North Nodaway’s girls placed second in the Platte Valley Tournament Friday after falling 52-42 to St. Joseph Christian in the final round. It was still a good tournament for them, as they had beaten two teams that had beaten them last year to get to that point. But the Mustangs will have to wait a little longer for a tournament win; they have not won a tournament since at least the 2006-2007 season.
The Mustangs had beaten Christian last year, but this year, a freshman, Lexi McDaniel, fueled the Lions with her ballhandling ability. North Nodaway’s press had been effective in their first three games, but the Lions, with their ballhandling, shredded every press thrown at them during the course of the tournament. They shredded the Nodaway Valley press; against DeKalb, one of the better pressing teams in the area, they bent but didn’t break as they beat the top seeded Tigers by 20.
Frequently, teams will show you how they will play during warmups, and the Lions were hitting nearly all their shots during warmups Friday. It carried over into the game, where the Lions, behind the red hot shooting of Jaci Jorgenson, jumped out to a 17-6 lead at the 54 second mark of the first quarter.
Jacquelyn Cline’s triple at the end of the first quarter sparked them late, and it carried over into the start of the second as Saryn Brown hit two free throws and Saylor Brown added a triple. Saylor Brown had her best offensive night since coming back from her knee injury, getting 16 points. That made it 17-14.
But then Chloe Burnham’s drive and Lexi McDaniel’s triple restored order for the Lions and put them up 22-14. The lead stayed between 5 and 8 before Ella Bowman’s putback and McDaniel’s steal put the Lions up 29-19.
The game threatened to get out of hand at the start of the third quarter when McDaniel’s free throw and Jorgenson’s baseline shot put them up 32-19 at the 5:58 mark, but back to back threes from Saylor and Saryn Brown put the Mustangs right back in the game, cutting the deficit to 32-25.
The Mustangs hung around for the remainder of the third and the start of the fourth, but then McDaniel’s guarded three and a shot from Bowman put the Lions back up 13 at 48-35 early in the fourth. Free throws from Saryn Brown and Jacquelyn Cline cut it to 48-39 again, but then North Nodaway had to start fouling and the Lions ran out the clock.
Saylor Brown and Jacquelyn Cline had 16 each, while Saryn Brown had 10.
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