee threw a long skip to Anna Gladstone, who got on the line and hit two free throws. Madi Sager countered with a steal, but Regan Allee scored off a drive, Anna Gladstone got a putback, and Regan hit Anna Gladstone inside, and she put it in at the buzzer. All of a sudden, Worth County was up 14-13 after one and it was a brand new ballgame.

It looked like Worth County would take control after Anna Gladstone hit two free throws off a steal and scored from inside off a pass from Kaylee McElvain to make it 18-15 with 6:25 left. But then she picked up her third foul and sat.

But despite Gladstone sitting on the bench, Worth County did not let up defensively. Time and time again, Stanberry kept trying to get to the rim, and time and time again, Worth County would turn them away, getting eight blocks for the night. It was a war of attrition as the only basket in the last 6:25 was Tyra Grayson’s drive, as the Tigers still held an 18-17 lead at halftime.

The game was knotted at 21 and 23 before finally, Worth County moved in front 27-24 after Anna slashed her way to the rim after a pass from Regan Allee. Stanberry fought back to take the lead as Sydney Mattson cut inside for two free throws and then got a steal to make it 28-27. But then Kaylee McElvain cherry-picked a basket as she was all alone as Anna Gladstone got her the ball before Stanberry could get set in their press and Worth County got a 29-28 lead going into the fourth.

The game turned into a brutal boxing match for the remainder of the game as there were bodies flying all over the floor and nobody could get anything done. The score was stuck at 29-28 until Anna Gladstone finally got loose on a drive with 4:50 left. Ashley Peterson countered inside to make it 31-30, and that was where the score was stuck as Worth County took huge chunks of time running out the clock. Stanberry could afford to be very aggressive on defense, as they only had four team fouls going into the final stretch.

Stanberry finally got what looked to be a golden opportunity with 1:25 left as they executed a perfect pick and roll, but Jessi Badell got the steal to blow it up. But Worth County gave it right back with an offensive foul. Stanberry missed two shots and then used up their fifth and sixth fouls as the Tigers got the clock down to 35 seconds. Madi Sager finally fouled Kaylee McElvain for her fifth foul as Kaylee’s inside shot go in. But Sager had fouled McElvain before she took her shot, so the basket was wiped off and McElvain’s 1-1 with 28 seconds left missed.

Lily Osborn tried to get to the rim to put her team in front, but Anna Gladstone rejected her. After a scramble, Kaylee McElvain got the loose carom and nearly threw it away for a wide open layup, but she was fouled first with 12 seconds left. She missed the one and one, and Stanberry called timeout with nine seconds left to set up a play to try to win the game. There was a heartstopping moment as Lily Osborn got a clear path to the basket for a apparent game-winning layup, which would have drained the clock as the clock keeps going on a made basket. But Kierstyn McMillen was called for a moving screen instead, and Worth County got the ball back with 1.7 seconds left.

Worth County had to inbound the ball underneath the Stanberry basket, and the Bulldogs were playing full court denial defense. But Worth County aired it out to Anna Gladstone at midcourt, and she dribbled out the remaining 1.7 seconds for the victory.

One of the key stats was defensive for the Tigers; they were able to hold Madi Sager to two points for the game as Jessi Badell was able to hold her down. Anna Gladstone, who guarded Sager in the first game, came out and guarded Osborn and Mattson instead; after two initial threes, Stanberry did not hit another one the rest of the game.

Anna Gladstone had 19 points for the Tigers. Kaylee McElvain had 6, Regan Allee 5, and Jessi Badell 1.

Kaylee McElvain had 3 blocks for Worth County. Regan Allee and Anna Gladstone had 2, while Kristin New had 1.

Kaylee McElvain had 11 boards for Worth County. Anna Gladstone and Kristin New had 4, Regan Allee 3, and Jessi Badell, Merrideth Spiers, Jenna Smith, and Jill Hardy had 1.

Regan Allee had 5 assists for Worth County. Anna Gladstone had 3, Kaylee McElvain had 2, and Kristin New had 1.

Regan Allee and Kristin New had 4 tips, while Jessi Badell had 2 and Kaylee McElvain had 1.
Kristin New had 4 steals for Worth County. Anna Gladstone, Regan Allee, Jenna Smith, Kaylee McElvain, and Jessi Badell all had 1.

Stanberry had been ranked seventh in the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association’s poll, released on December 17th. The Max Preps site had them ranked fifth, with Worth County not even ranked in the top 25.