North Nodaway’s girls completed their best season since the 2006-2007 season after they lost 40-31 to Jefferson Wednesday. They finished their snow-shortened season at 17-7. It was their best record since 2006-2007, and the most wins under Sami Jackson. “This was the most fun year I’ve had too,” she said.
North Nodaway has posted winning seasons in their last three campaigns. They beat Rock Port for the first round of districts, snapping a 2-14 stretch against the Blue Jays. They beat Mound City for the first time since the 2002-2003 season.
Playing in their last games in Mustang uniforms were Kristin Herndon, Audrey Trimble, Emma Hart, Keagan O’Riley, Ashley Thompson, Anna Nielson, and Katie Bloomquist.
The game started out on a bad note for North Nodaway as back to back 3-pointers by Jefferson from Malia Collins and Vanessa Pappert staked them out to a 6-0 lead at the 5:49 mark of the first. Four straight points from Ashley Thompson got North Nodaway’s deficit down to 6-4, but Stephanie Turpin’s putback and Malia Collins’ free throws made it 10-4.
But a momentum shift turned the game in North Nodaway’s favor. Late in the period with the Mustangs trying to get the last shot, a loose ball pinballed off several players to Kristin Herndon, who was fouled by Pappert with two tenths of a second left in the act of shooting. She hit both free throws to make it 10-6, and all of a sudden, North Nodaway realized they could play ball with Jefferson.
With Saylor Brown off the bench getting open people the ball, North Nodaway fought their way into the lead. Brown hit Kristin Herndon for a baseline drive, then Herndon saved an offensive board to Audrey Trimble, and then Ashley Thompson got a free throw to make it 10-9. Then, Brown drove into the middle of the lane and got it backdoor to Herndon, who scored to put North Nodaway in the lead for the first time at 11-10 with 4:19 left in the second.
Malia Collins countered with a 3-pointer, but Kandace Damgar answered with one of her own to make it 14-13. Collins drove through three blue shirts and got fouled at the buzzer and made one of two to knot it at 14.
Collins’ play didn’t seem to matter at first as back to back threes from Damgar put North Nodaway in front at 20-14. But then Jefferson started taking it right at North Nodaway, and the Mustangs wore down and got away from what put them ahead. They started hacking and fouling on defense, putting Jefferson on the line; they committed four fouls in just the first 2:50. On offense, they started throwing the ball away; Jefferson got three straight steals during the same stretch. Consequently, by the 5:05 mark of the third quarter, the lead was gone when Malia Collins’ free throws put Jefferson into the lead at 21-20.
North Nodaway made a stand for the next three minutes and the score was stuck at 21-20 until Vanessa Pappert hit a 3-pointer to make it 24-20. Kandace Damgar answered with her fourth 3-pointer of the night to make it one point again, but then the hacking and fouling resumed and Jefferson pushed it out to 27-23 from the line. Pappert’s transition basket after a steal put Jefferson in front 29-23 after three.
Damgar’s 3-pointer turned out to be the last made basket of the game until the closing seconds; turnovers were a killer as North Nodaway turned it over 14 times in the second half after turning it over 7 times in the first. Free throws were another differential in Jefferson’s favor in the second half; Jefferson had 15 made free throws after only three in the first half.
There was a glimmer of hope over the next four minutes as both Jacklyn and Vanessa Pappert picked up their fourth fouls for Jefferson, depriving them of two of their bigs. Ashley Thompson and Kristin Herndon hit two free throws each to bring North Nodaway back to within 32-27 at the 4:26 mark. But then North Nodaway wore down at that point as the Pappert girls came back in and Jefferson started beating them up and down the floor and getting to the line at will, scoring the next six points to put it away.
Kandace Damgar had 12 points to lead North Nodaway. Kristin Herndon had 8, Ashley Thompson 7, Saylor Brown 3, and Audrey Trimble 1. Nearly every game saw different people step up, which made North Nodaway difficult to guard. “We couldn’t figure out how to guard them,” said Worth County coach Les New after a game against them last year.
Ashley Thompson had 3 blocks and Kristin Herndon 2. Those two protected the paint all four years, and their size will be missed.
Ashley Thompson had 12 boards. Kristin Herndon had 7, Kandace Damgar 6, Audrey Trimble and Saylor Brown 5, Keagan O’Riley 3, and Emma Hart 1.
Saylor Brown had 5 assists. Kristin Herndon had 2 and Katie Bloomquist had 1.
Kristin Herndon had 7 tips. Kandace Damgar and Audrey Trimble had 6, while Saylor Brown had 2 and Keagan O’Riley 1. Audrey Trimble had 3 steals. Keagan O’Riley, Kristin Herndon, Ashley Thompson, and Kandace Damgar all had 1.
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