Friday, December 20, 2019

Boys Develop Depth vs. Christian Despite Loss

Worth County's boys were down one player, and they were down another as Alex Rinehart was not there (Vacation). They had to develop some depth against a solid St. Joseph Christian squad, which was a well-oiled machine that could beat anyone on a given night. Levi Cassavaugh, Zayne Swope, and Lucas Wake were all pressed into service for Friday's game, and they all stepped up and did some good things for the Tigers. Worth County saw a halftime lead slip away in the second half thanks to some foul trouble and they fell to the Lions 47-41, but they were able to develop some depth for future games.

Against North Nodaway, Christian got into too much of a rhythm and made shot after shot with a hand in their faces. But Worth County never allowed them to do that, and they erased an early 5-2 deficit as Jaxon Anderson drove into the teeth of the red shirts and got a three-point play, Jackson Runde hit a 3-pointer, and Anderson hit a guarded three to put Worth County up 13-5 going into the second.

The foul trouble started to mount for the Tigers as Anderson picked up his third foul, but despite an unforced turnover in which they stepped on the inbounds line, and another sequence where they gave up five straight offensive boards to the Lions, Worth County somehow maintained a 24-20 lead at the half. Jackson Runde hit a 3-pointer late to make it four after the Lions had closed to within one, and then Lucas Wake took a charge on defense to prevent a layup and keep the home side in front.

Runde put the Tigers up 29-22 in the third, but then the turnovers and foul trouble began to mount, with Aydan Gladstone picking up his fourth foul and the Lions moving ahead 31-29 on Caleb Carlson's drive with 1:55 left.

Zayne Swope stepped up and took a charge on defense to stop the bleeding and then scored off a drive to tie it at 31, but then post player Camden Lutz stepped out and hit back to back threes to put the Lions back up 37-31 after three.

Jaxon Anderson did all he could at the start of the fourth to bring the Tigers back, getting six straight points to make it 39-37. But then Carson Bowman scored from inside and then cleaned up on a Lion miss in transition after a gutterball from Worth County to make it 43-37 with 2:07 left. Zayne Swope struck again, hitting two free throws after getting loose off a drive, but then Carlson scored from inside and Worth County had to start fouling and couldn't catch up.

Jaxon Anderson had 17 points to lead the Tigers. Jackson Runde had 12, Aydan Gladstone 6, Zayne Swope 4, and Lucas Wake 2. Jaxon Anderson had 12 boards for the Tigers.

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