Tiger Girls Win Stanberry Tourney, Beat Stanberry for Third Time; Anna Gladstone is MVP Again

Worth County’s girls won their second tournament of the year, beat Stanberry for the third time, and Anna Gladstone was named Tournament MVP for the second time this year as the Tigers beat Stanberry 39-28 Saturday. Regan Allee was also named to the All-Tournament Squad.

The Tigers had been in a slump for the past few weeks, but they finally got their whole team back and playing together; they did better against Stanberry in Saturday’s game than they did the week before, when they needed a late push to get a 43-37 win.

The win was the first Stanberry Tournament win for the Tigers since the 2003-2004 season, when Tiffany Troutwine and Charlea Lewis led the Tigers to a 72-45 win over Mound City that year.

The game turned out to be a slow defensive struggle for both teams; neither team could get looks at the basket, and open looks were hard to come by and every possession was important. Stanberry had knocked off Platte Valley in a similar struggle, getting a late 3-pointer from Ellie Ellis to break a tie and win 31-26 to punch their ticket to the finals.

The Bulldogs pulled out all the stops to defend their tournament title; they brought in a PA announcer, they played music during timeouts, and they kept the scoring down in the 20’s and 30’s. But Worth County was up to the challenge, having played four different times in the Civic Arena and having been through plenty of late game situations by now.

The game was knotted at 2-2 for the first 4:22 until Kaylee McElvain finally broke the ice from the left side. Anna Gladstone added a 15 foot pullup and a transition basket to put the Tigers up 8-2 as they overcame two early fouls from Regan Allee.

Regan Allee’s 3-pointer and Kristin New’s putback put Worth County up 13-4 at the 3:37 mark of the second and forced Stanberry into their first time out. The lead grew to 18-6 when Kaylee McElvain hit a 3-pointer and Regan Allee hit two free throws. But Stanberry started chipping away, getting free throws from Riley McQueen and a 3-pointer from Ellis to cut it to 18-11 at the half.

Ashley Peterson hit from the right wing to cut it to 18-13 to start the third, but then Anna Gladstone scored from inside off a high-low pass from Kristin New, and Kristin scored from inside off a pass from Megan Cassavaugh and converted the three point play to make it 23-16. Ellis countered with a 3-pointer, but a pair of drives from Regan Allee put Worth County up 27-16 at the 3:46 mark.

Stanberry lobbed it in twice to Lexi Craig and Anna Gladstone picked up her third foul as the Bulldogs closed to within 27-20, but Regan Allee and Kristin New both scored off drives to make it 31-20 after three.

Once again, Stanberry made a push to get back in the game as Sydney Mattson hit a 3-pointer and Anna Gladstone picked up her fourth trying to stop a layup after a defensive breakdown, and Ashley Peterson hit a free throw to make it 31-24. Kaylee McElvain scored off a drive, but then Sadie Runde threatened to take over, hitting a third chance basket and getting a steal to make it 33-28 at the 4:05 mark of the fourth.

But then Anna Gladstone came back in and Worth County went to their delay game. Lexi Craig got a steal, but Regan Allee got a tip and Merrideth Spiers stole the ball back for Worth County. Anna drove the lane and hit Spiers, who missed both free throws, but Ellie Ellis missed a runner and Worth County ran it all the way down to 1:49 before Anna Gladstone hit both free throws to make it three possessions at 35-28.

Once again, Ellis missed a runner; the ball went out off of one of Worth County’s players, but Lexi Craig missed and Kristin New hit both ends of a 1-1 to make it 37-28. Ellis, who had come up big against Platte Valley with a critical three, missed one against Worth County and Megan Cassavaugh hit two more free throws to clinch it.

Regan Allee had 13 for the Tigers. Four different Tigers had 7 or more points as Kristin New had 9, Anna Gladstone 8, and Kaylee McElvain had 7. Megan Cassavaugh had 2.

Merrideth Spiers had 2 blocks, while Regan Allee and Kaylee McElvain had 1 each.

Anna Gladstone had 9 boards. Kristin New had 7, Kaylee McElvain 4, Megan Cassavaugh 3, Merrideth Spiers and Regan Allee 2, and Jenna Smith 1.

Kristin New had 4 assists. Megan Cassavaugh had 3, Regan Allee and Kaylee McElvain 2, and Jenna Smith 1.

Kristin New and Anna Gladstone had 4 tips. Megan Cassavaugh had 3, Regan Allee 2, and Merrideth Spiers, Jenna Smith, and Kaylee McElvain 1 each.

Anna Gladstone had 3 steals. Megan Cassavaugh and Merrideth Spiers had 2 each, and Kaylee McElvain and Kristin New had 1 each.