It was Jessi Badell, who has seemingly thrived in the North Harrison gym, who came through for Worth County. In the double overtime win over North Harrison two years ago, she had a key offensive putback that sealed Worth County’s 54-50 double overtime win over North Harrison. And Badell got a key offensive board for Worth County Thursday against Tri-County and converted it to free throws after the Mustangs had nearly wiped out a big Worth County lead.
For a while, nothing worked. Anna Gladstone, who had been scoring 20 or more points every night, was completely surrounded by red shirts and unable to get very many good looks at the basket. The outside shooting, which has frequently freed up Gladstone to break down defenses, completely fell apart, with Worth County only hitting one three-pointer all night. But when everything else broke down, it was Badell who put the team on her back and carried the Tigers past Mercer, getting a career high 22 points.
The two teams traded blows early, with the game tied 4-4 at the 4:04 mark as Anna Gladstone scored two easy baskets. But Worth County didn’t get off to their usual fast start, and nothing else was falling. They were ice cold from the field and Kaylee McElvain and Kristin New both picked up two early fouls.
The score was stuck at 4-4 until Tori Meiniecke broke the deadlock with a shot from the right wing to start the second quarter. But then Worth County figured out that Mercer was leaving Badell open; Anna Gladstone hit her backdoor to tie it up at 6 again. Aubrey Wilson hit a 3-pointer to put Mercer back up by three, but Badell scored four more to keep Worth County in the game and Kristin New drove on Meiniecke late to draw her third foul and bring Worth County back to within 13-12.
Jessi Badell got a putback to start the third quarter to put Worth County back in front, and then Anna Gladstone made the biggest play of the game when she took a charge on Meiniecke, drawing her fourth foul and opening up the inside for Badell.
Megan Cassavaugh hit Badell inside to make it 16-13. Kaylee Duckworth hit a free throw, but Kristin New lobbed to Badell inside to make it 18-14 again. The teams traded scores the rest of the quarter, with Worth County taking a 23-19 lead into the fourth.
Jessi Badell knocked one down from the high post and Megan Cassavaugh got one into her to make it 27-19 with 5:10 left, but then Larayne Kost hit a guarded three with 4:32 left to bring Mercer back into the game. Badell kept hitting inside, but Mercer started heating up from the field with Meiniecke’s triple and Morgan Eastin’s cut inside keeping the Cardinal deficit at four.
With Worth County trying to run down the clock, Mercer got a steal from Larayne Kost. Anna Gladstone knocked the ball out of bounds to prevent a layup, but Kost cut inside to cut Mercer’s deficit to 31-29 with 1:11 left. But with Mercer extending their defense to try to get the ball back, Kaylee McElvain skilled it to Jessi Badell backdoor, and she was hammered by Meiniecke for her fifth foul. She hit both free throws with 1:01 left to give Worth County a two possession lead at 33-29.
Mercer couldn’t get a shot off until 30 seconds, until Kristin New got a blocked shot which set off a scramble. Mercer got the ball back, but Kaylee Duckworth, driving in on Kaylee McElvain, missed a contested shot. She got her own rebound, but Kaylee McElvain stole it from her with 11 seconds left. Kristin New missed a free throw at the other end, but Larayne Kost missed at the buzzer.
Jessi Badell had 22 points to lead Worth County. Anna Gladstone had 6 and Kristin New 5.
Anna Gladstone and Kristin New had 2 blocks each.
Jessi Badell had 6 boards. Kaylee McElvain and Anna Gladstone each had 5, while Kristin New, Jill Hardy, and Megan Cassavaugh each had 2.
Megan Cassavaugh had 4 assists. Kristin New and Kaylee McElvain had 3 each, while Anna Gladstone had 2.
Kristin New had 10 tips. Anna Gladstone had 6, Megan Cassavaugh 4, and Jill Hardy, Kaylee McElvain, and Jessi Badell had 1.
Anna Gladstone had 4 steals. Megan Cassavaugh, Kristin New, and Kaylee McElvain all had 4, while Jessi Badell had 2 and Jill Hardy had 1.
No comments:
Post a Comment