Worth County has shown improvement over the last four games, but they are shorthanded and are still looking for their first win of the year as they head into their match with Gilman City at Trenton.
They were playing the numbers game; after the Northeast Nodaway loss, Autumn Cousatte quit the team, and Bridgette Hightshoe was playing in her last game before undergoing knee surgery. She is expected to return in mid to late January. They did get one piece of good news when Riley Ridge came out for the squad; since she was a cheerleader, she did not have to wait until completing the 14 days required conditioning and played in the Albany game. But that leaves them with seven players. Besides Hightshoe, they will get Brooklyn Richardson (ankle) back sometime in January, which will give them nine players down the stretch.
Against King City, they hung around with the Wildkats for a while. But they were no match for the taller King City squad; Claire Staley was beating them on the board, Zoey Tunks was beating them up and down the floor, they shot 24% from the field, and they turned it over 26 times.
Kristen Tracy cut the Tiger deficit against King City down to 13-6 early in the second, but then all hell broke loose as King City pulled away to a 24-10 halftime lead and then extended it to 35-12 after three as they got a 45-23 win.
There were some bright spots in the game as Kristen Tracy had 10 points and held Staley down to 2 points in the second half after she was loose in the post throughout the first. Kambree Briner had 7 boards and 6 steals for the Tigers.
Against Albany, they had every reason to expect a better outcome as King City had beaten Albany in the tournament and Northeast Nodaway, which had beaten Worth County by 15, beat Albany by four on the road. But they dug themselves into a 11-2 hole that they couldn’t climb out of. They played two good quarters and two bad quarters. They still had a chance at the half, but then gave up 18 points to the Warriors in the third quarter as they pulled away to the 39-18 win.
The Tigers were ice cold from the field, shooting 7 for 43. They continued to turn the ball over, surrendering it 24 times.
Rylee Ruckman had 9 points. Kynah Steele, who sat out most of the King City game with foul trouble, managed to stay on the floor and had 5. Kambree Briner had 2 and Kristen Tracy 1.
Kynah Steele had 7 rebounds. Kristen Tracy had 6, Rayleigh Smith was a bright spot with 5, Riley Ridge with 3, Rylee Ruckman with 2, and Kambree Briner and Keira Hardy with 1.
Rylee Ruckman had 4 steals. Kynah Steele had 3, Kristen Tracy 2, and Riley Ridge, Rayleigh Smith, and Keira Hardy all had 1.
Kynah Steele had 2 blocks and Kristen Tracy 1.
Kynah Steele had 5 tips. Kambree Briner and Keira Hardy had 2, while Riley Ridge, Rayleigh Smith, and Rylee Ruckman had 1.
Against Mount Ayr, they were in over their heads again. Unaware that Iowa now has a shot clock, they passed it around the perimeter, not realizing what was going on, and committed a shot clock violation. That led to a parade of other turnovers, missed boxouts, and red shirts running wild to the glee of the Mount Ayr student body. Four of the Raiderettes’ made baskets in the first quarter were off steals, three off lobs into the paint where there was no help, and two were off second chance putbacks as the perennial powerhouse Mount Ayr squad led 25-2 after one.
But after playing one of their worst quarters of the year, it turned out that the shot clock was the best thing that could have happened to the Tigers as they suddenly looked like a totally different team when they took the floor for the second quarter. Instead of standing around looking at each other, they were actually running plays and working together and attacking the rim instead of waiting for someone else to take charge. Kynah Steele scored to start the quarter, then Kristen Tracy aired one out to her for a score, and then Kynah Steele got a steal and got it to Rylee Ruckman for a three point play to cut it to 25-9.
But just as it looked like Worth County would turn around and make a game of it like they did against the same squad last year, when they wiped out a big deficit and had the lead at one point before falling by two, Mount Ayr righted the ship by pounding the ball into Izzy Gilbertson, who scored the last Raiderette points of the half for her squad as they took a 41-16 lead at the half.
The red shirts led by as much as 51-21, but Rylee Ruckman, who was playing in front of friends and family, suddenly came alive and started playing some of her best basketball as a Tiger, getting to the rim at will and setting everyone else up as well. Worth County had not scored over 30 all year, but they set a season high in points scored with 39 as they got the deficit down to 21 and fell 60-39.
Ruckman had 21 points for the Tigers. Kynah Steele had 10 and Riley Ridge, Kambree Briner, Keira Hardy, and Kristen Tracy all had 2. The Tigers shot much better than usual at the field, going 16 for 42 from the field for 38%. Ridge’s basket was her first as a Tiger. The team showed they still needed to work on taking care of the ball, surrendering it 25 times.
Rylee Ruckman, Kynah Steele, and Kristen Tracy had 6 boards each. Kambree Briner and Keira Hardy had 2, and Riley Ridge and Rayleigh Smith had 1 each.
Kambree Briner, Kynah Steele, and Kristen Tracy had 3 assists. Riley Ridge and Rylee Ruckman had 1 each.
Kynah Steele had 4 steals. Kristen Tracy had 3, and Kambree Briner, Rylee Ruckman, and Keira Hardy had 1.
Riley Ridge, Kynah Steele, and Kristen Tracy had 1 block each.
Kynah Steele took a charge on defense.
Kynah Steele and Kristen Tracy had 4 tips each. Keira Hardy had 2, and Rylee Ruckman and Kambree Briner had 1 each.
Against North Andrew, Worth County was able to build on their offensive success and do some good things. But North Andrew plays well on their home floor and won all but one of the quarters, steadily pulling away to a 49-36 win Tuesday, December 19th. Worth County shot 37% from the field and got four people into the scoring column. Rylee Ruckman showed her outing against Mount Ayr was no accident as she scored 13 against the Cardinals. Kristen Tracy had 11, Kynah Steele 8, and Kambree Briner 4. The focus will now be on making all five people on the floor a threat to score. They were able to cut down on their turnovers, surrendering it 19 times after turning it over 25 times a game for much of the year.
The rebounding improved as well, going from the lower 20’s to 26 against North Andrew against a taller squad. Kristen Tracy had 9 boards, Kynah Steele 7, Kambree Briner 4, Rylee Ruckman and Keira Hardy 2, and Riley Ridge and Rayleigh Smith 1 each.
Kambree Briner had 5 assists. Kynah Steele had 2, and Riley Ridge, Rylee Ruckman, and Kristen Tracy had 1.
Kynah Steele had 3 blocks.
Kynah Steele had 4 steals. Kristen Tracy had 3, and Riley Ridge and Keira Hardy had 1 each.
Kynah Steele had 4 tips on defense. Keira Hardy had 3, Kristen Tracy 2, and Rayleigh Smith and Rylee Ruckman had 1.
The Tigers will try again for their first win against Gilman City after Christmas. The Hawks have been playing excellent basketball.
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