Bluejay Girls Get First Running Clock Win in Four Years

Northeast Nodaway's girls overcame a slow start Monday night to beat a winless Maysville squad 44-13 in the first round of the King City Tournament. Maysville, after a pair of .500 seasons the last two years, struggled to put points on the board this year and their scoring average plunged to 22 points a game. Their closest losses were a 15 point loss to Albany and an 11 point loss to Tri-County; however, they showed signs of life last week, breaking the 30 point barrier twice for the first time all year. The majority of the Wolverines on the roster this season are freshmen, with just one senior listed.

Dalanie Auffert tweaked her shooting elbow early in the game and spent the whole first quarter trying to push through the pain as the teams battled to a 5-5 tie early. But she managed to push through it late in the period, getting an inside shot and adding a putback at the buzzer to make it 9-5 after one. Baylie Busby had the other five points. The effort was there on the defensive end for the Bluejays; they closed off the one scoring threat Maysville had in Elaina Clark after she struck twice for the red shirts; they were able to get a ton of tips and steals all night, with 34 tips and 25 steals.

Despite several missed free throws for the Bluejays in the second, the hard work on the defensive end started paying off to start the second quarter as Busby's steal made it 11-5. Dalanie Auffert added a backdoor look, Baylie added an inside shot and scored off another steal, and Auffert scored from inside as the Bluejays limited Maysville to two points in the period and led 19-7 at the half.

Northeast needed other people to step up if they were to pull away in the second half; Busby and Auffert were the only two players who had scored in the first half. But that changed in the third quarter as Hadley DeFreece, who has shown the ability to score points in bunches at times, did so in that period, scoring six. Baylie Busby scored off a DeFreece steal, a putback, and a steal of her own as Northeast came out scoring the first 12 points of the third. 

With the score 31-7, Northeast started subbing freely, and Sydney Popplewell hit an outside shot for Maysville, but Northeast continued to pull away in the third by getting the ball into Auffert at the close of the third. Northeast led 35-9 after three. Baylie Busby came back for much of the fourth, getting a putback and scoring twice from inside as Jill Boswell and Sasha Deardorff got her the ball. Makenzie Pride added an inside shot and Jill Boswell added a free throw as the Bluejays were able to get the game into running clock territory. Busby's second basket in the fourth quarter at the 6:28 mark put the Bluejays into running clock territory for the first time since February 5th, 2019, when they beat Union Star 74-9.

Baylie Busby had 23 points. Dalanie Auffert had 12, Hadley DeFreece 6, Makenzie Pride 2, and Jill Boswell 1.

Dalanie Auffert and Baylie Busby had 7 boards each. Sasha Deardorff had 4, Gracie Kohlleppel 3, and Jill Boswell and Makenzie Pride 2 each.

Baylie Busby had 4 assists. Hadley DeFreece and Jill Boswell had 3, Dalanie Auffert 2, and Mylee Wilmes and Sasha Deardorff had 1 each.

Baylie Busby had 13 tips. Hadley DeFreece had 8, Jill Boswell 6, Mylee Wilmes 5, and Sasha Deardorff and Makenzie Pride 1 each.

Baylie Busby had 9 steals. Jill Boswell had 5, Dalanie Auffert and Hadley DeFreece 4 each, Sasha Deardorff 2, and Mylee Wilmes 1.

The magic number for a winning season for the Bluejays is now two; any two regular season wins for the Bluejays will secure them a winning season for the first time since 2019.