Reece Gray had 11 points to pace the Northeast Nodaway boys, while North Nodaway, despite the 32-20 loss, showed some growth and development. Previously, North Nodaway couldn’t even run a half court offense; earlier in the year, many of their possessions consisted of one person trying to dribble while four people stood and watched. By Monday’s game, they were finally learning how to work together as a team and run an offense.
Other areas of improvement included their rebounding; while they were pushed around on the boards early, they got better as the game progressed and actually outrebounded the Bluejays 25-22. The challenge will be to find someone besides Ridge Clements who can score for the Mustangs; he scored all 20 of North Nodaway’s points Monday after scoring all 18 of their points against the Bluejays earlier in the year.
The good news for the Mustangs is that they will have something to look forward to next year for the varsity, as Ridge Clements will mesh right in with a rapidly improving group of players who had a good summer this year and won some games. The challenge will be to find some younger players who can step up and score once Ridge moves on. Two years ago, Northeast’s junior high girls went through a stretch in which Baylie Busby scored or assisted on nearly all of Northeast’s points, but they had other players step up when needed.
Northeast took control early in this one; Lance Runde scored off a steal, Liam Cordell scored off a steal from Wyatt Scadden, Lance Runde scored off a pass from Scadden, and Reece Gray got a putback off a Liam Cordell steal to make it 8-0.
But unlike the previous game between the two teams, North Nodaway made a game of it for a while as Ridge Clements carried the Mustangs on his shoulders once again. He was driving, getting on the line, crashing the boards, and pushing ahead whenever possible despite Northeast’s best tries at stopping him. They got as close as 10-9 late in the second with a chance of taking the lead, but Reece Gray cleaned up after a steal and turned it into a three point play and Lance Runde scored to make it 15-9 at the break.
Clements continued to try and carry the Mustangs in the third quarter, but then Wyatt Scadden scored off the left side off a pass from Liam Cordell, Reece Gray got loose in transition, and Brady O’Connell hit a 3-pointer off a pass from Liam Cordell to give the Bluejays a double digit lead they would not relinquish; they led 26-13 at the end of three quarters.
For Northeast, Reece Gray had 11, Lance Runde and Liam Cordell had 6, Wyatt Scadden 4, Brady O’Connell 3, and Chase Allen 2.
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