Worth County's boys built up a big lead, and then held off Maysville's frantic efforts to get back in the game late, coming away with a 55-46 win Thursday night.
The focus of the game for Maysville was to slow the game down, work the ball around as much as possible, and get the ball into Ethan Shirk, their post player. Defensively, they pressed most of the game to wear down the legs of the Tiger shooters so they couldn't make as many three point shots.
A lob to Shirk gave Maysville an early 4-3 lead, but then Worth County got going with a drive and spin move from Alex Rinehart. Rinehart added a free throw, Aydan Gladstone hit Grant Cameron in transition, Jackson Runde aired one out to Tyler New, and Alex Rinehart scored off a drive to put Worth County up 12-4. But Maysville stuck with their game plan and had a long possession, working the ball around a lot, before Kobyn Metzger found a driving lane open to cut it to 12-6.
Despite Maysville trying to slow the game down, it broke down when they started getting one turnover after another in the second quarter. Alex Rinehart hit two free throws, and then Grant Cameron hit a 3-pointer and added a steal to make it 19-6. Alexavier Clark countered with a drive, but Aydan Gladstone scored a drive and added a 3-pointer and Alex Rinehart added a free throw to make it 25-8.
Maysville chipped away and got it down to 12 again as Braden Covey hit a 3-pointer, Shirk got loose inside, Connor Flinn scored off a drive, and Blayne Kolb hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 30-18. But Worth County scored the last five points of the half as Alex Rinehart scored off a drive, Aydan Gladstone got a steal, got a drive, and crossed over to score, and then Alex Rinehart as a ball got knocked into the backcourt, Tyler New got the save, and fed Alex to make it 35-18 at the half.
The Tiger lead continued to grow at the start of the third quarter as Alex Rinehart got a putback and then Grant Cameron lobbed one into him to make it 39-18. But then Maysville, a team that does not give up easily when behind, started to come back behind the efforts of Logan Kimbrell, who scored all of Maysville's 13 points in the quarter. Jackson Runde tripped and fell hard and came out briefly while attempting a drive, which shook up the Tiger players. And Worth County was settling for jump shots instead of attacking the rim like they were when they built their lead up.
Kimbrell and the Wolverines came as close as 41-31, but then Grant Cameron pushed the Tigers back in front for the time behind as he hit a 3-pointer, stole the ball and fed Tyler New, and then hit a 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer to make it 49-31 after three.
But then Alex Rinehart picked up his fourth foul, and without one of their playmakers on the floor, Worth County saw their lead shrink again as Maysville, like they did against North Harrison earlier this year, started coming back again behind a balanced attack. Worth County was ice cold from the floor and Maysville got as close as 49-42 before Aydan Gladstone drove the left baseline and found Jackson Runde, whose first points of the game broke the run to make it 51-42.
Kimbrell cut it to 51-44, and then Worth County threw the ensuing inbounds pass out of bounds, but Braden Covey missed a 3-pointer that would have cut it to four and Jackson Runde hit two free throws with 26 seconds left as Maysville had to start fouling. Kimbrell scored again for Maysville and Worth County missed a 1-1, but Aydan Gladstone secured the ensuing offensive board and hit both free throws to seal the win for the Tigers.
Alex Rinehart scored 17 for the Tigers. Aydan Gladstone had 15, Grant Cameron had 13, Tyler New and Jackson Runde had 4 each, and Jackson Smith had 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment