Worth County used red hot shooting to get past Winston 64-40 Monday night in the first round of districts. Normally, Worth County wins when they allow less than 40 points in a game and loses when they allow more. Winston’s strategy coming into the game was to follow Pattonsburg’s lead and turn the game into a track meet; Pattonsburg had done that successfully to Worth County earlier in the season and handed them one of their worst defeats of the year.
It worked for the first quarter as Winston, behind the hot shooting of Jordyn Inman was able to turn it into a high scoring battle in the period. Abby Rhoades, a guard with a lightning quick release added a 3-pointer, as did Emma Heldenbrand. But Worth County was able to keep up thanks to some 3-pointers from Megan Cassavaugh and Jill Hardy, and the inside play of Morgan Beagle. Worth County came away with a 22-17 first quarter lead.
But then several factors swung the game in Worth County’s favor. First, they stayed hot in the second and third quarters while Winston went through some ice cold stretches. Winston had trouble bringing the ball up the floor against Worth County’s press, as their smaller guards, who gave up several inches to Morgan Beagle, had trouble getting passes past Beagle, who has long arms in addition to her size. And Worth County tightened up their play on the boards, only allowing six offensive boards all night.
Inman cut the Worth County lead to 22-19 to start the second, but then Jill Hardy skipped a pass to Braidy Hunt for a long two, and Hunt added a 3-pointer. Then, Braidy Hunt got a steal and got it to Jill Hardy to make it 29-19. EmiLee Brown added a free throw, and then Taylor Sanders lobbed it into Beagle for two and then added a 3-pointer to make it 35-19.
Megan Cassavaugh’s triple with 45 seconds left gave Worth County a 41-23 lead, but then some sloppy play at the end of the half allowed Inman and the Redbirds to close to within 41-26. Worth County came out refocused to start the second half and Braidy Hunt hit a 3-pointer to jumpstart the Tigers in the third. Jill Hardy got a tip, Morgan Beagle got a steal, and then Hardy finished. Hardy then drove and got it to EmiLee Brown inside and then added a 3-pointer to make it 51-26.
Winston came out of their slump as Inman hit a guarded shot from the right wing to make it 51-30, but then Brown and Kynah Steele hit free throws to break the run. Worth County bled huge chunks off the clock in the fourth quarter, and a long possession resulted in a three point play from Jill Hardy. EmiLee Brown got a putback to give Worth County its biggest lead of 58-30 at the 4:16 mark. Justina Wimer added a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the game for the Tigers.
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