Saturday, February 8, 2020

Anna Gladstone, Bob Baker Named Courtwarming Royalty; Gladstone Goes Bezerk in 4th as Tigers Beat Albany Again; Regan Allee Honored for 1000th Point

Worth County’s girls beat Albany 52-33 Thursday to take their Courtwarming game. Anna Gladstone and Bob Baker were named Courtwarming Royalty, and Anna went into bezerk mode in the fourth quarter to bring the victory home. Regan Allee was honored by Coach Les New for scoring her 1,000th point in the Stanberry Tournament.

Other candidates were Kaylee McElvain, Kristen New, Hayden Holmes, and Zayne Swope. Junior attendants were Megan Cassavaugh and Tim Richardson. Sophomore attendants were Cheyanne Fairchild and Jackson Smith. Freshman attendants were Taylor Sanders and Tucker Owens.
Crownbearers were Renae Gladstone, Gabbey Maudlin, Alexis Snead, Jace Mullock, Tate Rush, and David Wideman. Renae got to help crown her older sister, Anna.

A win by the Warriors would have vaulted them into a tie for first with Stanberry. As things stand, Worth County will take first place on tiebreakers in the GRC West and play Milan in the GRC Showcase in King City Saturday if they beat Pattonsburg Wednesday. A loss would mean they would play someone else. Albany had only one conference loss before Thursday, a 40-38 loss to Stanberry in December. Worth County had beaten Albany 62-34 in the Stanberry Tournament, but with a lot more at stake, the game was sure to be much better. Albany had beaten Braymer 42-38 the game before and were riding momentum coming into Thursday’s game; Braymer had beaten Worth County back at the start of January.

The game looked like a walk in the park for the Tigers at first as Megan Cassavaugh hit back to back jacks to start the game and Kaylee McElvain followed with another 3-pointer and Anna Gladstone added a drive to make it 11-0.

But then Gabby Newman got a chasedown stuff on Anna Gladstone following a steal and the game turned on a dime. Newman scored five of Albany’s seven points and the Warriors closed to within 13-7 after one.

Albany’s game plan was clear – don’t let either Anna Gladstone or Regan Allee beat them. They played a triangle and two on them when they were both on the floor and a diamond and one when one was on the bench. Albany was playing much better than they had last month; their post players were much more part of the offense. The Warriors were doing a much better job of picking up the ball after Worth County’s defensive boards, meaning much fewer transition looks.

Worth County switched from a man to man to their 1-3-1 trap at the start of the second, but Albany kept coming, closing to within 18-15 by the latter stages of the second quarter. But then Megan Cassavaugh hit Kaylee McElvain inside and Kristin New hit a cutting Jill Hardy to give Worth County some breathing room at 22-15 at the half.

Kaylee McElvain hit two free throws and Kristin New got loose in transition after Anna Gladstone pushed it ahead to make it 26-15, but Albany hung around, keeping their deficit between 7 and 11.
Despite Newman on the bench for the latter stages of the third and early part of the fourth, Albany closed to within 35-27 at the start of the fourth thanks to their post play from Paige Brown, Sierra Anthony, and Emily Poppa. The Warriors got the ball back and had a chance to cut it to five with a 3-pointer, but the shot misfired, Anna took it coast to coast down to the other end for a layup and a five point swing, and Albany never had another chance as Anna was in bezerk mode.

Gladstone got a straight steal to make it 12, then Merrideth Spiers got a steal after Anna got a tip, and Spiers fed her for a layup to make it 41-27, forcing Albany into a timeout.

The timeout didn’t help matters as Anna jumped a pass for another layup, got a putback, and converted a steal into a 3-point play. Newman came back in and Brown broke the run, but Anna got another steal to make it 49-29 with 3:20 left. Regan Allee added a 3-pointer with 2:16 left to give Worth County its biggest lead at 52-31.

Anna Gladstone had 21 points, 14 in the fourth quarter. Kaylee McElvain and Kristin New had 9, Megan Cassavaugh 6, Regan Allee 3, and Merrideth Spiers and Jill Hardy 2.

Anna Gladstone had 5 boards. Kaylee McElvain had 4, Kristin New 3, Jill Hardy and Merrideth Spiers 2, and Regan Allee, Jenna Smith, and Megan Cassavaugh 1 each.

Megan Cassavaugh had 5 assists. Kristin New had 3, Anna Gladstone 2, and Jill Hardy, Jenna Smith, Regan Allee, and Merrideth Spiers 1.

Anna Gladstone had 8 tips. Kristin New had 6, Jenna Smith 5, Kaylee McElvain 4, Megan Cassavaugh and Merrideth Spiers 2, and Regan Allee and Jill Hardy 1 each.

Anna Gladstone had 7 steals. Regan Allee had 6, Kaylee McElvain 4, and Merrideth Spiers and Megan Cassavaugh 1 each.

Worth County went on to successfully invade Princeton, which had won the Gilman City Tournament the week before; they came away with a 59-40 win.

Previously, Worth County beat King City 62-24 in King City. Anna Gladstone had 24 points to lead the Tigers, while Regan Allee added 16.

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