North Nodaway suffered a shocking 62-59 loss at Union Star, who was much better than everyone thought. North Nodaway had lost the night before, 63-45 against state-ranked DeKalb. Something needed to change for the Mound City game, and it did, as the Mustangs got back to what they did best, scoring 50+ points a game, getting four people with eight points or more, playing smart, and running out the clock with a lead against a solid team. There are no more weak teams in the area, but North Nodaway showed a lot of improvement in closing out the Panthers 52-34 Monday.
The focus of Monday's game was just to relax and have fun. They could have gone in the tank following the Union Star game, but instead, they showed the kind of team bonding that coach Sami Jackson had been looking for all year when they dressed out in dark outfits and cheered on the boys against Platte Valley Saturday. Then, they proceeded to close the barn door on Mound City, taking a big halftime lead and then bleeding out the clock throughout the second half. Then, they closed it out at the free throw line.
It was Lauren Herndon who sparked the Mustangs early, and Jacquelyn Cline who got 18 points to lead North Nodaway. But everybody managed to play a role in the win. Both Cline and Jadon Dobbins dribbled huge amounts of time off the clock in the fourth as Mound City was frantically trying to replicate their near-comeback against North Nodaway two weeks before; Jadon took a charge on defense. Saryn Brown hit some critical free throws after Mound City threatened to make a game of it late. Ellaina Renfro got a career high with 10 boards. And Karissa Oberhauser was the surprise leader in assists with 5, and made some hustle plays as well.
The big difference in Monday's game and the one from two weeks ago between the same two teams was turnovers. In North Nodaway's 46-40 win over Mound City two weeks ago, they surrendered the ball 20 times, many of them in the fourth quarter as Mound City was mounting their comeback. But in Monday's game, they turned it over only eight times, showing a lot more patience and discipline on offense. Mound City never got closer than 14 in the second half after trailing by 21 at the half.
The game started off as a defensive struggle for the first three minutes, with North Nodaway leading 2-1. But then three straight 3-pointers from Lauren Herndon put North Nodaway up 11-3, and then Herndon followed with a putback at the buzzer to make it 13-3 after one.
From there on, anytime there was adversity, North Nodaway would overcome it. First, Jadon Dobbins picked up her second foul late in the first quarter; despite that, the Mustangs continued to pull away in the second with Dobbins on the bench. Mound City put the taller Elizabeth Laukemper on Lauren Herndon; however, that opened up driving lanes for Jacquelyn Cline, who took full advantage with 10 points in the second quarter. Saryn Brown slashed to the rim as well, getting 6 in the period. And Karissa Oberhauser, pressed into action with Dobbins in foul trouble, started dishing out dimes, getting four assists in the period.
Laukemper did all she could for Mound City in the second, hitting two guarded threes. But it didn't matter as the Mustangs were rebounding well on both ends of the court and pushing it every chance they could get. Jadon Dobbins came in late, got a quick outlet from Karissa, and finished at the other end with time winding down to make it 32-11 at the half.
Lauren Herndon cleaned up on a miss in transition to make it 34-11 to start the third, but then Sydney Meadows got the hot hand for Mound City, hitting a couple of 3-pointers and adding a free throw; Laukemper chipped in as well as the Panthers got as close as 38-22 at the 56 second mark of the period. But then Karissa Oberhauser hit Jacquelyn Cline for three at the top of the key, and then Jadon Dobbins, who stayed out of foul trouble in the second half, added a free throw to make it 42-22 after three.
Mound City started swarming, pressing, and trapping to start the fourth, their strategy was to get some steals off the press, hammer Cline every time she tried to touch the ball if the Mustangs broke the press, and get the ball into Laukemper in the post since Meadows' shooting had opened her up. North Nodaway bled the clock for the first four minutes, and Cline took advantage of the trips to the line as the Mustangs went ahead 45-24. But then the Panthers started to come back as they started getting the ball into Laukemper in the post, and Meadows added a steal as the Panthers used a 7-0 run to close to within 45-31. Saryn Brown stopped the bleeding by going 4 for 4 from the line on North Nodaway's next two trips down the floor to make it 49-31 as Renfro, Herndon, and Brown were all lights out on the boards during that stretch.
Laukemper countered for the Panthers to make it 49-33, but then Cline went 2 for 2 from the line and Dobbins went 1 for 2 to seal the win. The game marked the most wins that Sami Jackson has won for the Mustangs in a season, as they got their 17th win.
Jacquelyn Cline had 18 points for the Mustangs. Lauren Herndon had 15, Saryn Brown 11, and Jadon Dobbins 8. North Nodaway was 12 for 18 from the line.
Lauren Herndon had 11 boards to complete the double double. Ellaina Renfro had 10, a career high. Jadon Dobbins had 7, Saryn Brown 5, Jacquelyn Cline 4, and Karissa Oberhauser 2.
Karissa Oberhauser had 5 assists. Jadon Dobbins had 3, Jacquelyn Cline 2, and Saryn Brown, Ellaina Renfro, and Lauren Herndon all had 1.
Lauren Herndon had 6 tips. Jacquelyn Cline had 4, Karissa Oberhauser 3, and Jadon Dobbins 2.
Ellaina Renfro and Jacquelyn Cline had 3 steals each. Jadon Dobbins had 2, and Saryn Brown and Lauren Herndon had 1.
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To show that their win over North Nodaway was no accident, Union Star proceeded to give DeKalb everything they could handle before losing 58-48 in districts.
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North Nodaway bucked the trend for the last two years. Normally, they win when they score over 50, but they lost 62-59 to Union Star. Normally, they lose when they score under 40, but they beat Worth County the week before 37-34.
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