North Nodaway’s girls had to play back to back nights Friday against Rock Port, but played four quarters of lockdown defense against the Bluejays to get the 37-25 win and advance to the Northwest Missouri Tournament finals.
Previously, Rock Port had taken North Nodaway to overtime behind 23 points from Alivia Baucom. The Bluejays adjusted from the previous matchup; first, they played North Nodaway full court man to man, with Baucom trapping on them if they tried to take it down the sideline to take advantage of North Nodaway having played a tough game the night before. Then, they coached their players not to foul; North Nodaway only made 13 trips to the line as opposed to 26 trips the week before.
North Nodaway struggled to find the range all night against Rock Port and did not get their normal 50+ point scoring output. But they were able to adjust as well. They did a much better job of guarding post players Alivia Baucom and Mackenzie Lager. They fronted Baucom with Saryn Brown and Lauren Herndon when she was in the high post, while Ellaina Renfro played Lager straight up in the low post. North Nodaway held Baucom down to 9 points in Friday’s game, compared to 23 points the time before. And Renfro played her best game as a Mustang; Lager went off for Rock Port’s first four points, but she held Lager to 10 for the night, and stuffed her twice. And after giving up far too many triples for comfort against West Nodaway, North Nodaway only gave up one against the Bluejays.
Jacquelyn Cline hit a 3-pointer against Rock Port to start the game, only for North Nodaway to be hit with Lager’s early barrage to trail 4-3. But they moved back in front when Saryn Brown got loose in transition and got a pass from Jadon Dobbins and then Ellaina Renfro got a block, which set up a transition basket from Dobbins on the other end to put North Nodaway up 7-4.
Rock Port was relentless in going to the glass in the first quarter, collecting six offensive boards, yet somehow, North Nodaway was still in front 9-5 after one quarter after a quick outlet from Lauren Herndon to Jacquelyn Cline gave them some breathing room.
North Nodaway made an early push to start the second quarter, getting a putback from Lauren Herndon and two free throws from Ellaina Renfro to put them in front 13-7. But Rock Port hung around and cut it to 14-11 late before Jacquelyn Cline got loose in transition to make it 16-11 at the break.
With North Nodaway doing a much better job of keeping Rock Port off the boards, it was only a matter of time before they started pulling away, and they did in the third quarter. Chaney Vogler’s putback cut it to 16-13 to start the second half, but then Jadon Dobbins kept a possession alive with an offensive board, setting up a drive from Jacquelyn Cline to jumpstart the Mustangs. Cline hit Dobbins, who drove to the basket, Dobbins hit Saryn Brown in transition, Cline got a three point play and later added another 3-pointer, and then Cline set up Lauren Herndon for three to make it 29-13 late in the third quarter.
But Rock Port only had three team fouls at that point, and they could afford to be very aggressive on defense. They started chipping away as Lager hit from her favorite spot in the high post and Baucom scored on a drive to start the fourth to cut it to 29-17. However, North Nodaway responded when Saryn Brown scored from the left baseline, Jadon Dobbins took a charge on Baucom after the Bluejays had gotten a steal, and then Ellaina Renfro saved an errant shot from going out of bounds to Lauren Herndon, who put it back in to make it 33-17 again.
That meant that North Nodaway had plenty of cushion to withstand Rock Port’s frantic efforts to get back in the game. Baucom went backdoor for two and Lager added a baseline jumper and a free throw to make it 33-22 as the Mustangs were trying to bleed the clock. Cline countered with a drive to the basket, but Kylie Nuckolls, who hit a clutch 3-pointer in the extra period against North Nodaway last time, hit an NBA 3-pointer to make it 35-25 with 42 seconds left. But North Nodaway got two free throws from Cline, got the ball back, and was able to run out the clock for the win.
Jacquelyn Cline had 18 for North Nodaway. Lauren Herndon had 7, Saryn Brown 6, Jadon Dobbins 4, and Ellaina Renfro 2.
Lauren Herndon had 12 boards. Jacquelyn Cline and Saryn Brown each had 9, Jadon Dobbins 7, Ellaina Renfro 2, and Karissa Oberhauser 1.
Jadon Dobbins had 6 assists. Jacquelyn Cline had 3, Lauren Herndon 2, and Saryn Brown and Ellaina Renfro 1 each.
Jadon Dobbins had 4 tips. Jacquelyn Cline, Lauren Herndon, and Karissa Oberhauser had 2, and Saryn Brown had 1.
Jacquelyn Cline had 7 steals; she nearly had a triple double as she had 9 boards to go with her 18 points. Lauren Herndon and Ellaina Renfro had 3 each, while Jadon Dobbins and Saryn Brown had 1.
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