Worth County's girls beat Princeton 41-32 in their Homecoming tilt, downing the Blue Tigers and breaking a pattern. For each of the last three years, Princeton has gotten the last word in. Two years ago, Worth County beat Princeton twice in two weeks, only for the Blue Tigers to win in the Showcase. Last year, Worth County successfully invaded Princeton to start the year, only for the Blue Tigers to win in Albany. The pattern looked likely to hold this year, especially when Worth County needed a late steal to protect a 40-39 win in Albany in December.
But then Regan Allee hit a 3-pointer and Anna Gladstone added a steal to give Worth County an early 5-0 lead, a lead that they made stand throughout the game. Worth County won the turnover battle, stealing the ball 17 times while only surrendering it 13 times; Anna Gladstone continued to get to the rim at will, getting 21 points for her fourth straight 20+ point game after she went off for 28 against Albany.
Thankfully, Worth County will not have to play Princeton again in the GRC Showcase; they will likely play Milan, which is a heavy underdog against undefeated powerhouse Trenton. Gallatin beat Milan, Milan beat Princeton, and Princeton beat Gallatin, which set up a potential three way tie for second. But Gallatin also lost to Maysville giving them three conference losses, which means Milan would edge out Princeton in a tiebreaker for second since Milan beat Princeton. Worth County will get the #2 slot in the Showcase because three way tiebreaks are determined by margin of defeat. Stanberry lost by one to Worth County; Worth County lost by four to North Andrew; while North Andrew lost by 16 to Stanberry.
Princeton kept it close for the first quarter and part of the second as Payton Goodin hit a 3-pointer and then stepped into the post position, getting a baseline shot to go down from behind the backboard and getting a putback; she had seven of her team's first 12 as the Blue Tigers trailed 15-12 at the 4:52 mark of the second.
But then Anna Gladstone got loose in transition as Princeton tried to play full court man to man, only for Anna to blow by the blue shirts and drop it off to Merrideth Spiers for a layup when a wall of blue shirts tried unsuccessfully tried to surround her. She got loose again, blowing past Jaelyn Steeby-Thomas and another blue shirt for a layup to make it 19-12. Princeton burned two timeouts to try to stop the run and switched to a 2-3, but Anna Gladstone got a pass into the high post and dropped it off to Jessi Badell; then, Kristin New inbounded one to Anna, who banked one home to make it 23-12 at the break.
Princeton came out in the third by driving to the basket, getting their deficit down to 23-16 behind driving layups from Payton Goodin and Lacie Lewis. They had a chance to get closer, but Anna Gladstone jumped a pass to Jaelyn Steeby-Thomas and scored, and then Kristin New scored off a Regan Allee steal to make it double digits again at 27-16. Kennedy Norton cut inside to score and Lindsey Batson hit a free throw to make it 27-19. But then Jill Hardy hit Anna Gladstone in the high post and Anna went to the rim and got a three point play to make it 30-19. Worth County went to their half court trap, and Kristin New got a steal and fed Anna as she started to take over the game. Anna added a steal of her own to make it 34-19. Free throws from Goodin cut it to 34-21, but Regan Allee got a steal and threw ahead to Anna Gladstone to make it 36-21. Batson's free throw at the end of the quarter cut it to 36-22, but Kaylee McElvain's triple to start the fourth put Worth County up 39-22. Worth County ran out the clock the rest of the way, and Princeton never got closer than the final score.
Anna Gladstone had 21 points to lead the Tigers. Kaylee McElvain had 7, Regan Allee 5, and Haley Hunt, Kristin New, Merrideth Spiers, and Jessi Badell all had 2.
Jill Hardy had 4 boards for Worth County. Anna Gladstone, Regan Allee, Jessi Badell, and Kaylee McElvain all had 3, Kristin New had 2, and Megan Cassavaugh and Merrideth Spiers all had 1.
Anna Gladstone and Regan Allee each had 4 assists. Kristin New had 3, and Jill Hardy had 2.
Anna Gladstone and Regan Allee had 5 tips. Kristin New had 3, and Kaylee McElvain and Jessi Badell had 1.
Kristin New had 7 steals for Worth County. Anna Gladstone and Regan Allee had 4 each, while Jessi Badell had 2.
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