Saturday, January 4, 2020

Mustang Girls Bring Down Taller Stewartsville Squad

A shorthanded North Nodaway girls squad took down a taller Stewartsville squad 49-30 Friday. They were without Sarah Wray (flu); without her rebounding, they struggled against six-footer Maddison Lundy and the rest of the tall Stewartsville lineup, giving up 16 offensive boards. But they were able to play through both it and 16 turnovers and get some timely shots from Kandace Damgar and Jacquelyn Cline to get their second win against the Cardinals. They were able to stay out of the foul trouble that plagued them earlier this year and stay on the floor for most of the game.

The Cards started off with an impressive 68-58 win over Tri-County, which had won 17 the year before; they shrugged off an early loss to the Mustangs to propel themselves to a 5-1 record. But they came into Hopkins on a slump, having lost to Mound City and East Atchison, the latter in running clock fashion. They fought back against an early 6-2 deficit to knot it at 8 as time was winding down in the first quarter Friday. But then a momentum-changing play happened at the end of the period when Jacquelyn Cline got a defensive board, went coast to coast, and jumped into a Cardinal defender as time expired, drawing a foul. She hit all three free throws to put North Nodaway up 11-8 after one.

Cline's triple in the second put North Nodaway up 16-10 before a pair of defensive lapses left Chesney Ishmael open, and the red shirts were able to tie it at 16. But then the Cardinals got in foul trouble and the Mustangs were able to pull back in front as Jacquelyn Cline scored off a drive, Kandace Damgar knocked down a 3-pointer and a free throw, and Cline got loose in transition as Jadon Dobbins got her the ball to make it 24-16 before Ashlee Kauth, another skyscraper for Stewartsville, hit a guarded shot to bring her squad back to within 24-18 at the half.

North Nodaway appeared to have all the momentum in the third as Saylor Brown scored off a steal and Kandace Damgar hit a 3-pointer to put the Mustangs in front 29-18. But then the red shirts started chipping away as Gracey Shepherd hit two free throws, Lundy hit a guarded baseline shot, and Kauth scored off a drive to make it 29-24. They were turning up the pressure and intensity, and Damgar picked up her third foul.

But unlike earlier in the year, when the Mustangs would wear down in that situation, they found their second wind at the start of the fourth and Damgar came back in to hit back to back jacks to start the period and restore order and put North Nodaway up 35-24. Lundy scored off a pair of caroms that bounced right at her, but Cline cut inside for a shot, Damgar hit another three, Jadon Dobbins drove into the lane and hit a pullup over Lundy and drew a foul on her, hitting the three point play, and Karissa Obherhauser hit a baseline shot to make it 45-28 with 3:59 left in the game.

Chesney Ishmael scored off a putback, and Stewartsville could afford to be very aggressive on defense as they had a lot of fouls to give, but Cline scored off a backdoor look and frustration set in as one of the Cardinal players was called for an intentional foul and Damgar hit both free throws in the closing seconds.

Kandace Damgar had 21 points to lead the Mustangs. Jacquelyn Cline had 14, Saylor Brown and Jadon Dobbins had 4, and Karissa Oberhauser had 4.

Karissa Oberhauser, Kandace Damgar, and Saylor Brown had 1 block each.

Kandace Damgar had 10 boards. Saylor Brown had 8, Ellaina Renfro and Jadon Dobbins had 4, Jacquelyn Cline had 3, and Kelsi Barcus had 1. Jadon Dobbins had 7 assists and Jacquelyn Cline had 3.



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