Tyler New has 28; Tigers Clinch at Least Share of GRC West

Worth County’s boys clinched at least a share of the GRC West title Tuesday, January 30^th with their 57-52 win over Pattonsburg. As of Tuesday’s game, they have no conference losses with one game to play. Princeton beat St. Joseph Christian 72-69, meaning Worth County is the only team without a conference loss. They play the Lions in St. Joseph for the outright GRC title. A loss by the Tigers would drop them into a likely two way tie or a three way tie with Princeton and Christian, depending on the outcome of their final conference games.

None of their games have been easy to this point, and this one took a lot of twists and turns before the Tigers came out on top. At first, it was Pattonsburg coming out on fire as Daltyn Sperry and Gavin Humphrey hit 3-pointers in the early going. Worth County used strong play on the boards in the early going to stay in the game after falling behind by as much as 13-4, but Gage Iddings’ NBA 3-pointer at the first quarter buzzer put Pattonsburg up 16-8, and it looked like a long night for Worth County.

But coach Les New had been looking for more production out of his post players, and he finally started getting it, and it paid off in the second quarter. Bo Collins worked the high/low to Karson Briner, and then Tyler New added a steal to get the Tiger deficit down to 16-12. Gage Iddings shot the Panthers into a 21-15 lead, but Worth County kept coming as Karson Briner got a putback, Bo Collins scored from inside, Karson Briner knocked one down from the high post, and Cole Ruby hit a 3-pointer to put the Tigers in front 24-21 with 2:06 left in the half. Duke Hoover countered with a backdoor layup, but Hayden Sanders hit a 3-pointer to put the Tigers in front 27-23 at the half.

Worth County looked like it would pull away in the second half as they were cleaning up on the offensive glass and Tyler New was on fire during that stretch. New had a third chance 3-pointer, then added another before scoring off a steal to make it 35-23. But Pattonsburg started fighting back, getting back to back jacks from their supporting cast in Landon Woodward and Gavin Humphrey to get right back in the game. Iddings kept the Panthers around for a while, but then Hayden Sanders hit a 3-pointer and then threw a bullet pass to Tyler New in the high post to make it 46-35 after Bo Collins kept a possession alive with an offensive board.

But then Pattonsburg got the benefit of a four point play without the Tigers touching the ball as Gavin Humphrey hit an inside shot at the buzzer; the Panthers had the ball to start the fourth quarter, and Daltyn Sperry connected to make it 46-39. That was all the momentum the Panthers needed as Humphrey hit two free throws to make it 46-41. Karson Briner countered for the Tigers to make it 48-41, but then sloppy play by the Tigers and a charge call kept the Panthers coming. Landon Woodward unloaded another NBA 3-pointer and then Gage Iddings got loose for just long enough to hit another one and it was 48-47.

With only one foul so far and no foul trouble, Pattonsburg had a lot of fouls to give and could afford to be very aggressive. But Hayden Sanders hit Tyler New in the high post to break the run. Pattonsburg missed a game tying three, and then Bo Collins hit Tyler New in the corner with two minutes to put the Tigers in front 53-47. Free throws by Tyler New and Hayden Sanders made it 55-47 with 35 seconds left, but Iddings hit two free throws after a silly over the back foul on the offensive end to restart the Panthers. Two missed free throws led to an NBA 3-pointer by Daltyn Sperry with 22 seconds left and it was one possession again at 55-52. But Tyler New iced the game with 19 seconds left with two free throws and Pattonsburg missed three frantic tries in the closing seconds.

For Worth County, Tyler New had 28 points. Karson Briner had 12, a career high. Hayden Sanders had 7, Bo Collins 4, and Cole Ruby and Caleb New 3. Worth County shot 22 for 49 for 45%. They were 8 for 24 from 3-pointers and 5 for 11 from the line.

Tyler New had 10 rebounds. Bo Collins had 9, Karson Briner 8, Hayden Sanders 3, Cannon Fletcher 2, and Cole Ruby 1.

Cannon Fletcher had 5 assists. Tyler New had 4, Bo Collins 3, Hayden Sanders 2, and Ethan Lininger 1.

Tyler New had 4 steals. Karson Briner had 2 and Cannon Fletcher 1.

Karson Briner had 1 block.

Tyler New and Cannon Fletcher had 2 tips. Karson Briner had 1.