Tiger Girls, Mustangs Finish 1st and 2nd at Northwest Missouri Tournament

 Worth County’s girls have been streaky all season. First, they dropped three straight; then, they won five straight. They dropped six out of their next seven games, hitting a low point with their 69-43 loss to Pattonsburg. However, last week, they recovered and rode a big wave to a Northwest Missouri Tournament championship, running the table in three games.

North Nodaway’s girls have not won a tournament in quite some time; they will have to wait a little longer after Saturday’s 56-39 loss to Worth County. With the massive snowstorms that occurred during the early part of last week, games were moved into a compressed schedule, forcing North Nodaway to play three straight games in three nights; they had played two tough opponents in West Nodaway and Rock Port in order to face Worth County. The Tigers, meanwhile, got a break in the pairings as they played a tough opponent in Nodaway-Holt, beat them by 16, and then got a breather Thursday against Northland Christian, winning by the running clock.

The big factor in the game was the turnover battle. North Nodaway won the rebounding battle 33-32, and shot 15 for 26 from the line while Worth County shot 11 for 21. But the turnover battle was too much for them to overcome, as they surrendered the ball 24 times while Worth County only turned it over 12 times in Saturday’s game.

Worth County was able to get back to playing their game while not allowing North Nodaway to play theirs. Worth County is 8-2 when holding opponents to under 40 points, while North Nodaway has won 15 of their last 16 games over the last two years when scoring 50 or more points. The Tigers held all three of their opponents under 40 points in winning the tournament. North Nodaway has made a living off the 3-point line the last two years, including getting ten against Northeast Nodaway; Worth County only allowed one 3-pointer in their win.

The game started off evenly matched as the game was tied at 2, 4, 6, 11, and 13. But then Megan Cassavaugh connected on a 3-pointer early in the second quarter to put the Tigers up for good at 16-13. Saryn Brown did all she could for North Nodaway, getting to the line 20 times, showing that she is able to get on the line at will, like teammates Jacquelyn Cline and Jadon Dobbins. Her free throws cut it to 16-15. But then Megan Cassavaugh hit Braidy Hunt on a backdoor pass that sparked the Tigers.

For the rest of the game, Worth County, time and time again, was able to expose North Nodaway’s defense by throwing passes from the wing to the opposite side block, leading to a lot of easy baskets. Kynah Steele added a third chance putback and Taylor Sanders hit a top of the key 3-pointer to make it 23-15.

Saryn Brown was hammered on a 3-point attempt and made two out of her three attempts to spark North Nodaway late in the half, and Jadon Dobbins followed with a steal to cut it to 24-20. Jill Hardy countered with a baseline shot after scooping up a carom on the right baseline, but Lauren Herndon inbounded to Jacquelyn Cline backdoor and Saryn Brown got a putback try and was fouled at the buzzer, knocking down both free throws to make it 26-24.

But then Worth County got their post players untracked in the third quarter as Morgan Beagle had 7 points in the period and EmiLee Brown added six. Kara Staton added two more, and Jill Hardy contributed a 3-pointer. Meanwhile, Worth County put down the clamps on defense, not allowing any good looks as they pulled away to a 44-28 lead after three. Jadon Dobbins picked up her fourth foul in the period. 

North Nodaway finally got untracked in the fourth quarter as they got in the bonus again. Jill Hardy and Braidy Hunt picked up their fourth fouls, and both Cline and Brown hit free throws as the Mustangs chipped away at their deficit to come to within 46-32. Jadon Dobbins picked up her fifth foul, but then Jacquelyn went coast to cost to cut it to 49-36. However, Taylor Sanders hit her second 3-pointer to restore order; Megan Cassavaugh hit EmiLee Brown cutting inside and Jill Hardy scored off a Morgan Beagle theft to make it 56-36.

Worth County had eight different players get in the scoring column. EmiLee Brown had 13, Jill Hardy 9, Megan Cassavaugh 8, Morgan Beagle 7, Taylor Sanders 6, Kynah Steele 5, Kara Staton 4, and Braidy Hunt 4. EmiLee Brown and Jill Hardy were named to the All Tournament Team.

EmiLee Brown had three blocks, constantly turning away Mustang efforts to convert in the paint. Kynah Steele had 1.

Worth County had four players get five rebounds, with Megan Cassavaugh, Morgan Beagle, Jill Hardy, and EmiLee Brown sharing honors. Braidy Hunt and Kynah Steele had 4, Kara Staton 2, and Liz Brown and Taylor Sanders with 1.

Megan Cassavaugh had 9 assists. Braidy Hunt had 4, Jill Hardy 3, Kynah Steele 2, and Taylor Sanders, Kara Staton, Liz Brown, and Morgan Beagle with 1 each.

Jill Hardy and Megan Cassavaugh had 4 tips each. Morgan Beagle, Braidy Hunt, and EmiLee Brown had 2 each, and Liz Brown and Kynah Steele had 1.

Five different Tigers, Jill Hardy, Megan Cassavaugh, EmiLee Brown, Braidy Hunt, and Morgan Beagle, all had 3 steals. Liz Brown and Kynah Steele had 1 each.

For North Nodaway, Jacquelyn Cline and Saryn Brown each had 14. Lauren Herndon had 5, Jadon Dobbins had 4, and Karissa Oberhauser had 2. Cline was named to the All Tournament Squad.

Saryn Brown had 11 boards. Jacquelyn Cline had 9, Lauren Herndon 8, Jadon Dobbins 4, and Ellaina Renfro 2.

Lauren Herndon had 7 assists. Jacquelyn Cline had 2, and Karissa Oberhauser had 1.

Lauren Herndon had 6 tips. Jacquelyn Cline had 4, Saryn Brown 3, Jadon Dobbins 2, and Karissa Oberhauser and Ellaina Renfro had 1 each.

Jacquelyn Cline had 4 steals. Saryn Brown had 3, Jadon Dobbins 2, and Lauren Herndon and Ellaina Renfro had 1 each.