Monday, November 13, 2023

Ice Cold Tigers Fall to Bluejays in Rematch

An ice cold Worth County girls team fell to Northeast Nodaway Monday 21-15 in the first round of the NEN junior high tournament. The Tigers had a rough week last week, losing to Platte Valley and St. Gregory’s while beating Pattonsburg, while the Bluejays had a solid tournament, beating Maysville and St Joseph Catholic before losing to Stanberry, who is running away with all their games this year.

But the Bluejays took their loss the right way, and a totally different team from the one that lost to Worth County two weeks ago took the floor. Kynder Florea continued to get her points, Maddy Faustlin and Rylee Scadden played lights out defense on Brooklyn Smith, holding her to seven points, Bristol Hicks rebounded the ball well, and Sadie Hall, who fouled out the first time the Bluejays played the Tigers, stayed on the floor, made a bunch of hustle plays, and chipped in in the scoring column.

Kynder Florea started off the scoring by getting an inside shot off a pass from Maddy Faustlin. Faustlin then got a tip and Florea a steal, and then Florea got a block and Faustlin came away with it and got it to Rylee Scadden to make it 6-0.

Worth County was able to break the momentum as Faustlin tweaked her arm, Brooklyn Smith scored off a Kennedy Murphy steal, and Worth County switched from man to zone to keep the Bluejay guards out of the paint. Sadie Hall hit from the left wing, but Brooklyn Smith countered with a pair of free throws to make it 8-4 at the half.

Faustlin was playing with three fouls to start the third quarter, but she came back to drive the right wing after Bristol Hicks got her the ball, and Sadie Hall went backdoor and finished after Kynder Florea drove against the Tiger press as they were frantically trying to get the ball back. That made it 12-6. Megan Tracy got on the board from the right wing after getting a pass from Audrey Runde, but Kynder Florea scored from inside and Maddie Faustlin got a kickout from Florea and hit a 3-pointer from the right side.

Faustlin picked up her fourth foul and Brooklyn Smith chased down a long rebound, drove to the top of the key, and hit a 3-pointer to cut the Tiger deficit to 17-9, but Kynder Florea scored off a steal with 10 seconds left to make it 19-9.

Megan Tracy hit a free throw and added a shot from the wing to cut it to 19-12, but Northeast spent most of the fourth quarter dribbling out the clock, only getting a couple of free throws from Kynder Florea. Audrey Runde hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the final score.

For Worth County, Brooklyn Smith had 7 points, Megan Tracy 5, and Audrey Runde 3.

Megan Tracy had 4 blocks, Audrey Runde 2, and Kennedy Murphy and Jane Hawk 1. Both teams had a lot of blocks as both teams were trying to take it in a lot, only to have the other team collapse hard.

Tracy did all she could to keep the Tigers in the game, getting 12 boards. Brooklyn Smith had 8, Kennedy Murphy 7, Audrey Runde 3, Hadley Rush 2, and Jane Hawk 1.

Kennedy Murphy and Audrey Runde had 2 assists.

Audrey Runde had 4 tips. Brooklyn Smith and Megan Tracy had 3, as did Kennedy Murphy. Hadley Rush had 1.

Kennedy Murphy had 5 steals. Megan Tracy had 2, and Hadley Rush and Audrey Runde had 1 each.

For Northeast Nodaway, Kynder Florea had 10, Maddy Faustlin 5, Sadie Hall 4, and Rylee Scadden 2.

Kynder Florea had 3 blocks. Maddy Faustlin had 2, and Sadie Hall and Bristol Hicks 1.

Bristol Hicks had 10 boards. Kynder Florea had 7, Sadie Hall 6, Maddy Faustlin 5, and Rylee Scadden 3.

Maddy Faustlin had 5 assists. Kynder Florea had 2, and Bristol Hicks 1.

Rylee Scadden had 5 tips. Maddy Faustlin had 2, and Kynder Florea and Sadie Hall 1.

Kynder Florea had 3 steals. Maddy Faustlin and Bristol Hicks had 2, and Rylee Scadden 1.

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