North Nodaway's girls were mired in a skid in which they lost three out of their last four, but they broke out of it by playing strong defense against King City, getting the 33-24 win. The Mustangs started off strong and then held off numerous attempts by King City to get back in the game. They got 13 boards from Saryn Brown and 8 from Jacquelyn Cline, and they held down Zoey Tunks, only allowing three points from her. Ellaina Renfro was an intimidating force in the paint, with the purple shirts passing up some driving opportunities or missing badly when they did try. And every time King City got the deficit down, North Nodaway always seemed to have an answer from one of the Brown sisters.
The difference between last Tuesday's game and their previous slump was the way they started off. Against Nodaway Valley, they dug themselves into a hole, fought back to within six by the midpoint of the third quarter, only to see the bottom drop out. Against South Holt, they fell behind by as much as 17 in the first half before fighting back to within two before running out of time. By contrast, they got off to a 9-4 start against Stewartsville/Osborn, the one win during that stretch, and a 9-2 start against King City.
North Nodaway has recently started to mix in a man to man look along with their usual zone, and for the first time all year, it worked out well. King City was not sure what they were running against, and they struggled to find good looks in the first quarter besides a driving layup by Tunks in the first quarter. North Nodaway was not exactly ripping the nets, but they got enough to pull away, with Saylor Brown hitting Lauren Herndon backdoor and hitting a reverse layup. Jacquelyn Cline, who battled foul trouble all night, picked up her second foul and Tunks cut it to two, but Saryn Brown got a free throw, cut inside and got a pass from Saylor, and Saylor Brown added two free throws off a drive to make it 9-2 after one. Kelsi Barcus played well during that stretch with Cline on the bench, collecting several boards.
King City started fighting back in the second quarter, getting a 3-pointer from Taryn Hunter to cut it to 13-8. But like they did all night, North Nodaway would get some timely buckets, with Jacquelyn Cline going backdoor and Kelsi Barcus hitting a free throw to make it 16-8 before Fulvia Cappi hit a tough pullup to cut it to 16-10.
Taryn Hunter hit a three to start the third quarter and the Wildkats fought back behind Hunter to cut it to two at 19-17 at the 3:42 mark. But once again, North Nodaway got a bucket when they needed it, with Lauren Herndon cutting inside and getting a pass from Saryn Brown to make it 21-17. The defenses took over after that, and the score was stuck there until the start of the fourth, when Saryn Brown got behind the defense and got a pass from Saylor and hit two free throws. Ellaina Renfro kicked one out to Saylor for three to make it 26-17 with 6:43 left.
But then Cline picked up her fourth foul and King City isolated Chloe Eiberger twice in the post, got a drive from Capps, and a free throw from Hunter to cut it to 26-23 again. But Cline came back and hit Saylor Brown backdoor with 4:24 left to break the run. Eiberger's free throw cut it to 28-24, but then North Nodaway went into their delay game, taking big chunks of time off the block until they got into the bonus. They played lights out defense, only giving up contested looks during the last four minutes and holding the purple shirts scoreless. Finally, they got into the bonus with 1:24 left and Saylor Brown, Jacquelyn Cline, Lauren Herndon, and Ellaina Renfro all hit free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Saylor Brown had 12 points for the Mustangs. Saryn Brown had 9, Lauren Herndon 5, Jacquelyn Cline 4, Ellaina Renfro 2, and Kelsi Barcus 1.
Saryn Brown had 13 rebounds. Jacquelyn Cline had 8, Lauren Herndon 6, Kelsi Barcus 5, Ellaina Renfro 2, and Saylor Brown 1.
Saylor and Saryn Brown each had 4 assists. Lauren Herndon and Jacquelyn Cline had 2 each, and Ellaina Renfro 1.
Saylor Brown and Jacquelyn Cline had 4 tips each. Ellaina Renfro had 3, Lauren Herndon 2, and Kelsi Barcus and Saryn Brown 1.
Saryn Brown had 4 steals. Saylor Brown had 3, Lauren Herndon 2, and Angie Parker and Ellaina Renfro 1 each.
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