Worth County held off a frantic Rocket rally and a steady barrage of 3-pointers to advance to the finals Thursday. The Tigers withstood 11 Rocket 3-pointers as they were able to get to the offensive glass at will, collecting 37 boards and getting two in double figure rebounding. They had balanced scoring, as all of their big three scorers had 17 or more points.
West Nodaway had the hot hand early as Bracxten Rohlmeier hit two 3-pointers and Hunter Dawson had one as they raced out to a 9-5 lead. But then Worth County countered with 3-pointers from Tyler New and Jackson Runde, a backdoor look from Runde, and a steal from Aydan Gladstone to go up 15-9.
Rohr’s triple sparked another Rocket rally as the inside finally opened up. Tyler Blay scored from backdoor, Rohlmeier got loose in transition, and Dawson Fast added a steal to put the blue shirts up 18-15 before Alex Rinehart got a tip, Jackson Smith got a steal, and Tyler New the finish to cut the Tiger deficit to 18-17 after one.
Worth County managed to hold the Rockets down enough to take control in the second quarter. Jackson Runde, Alex Rinehart, and Aydan Gladstone were all able to slash to the rim to start the period, and that opened everything else up. Jackson Runde got loose in transition after a quick outlet from Lucas Wake and Grant Cameron added a 3-pointer as Worth County went ahead 28-19.
Kayden Conn’s 3-pointer cut it to 28-24 late in the half, but then Alex Rinehart scored twice in the last 1:13 to put the Tigers back in front 32-24 at the break.
Worth County started out with a big run to start the third, and that was enough to allow them to withstand the inevitable Rocket barrage that was only a matter of time in coming. Jackson Runde started off with back to back jacks; then, Alex Rinehart got loose in transition to make it 40-24 and put Worth County up double digits. Hunter Dawson countered with a drive to cut it to 40-26, but Grant Cameron scored two free throws off a drive, Alex Rinehart had a reverse layup after a pass from Aydan Gladstone, Tyler New was able to slash his way down the left baseline, and Aydan Gladstone scored on another drive to make it 48-26.
But then West Nodaway was able to stop the bleeding by getting to the line as Blay, Dawson, and Rohlmeier all were able to get to the line and score to get it under 20 after three at 52-34. That set up a massive barrage of 3-pointers; Worth County was covering them from just behind the arc, so they simply set up from NBA distance and started hitting at will. West Nodaway had a bunch of fouls to give; they only had three team fouls in the half, and Worth County had only been to the line three times up to that point, which meant the Rockets could afford to be very aggressive on defense.
The result was a 29 point outburst from the Rockets in the fourth quarter. Worth County was saved by their play on the glass, where they converted nine second-chance points in the period, and on the free throw line, where they were 5 for 8 in the quarter. Even so, it was a near thing as the Rockets got to within 70-61 with 51 seconds left when Dawson hit a guarded NBA 3-pointer. Jackson Runde hit a free throw to stop the bleeding, Tyler New got a steal, and Alex Rinehart hit two more to clinch the game for the Tigers.
Jackson Runde had 24 points for the Tigers. Alex Rinehart had 20, Aydan Gladstone 17, Tyler New 7, and Grant Cameron 5.
Alex Rinehart had 12 boards. Aydan Gladstone had 11, Jackson Runde 7, Jackson Smith 3, Tyler New 2, and Grant Cameron and Lucas Wake 1.
Aydan Gladstone had 7 assists for the Tigers. Jackson Runde and Tyler New had 4, Alex Rinehart and Grant Cameron 2 each, and Jackson Smith and Lucas Wake 1.
Grant Cameron had 3 tips. Alex Rinehart had 2, and Tyler New and Jackson Runde had 1 each.
Grant Cameron had 4 steals. Tyler New had 3, Aydan Gladstone and Alex Rinehart had 2 each, and Jackson Smith and Jackson Runde 1 each.
No comments:
Post a Comment