Lauren Herndon Has Big Quarter as Mustang Girls Win Third Straight

North Nodaway got big nights from Lauren Herndon and Jacquelyn Cline as they got a surprisingly easy 47-16 win over East Harrison Friday. After losing Saryn Brown for the year (knee), North Nodaway won a 30-27 squeaker over DeKalb in which Cline and Herndon scored all 30 of their points.

But then, the Mustangs decided they were not ready to give up on their season, and they went out and got a 57-45 win over archrival Bedford in a game that was not as close as the final score; Bedford left their starters in and pressed North Nodaway’s JV at the end. Jacquelyn Cline matched a career high with 26 points that game.

The focus of Friday’s game was on stopping Karlee Crouse, who had lit up the scoreboard several times in a row for the Bobcats last year in a 69-39 Mustang victory that was not as one-sided as the final score. Between Crouse’s 3-pointers and Chloe Billups eating the Mustangs alive on the offensive boards, there were some anxious moments before the Mustangs pulled away in the fourth quarter.

But it was all Mustangs coming out of the gate as they proceeded to light up the first quarter scoreboard for 31 points. Ellaina Renfro started off the scoring with a putback, Jacquelyn Cline got a three point play after Lauren Herndon aired one out to her, Angie Parker scored two free throws after an offensive board, and Lauren Herndon hit a 3-pointer to make it 10-0.

East Harrison tried to keep up, getting a transition basket from Lainey Thompson and free throws from Thompson and Bree Vaughn to keep it at 16-4. But then Jacquelyn Cline hit back to back 3-pointers, then Herndon hit three straight 3-pointers and by the time the dust had settled, the score was 31-4 before Karlee Crouse finally got untracked to make it 31-7. Herndon had 15 points in the first quarter and Cline had 12.

East Harrison switched to a box and one to start the second and successfully slowed down North Nodaway the rest of the night, but there are four quarters of basketball. Crouse let loose a long 3-pointer early in the third and the Bobcats started working it into the high post, getting Sloane McClain loose for two to make it 40-15 midway through the third. But Cline scored off a drive late in the third and Kelsi Barcus hit from the baseline and Herndon hit a free throw to trigger the running clock at 45-15. Crouse hit a free throw to kill the running clock, but Emily Keho hit from the wing to start it again for the Mustangs.