North Nodaway’s girls punched their ticket to the Platte Valley Invitational Finals Wednesday as they got 20 points from Jacquelyn Cline and 13 boards from Saylor Brown as they wiped out a seven point deficit in the third quarter to win 34-25.
When Stewartsville and Osborn were competing separately, they would both give North Nodaway a tough game, but North Nodaway would always prevail. But last year, the Wildcards, with the front line of 6’1” Maddison Lundy and 5’11” Ashlee Kauth, beat North Nodaway 40-21.
With Kauth and Lundy both back, and a new coach who is having the Wildcards throw multiple looks at teams, the Mustangs could not find the range from three point range or get up any good shots against the tall front line. But the Mustangs responded by putting together one of their best defensive performances of the Sami Jackson era, holding them to 15 under what they scored last year. The Mustangs were able to get a big third quarter to get the lead, and then run out the clock in the fourth.
In the first quarter, nothing was working. The Wildcards worked the high post early as Lundy scored twice to give them a 4-0 lead, but then North Nodaway closed off the high post, turning it into a defensive standoff. On the other end, North Nodaway could not find the range from outside and could not get any looks at all inside. Finally, Saryn Brown broke the shutout late in the first quarter to cut it to 4-1.
The Mustangs finally got a couple of three pointers to fall, and they got some free throws to go down as they cut their deficit to 11-10. Lauren Herndon and Jacquelyn Cline each hit one 3-pointer in the period. Saryn Brown took a charge on defense to help keep the orange shirts out of the paint.
Stewartsville/Osborn switched to a man to man to start the second half, and at first it worked, as the lead grew to 17-10 early in the third. But then Lauren Herndon hit her second three to cut it to four. The Wildcards hit a free throw to make it 18-15, but then the Mustangs suddenly started finding driving lanes to the basket and getting steals off their press as they scored the next 14 points to take the lead. Jacquelyn Cline slashed to the rim to get the rally started. Saylor Brown got a finish after Lauren Herndon got a tip and Saryn Brown a steal, then Cline hit a 3-pointer set up by a Lauren Herndon drive to put the Mustangs in front for the first time. Cline drove the right baseline, hit another three off a pass from Saylor Brown, and Saryn Brown cleaned up off a Cline steal. Cline finished the run with another drive to make it 29-18 before Lundy cut it to 29-20 at the end of three.
But Stewartsville only had three fouls up to that point, and they could afford to be very aggressive on defense with numerous personal and team fouls to give. They switched to a full court man to man press, and North Nodaway bent, but didn’t break against the pressure. Makenna Demint cut it to 29-22, but then North Nodaway was able to get in the bonus with 3:29 left, with Saryn Brown and Cline hitting their free throws down the stretch for the Mustangs to seal the win.
Jacquelyn Cline had 20 for the Mustangs, 10 in the pivotal third quarter. Lauren Herndon had 7, Saryn Brown 5, and Saylor Brown 2.
Saylor Brown had 13 boards. Ellaina Renfro had 4, Saryn Brown 3, Jacquelyn Cline 2, and Kelsi Barcus 1.
Saylor Brown had 5 assists. Lauren Herndon had 3 and Saryn Brown 2.
Jacquelyn Cline had 6 tips. Saryn Brown had 4, while Saylor Brown, Ellaina Renfro, and Lauren Herndon had 3 each.
Saryn Brown had 5 steals. Jacquelyn Cline had 4, Ellaina Renfro 3, Saylor Brown and Kelsey Barcus 2 each, and Lauren Herndon 1.
No comments:
Post a Comment