Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Sasha Deardorff Sets Tone for Bluejay Win; Jackie Wray Bright Spot for Mustangs

Northeast Nodaway, playing the second of back to back nights, used a 25-2 run spanning most of the second quarter and all of the third to come up with a running clock 43-11 win Tuesday, November 17th. Every game during their current winning streak has seen a different player step up for the Bluejays. This time, it was Sasha Deardorff mixing it up early and often down low, grabbing four rebounds in the first few minutes of the game as the Mustangs were threatening to make a game of it. Addalea Barcus' three point play put the Mustangs in front 5-2 early, but the energy level Sasha brought carried over to the rest of the team despite Baylie Busby sitting out much of the first quarter with foul trouble.

Busby's third chance putback knotted it up, but then she sat out with her second foul at the 3:43 mark of the first quarter. But the Bluejays have been used to dealing with adversity ever since their eighth grade year, when first Skyler Florea went down with an injury and then Busby was quarantined for 24 days before coming back for the last week of the season. With Busby on the bench, Florea hit from the left side, Hayley Yost hit two free throws, and then Sasha Deardorff hit Hadley DeFreece for three to make it 12-5 after one.

Jackie Wray played her best game as a Mustang, getting 6 points and 11 boards; she only had three blocks, but altered a bunch of other shots; Northeast missed 11 shots from five feet or closer that night. She kept the Mustangs in the game for a long time and kept guarding the paint, grabbing boards, and attacking the rim even when the situation was hopeless. But North Nodaway struggled moving the ball all night long against the swarming Bluejay defense, which got 40 tips against Gilman City the night before and got 24 tips and 22 steals Tuesday night, only allowing two assists for the night. 

Wray's putback to start the second made it 12-7; besides that, the score was stuck there despite Busby's return. Wray was a presence in the paint and North Nodaway's 1-3-1 meant driving lanes for Baylie were few. 

Finally, Baylie Busby found Skyler Florea inside and Sasha Deardorff in the high post. Busby got one over Wray in the paint to connect, and then a costly defensive lapse at the end by North Nodaway saw Bristol Hicks, instead of shooting the ball, timed a pass perfectly and fed Skyler Florea at the buzzer to make it 20-7.

Another defensive standoff ensued to start the third. But the Bluejays, during their current run, have shown a propensity for wearing other teams down; Worth County was down two to them at halftime, only to falter in the second half and lose by 10. Stanberry kept it in single digits until the fourth, when Northeast wore them down and pulled away to win by 20. And Gilman City was down by 11 early in the third quarter, only for the Bluejays to pull away and lead by as much as 29.

Something similar happened in this game. All of a sudden, the dam broke when Skyler Florea got a steal and fed Baylie Busby for two. Skyler Florea got a third chance putback, and then Baylie Busby fed Hadley DeFreece to make it 26-7.

At that point, the turnover margin, which was even for much of the first half, had grown to 19-9 in the Bluejays' favor, and they would only turn it over twice the rest of the game. The focus of the game for North Nodaway had been to get it into Wray on offense; Mya Hansen finally got her the ball to cut it to 26-9. But then Mylee Wilmes checked in for the Bluejays and it was a party in the USA as she went off, hitting consecutive threes off passes from Busby and Skyler Florea to make it 32-9. Kynder Florea scored off a steal and then Mylee Wilmes snuck into the corner, unnoticed by anybody except for Busby, who skipped her a pass from the opposite site wing for three to make it 37-9 after three.

Wray cut it to 37-11, but then Blair Nelson hit Hayley Yost in the high post, Baylie Busby split two defenders and turned it into two free throws, and Kynder Florea scored off a Hadley DeFreece steal to trigger the running clock.

For the Bluejays, Skyler Florea had 10, Baylie Busby and Mylee Wilmes 9 each, Hadley DeFreece 5, Hayley Yost and Kynder Florea 4, and Sasha Deardorff 2.

Skyler Florea and Blair Nelson had 2 blocks each.

Sasha Deardorff and Blair Nelson had 6 boards each. Skyler Florea and Baylie Busby had 5 each, Hayley Yost 3, Kynder Florea 2, and Bristol Hicks 1.

Baylie Busby had 5 assists. Hadley DeFreece had 3, Sasha Deardorff and Skyler Florea 2, and Kynder Florea, Bristol Hicks, Blair Nelson, and Hayley Yost all with 1.

Kynder Florea and Baylie Busby had 6 tips. Hadley DeFreece had 4, Skyler Florea 3, Sasha Deardorff 2, and Hayley Yost, Blair Nelson, and Bristol Hicks 1.

Hadley DeFreece had 8 steals. Kynder Florea had 6, Skyler Florea 3, Mylee Wilmes 2, and Sasha Deardorff, Baylie Busby, and Blair Nelson 1 each. 

For North Nodaway, Jackie Wray had 6, Addalea Barcus 3, and Mya Hansen 2. 

Jackie Wray had 3 blocks.

Jackie Wray had 11 boards. Lacy Riley had 7, Mya Hansen 4, and Addalea Barcus 3.

Jackie Wray and Mya Hansen had 1 assist.

Addalea Barcus had 3 tips. Lily Blane had 2 and Lacy Riley 1.

Lacy Riley had 3 steals. Addalea Barcus had 2 and Mya Hansen 1.

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