John Galanakis and Taylor Sanders were named Worth County Courtwarming royalty for 2023 Friday before the games with Princeton. Galanakis is the son of Dino and Kera Galanakis, while Sanders is the daughter of P.J. and Jessica Sanders. Other queen candidates were Liz Brown, daughter of Jessica and the late Adam Brown, and Paige Sherer, daughter of Carissa Snead. The other king candidate was Tanner Ridge, son of Taylor Ridge and Kelsey Ridge.
Junior attendants were Brooke Lininger, daughter of Clayton Lininger and Courtney Owens and Tyler New, son of Les and Rebecca New. Sophomore attendants were Bridgette Hightshoe, daughter of Bill and Leena Hightshoe, and Cannon Fletcher, son of Ben and Amanda Fletcher and Rebecca Henson. Freshmen attendants were Rayleigh Smith, daughter of Heidi and Corey Kerwin and Jeremy Smith, and Brayden Combs, son of Tim Combs and Bailey Hughes.
First grade attendants were Emily Dannar, daughter of Chris and Darcy Dannar, Kath Winther, son of Garrett and Tanya Winther, Gracee Frisch, daughter of Mike Frisch and Katelyn Frisch, Kruz Adams, grandson of Sean Cameron, Adelyn Saltkill, granddaughter of Roger and Kim Allen, and Grady Jones, son of Michelle Jones.
The girls played first and struggled against Princeton, digging themselves into a 34-15 hole against the Blue Tigers by halftime and falling 59-37. Addy Henke ran wild for Princeton, scoring 13 in the first quarter and 34 for the game. It didn’t help that the Tigers turned the ball over 28 times and gave up 16 offensive boards and were hacking and fouling throughout the game. They had a better third quarter, getting as close as 43-29 at one point, but then Princeton closed out the game with a 12-2 run to start the fourth.
Ali Brown had 11, while Brylee Rush and Taylor Sanders had 8 each. Kynah Steele had 12 boards and 5 assists for the Tigers.
The boys game was next, and it looked like a repeat of the girls game at first. Worth County had been playing excellent basketball lately, taking two good teams in Rock Port and Nodaway Valley to overtime and avenging an earlier loss to King City. But Princeton was red hot, running St. Joseph Christian out of the Gilman City gym 75-53 and getting an impressive win over Maysville, the new powerhouse boys team in the area. They came into the game with two players, Clay Evans and Talan Holt, who averaged 38 points a game combined and a capable supporting cast. They also had a strong post player in Jaden Finney who can hurt teams on the boards.
Sure enough, the game picked up where the girls game left off as Princeton built up a 13-5 lead before Tyler New found Tanner Ridge backdoor to cut it to 13-7.
But then Tyler New took over the second quarter, hitting a couple of early threes to get himself going. Worth County played one of its best quarters of the year, not giving up a single offensive board while only committing one turnover. After New’s second triple, Worth County was up 15-13 and all of a sudden, they realized they could play ball with Princeton.
Talan Holt tied the game up again at 15, but then Tyler dribbled through a double screen and finished and then drove down the baseline and hitting two free throws to make it 19-15. Tyler jumped a pass and scored, then Worth County got Karson Briner going in the paint late in the quarter to lead by as much as 24-15 before Kelby Thomas’ free throw cut it to 24-16 at the half.
But then Princeton adjusted and came out in a box and one on Tyler New, with Kelby Thomas faceguarding him and two other blue shirts shadowing him up top when he had the ball. While Worth County was trying to solve the box and one, the blue shirts started coming back, with Jaden Finney crashing the boards at will as Princeton tied it up at 24 by the 3:40 mark of the third.
Tanner Ridge hit Cannon Fletcher inside to stop the bleeding, but Princeton hung around for the rest of the period and were within 28-27 after three following Finney’s eighth point of the period.
Roman Birge got loose in transition to start the fourth to put Princeton up 29-28, but then Tanner Ridge took charge for the Tigers, hitting back to back jacks to give Worth County the lead back and force Princeton out of the box and one. That made it 34-29 with 6:16 left.
Talan Holt countered with a drive, but then Tyler New added a free throw and Levi Cassavaugh hit Cannon Fletcher inside to make it 37-31 with 3:21 left.
But Holt scored off a drive, Tyler New picked up his fourth foul, and Kelby Thomas hit two free throws to cut it to 37-35 with 2:21 left. Cannon Fletcher missed a shot inside and Holt’s drive with 1:52 left tied it again at 37. Tyler New made 1 of 2 from the line, but Finney stepped outside to hit a shot to put Princeton up 39-38.
Tyler New missed; Levi Cassavaugh kept the possession alive with an offensive board, but then Holt stole the ball and later scored off a drive to make it 41-38.
New answered right back, driving through a crowd and scoring to make it 41-40 with 35 seconds left. Worth County fouled to put Clay Evans on the line, but he missed a 1-1 with 24 seconds left and John Galanakis got a defensive board with 21.7 seconds left.
Worth County tried to drive to the basket, but neither Tyler New nor Levi Cassavaugh could find a driving lane open for a long time. Finally, Tyler New somehow split two defenders and drew a foul with 2.2 seconds left. He made the first and Princeton called a timeout to try to ice him. But Tyler New hit the second and Princeton’s desperation three was well short as time expired.
Tyler New had 20, but it was the supporting cast who came up big for the Tigers in the win. Tanner Ridge had 13, a career high; Cannon Fletcher had 6, also a career high. Karson Briner had 3.
Karson Briner had 10 boards. Levi Cassavaugh had 6, Tyler New and John Galanakis 3 each, and Tanner Ridge 2.
Levi Cassavaugh had 9 assists. Tanner Ridge had 3 and Tyler New 2.
Tyler New had 1 block. Cannon Fletcher had 2 tips and Tanner Ridge 1. Tyler New, Levi Cassavaugh, and Karson Briner all had 1 steal.
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