Worth County’s girls finally got their third win under their belt as Hailey Adwell’s putback and three point play late in the third period sparked a rally after the Tigers were on the ropes against Green City in Trenton Wednesday. Worth County closed out the game on a 16-2 run spanning all of the fourth quarter and part of the third to get the 36-27 win over the Gophers.
Previously, Worth County had been turning into heartbreak hill as they twice made a game of it against strong teams in St. Joseph Christian and Mount Ayr, only to be unable to complete the comeback. But somehow, despite turning the ball over 25 times against the Gophers and their full court man to man pressure, they managed to pull it off.
Green City, under longtime North Harrison principal and coaching institution Mike Schmidli, had made some strides this year and was fighting to get to the .500 mark. But it was Worth County who started off strong as Hailey Adwell hit Paige Sherer on the left side, Kynah Steele scored off a drive, and Liz Brown hit one from the high post off a pass from Kynah Steele to make it 6-0 in the first.
Jaryn Hatcher did all she could to keep the Gophers in the game, scoring all seven of their points in the period. Green City got as close as two, but then Taylor Sanders hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it 12-7 after one.
Kynah Steele carried the Tigers early in the second as she hit two free throws after Liz Brown inbounded her the ball and then went coast to coast after Brylee Rush got a defensive board and got her a quick outlet to make it 16-8.
But then the foul trouble and turnovers took their toll as Kynah Steele went to the bench with four fouls and Ali Brown with three. The Gophers fought back to take an 18-17 lead after two.
Kynah Steele started the third despite four fouls and found Ali Brown for a basket to beat the Gopher press to make it 19-18 and Liz Brown added a free throw after an offensive board, but then Hatcher hit two free throws and Ali Brown came out with her fourth foul. Hatcher and the Gophers threatened to take control and Claire Gordon’s baseline shot put Green City back in front 25-20 halfway through the third.
Brylee Rush made a free throw with 2:35 left in the third to break the run, but things still looked grim for the Tigers as Hailey Adwell threatened to follow Ali Brown and Kynah Steele to the bench after picking up her third foul. But with 32 seconds left, Hailey Adwell came out of nowhere to grab an offensive board and draw Hatcher’s third foul and converted the free throw to make the Tiger deficit 25-24 after three.
Green City saw two shots go in and out to start the fourth, and then, in a highlight film play good enough to go on the Kirksville TV station, Taylor Sanders hit Paige Sherer backdoor to put the Tigers in front 26-25. Rylee Ruckman grabbed a defensive carom on the next trip down and aired it out to Paige Sherer, who scored again to make it 28-25.
The Gophers had chances to cut into their deficit down the stretch, but twice missed the front end of a 1-1. When Mark Fletcher was coaching the Worth County girls back in the 1990’s, one of his biggest negative stats was if you missed the front end of a 1-1, and this game was a good reason why.
Normally a post player, Ali Brown beat her defender off the dribble with 3:28 left off a pass from Rylee Ruckman and drew the foul, hitting both free throws to make it 30-25. Kynah Steele drove and found Brown down low with 2:25 left to make it 32-25. Paige Blake broke the Tiger run with 1:55 left, but Kynah Steele went backdoor to Brown again with 1:24 left and Steele added two free throws with 8 seconds left to seal it.
Ali Brown had 9 points for the Tigers, 6 in the fourth quarter. Paige Sherer and Kynah Steele had 8, Liz Brown, Taylor Sanders, and Hailey Adwell 3 each, and Brylee Rush 2. Hailey’s three point play was the only points she scored all game, but they were pivotal.
Liz Brown had 10 boards for the Tigers. Brylee Rush had 6, Paige Sherer 5, Kynah Steele 4, Ali Brown and Hailey Adwell 3, Rylee Ruckman 2, and Taylor Sanders 1. Worth County managed to keep a taller Gopher squad off the boards all morning.
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