Girls Fall to Stanberry for Third Time, End Season

Worth County’s girls fell to Stanberry for a third time, 51-30 and ended their season at 21-7 in the State quarterfinals Friday. Worth County had gotten past two straight teams with better records, but could not get past the perennial powerhouse Stanberry squad, which will go to state.

Three seniors played in their last game as Tigers. They were Jessi Badell, Eleonora Bernini, and Haley Hunt.

The game started off as a tight defensive struggle. The game was tied at 2, 4, and 6 before Merrideth Spiers scored from inside to put Worth County up 8-7 at the 6:37 mark of the second quarter. But then while Stanberry heated up from the field, Worth County remained ice cold for the remainder of the game. Worth County struggled to get any kind of defensive pressure on Stanberry, and they were able to run their offense at will in the second quarter. Madi Sager was spraying the basket with midrange jumpers, Lily Osborn and Peyton Gage were hitting 3-pointers, and in the span of just over two minutes, Stanberry was up 19-8. The lead grew to 23-10 when nobody matched up with Kierstyn McMillen, and she scored in transition uncontested with 2:28 left.

The Stanberry lead grew to 32-14 early in the third as Sydney Mattson hit a 3-pointer, but then Kaylee McElvain hit one of her own and Worth County started coming back. Sager hit from the high post, but then Anna cut inside and scored, Kristin New hit Kaylee McElvain for a guarded three, Kristin hit Jessi Badell backdoor for a three-point play, and Anna Gladstone scored off a drive to make it 34-26 with 2:55 left.

Peyton Gage answered with a free throw, and the game settled into a defensive standoff with the score stuck at 35-26. But then a blown call by the referee swung the momentum back in Stanberry’s favor. Kristin New was driving the left baseline when the referee called a foul, signaled a block, but then gave the ball back to Stanberry. Stanberry capitalized on the officiating error when Sager converted a third chance putback to make it 37-26.

Osborn hit a guarded three to start the fourth, and Stanberry continued to pull away for the remainder of the game as Worth County wore down, similar to the Stanberry Tournament game in January.

Anna Gladstone had 11 for Worth County. Kaylee McElvain had 8, Jessi Badell 7, Merrideth Spiers 2, and Kristin New and Megan Cassavaugh 1 each.

Anna Gladstone had 2 blocks, and Kaylee McElvain 1.

Kaylee McElvain had 7 boards. Anna Gladstone and Jessi Badell had 6 each, Merrideth Spiers 4, Kristin New 3, Haley Hunt 2, and Megan Cassavaugh 1.

Kristin New had 4 assists. Kaylee McElvain, Megan Cassavaugh, Jessi Badell, and Anna Gladstone had 1.

Kristin New and Anna Gladstone had 4 tips. Jessi Badell had 3 and Megan Cassavaugh 1. Kristin New had 4 steals and Anna Gladstone 3.