Cole Ruby hung a career high 26 points on Stanberry, Cannon Fletcher held Colby McQueen to 14 points, and Ryder Smyser played his best game as a Tiger, getting 6 points, 5 boards, and some valuable minutes off the bench as Worth County bounced back with a 54-32 win over Stanberry in Stanberry following a horrific three game stretch.
Worth County was on a high note following a win over archrival Albany, but then got run out of the gym by Mount Ayr. They went down to North Central, but Trenton, who had been a doormat for a few years, is now resurgent and the result was another layup drill at Worth County's expense. Worth County had every reason to expect better when North Andrew, a team hovering around .500, came to town. But the Tigers hit a low point as it was another layup drill as the Cardinals outrebounded Worth County 35-14 and beat them 61-28.
Everything that could have went wrong did go wrong that game. First, Caleb New tried to come back in the junior varsity game against North Andrew, only to come out, which seemingly demoralized the team, which had been counting on his return in January. He is expected to be out at least another three weeks with a stress fracture in his other leg. Hayden Sanders was limping for much of the game and not playing at full strength, while Andrew Griffin banged his head trying to make a hustle play and came out.
Meanwhile, Stanberry had been coming in on a high note; they scored a season high in a 61-51 win over North Harrison, a game in which the Shamrocks dug themselves in a hole, fought back to tie, only to falter at the end. They beat a resurgent King City squad, played Hale (10-2) tough at North Central, and took Albany to overtime after having been outplayed by then at the Albany Tournament. They looked to be hitting their stride with a swarming press, Colby McQueen running the show offensively, and wearing down other teams.
But it was Worth County who got off to the fast start behind a career night from Cole Ruby. Stanberry hung around for a while thanks to outrebounding the Tigers in the first quarter. But then Worth County started taking over the boards and the game and steadily pulled away, holding Stanberry to their season low point total.
Cole Ruby started the scoring after Cannon Fletcher grabbed an offensive board; then, Hayden Sanders picked Colby McQueen's wallet and made it 4-0. Calvin Smithson got a putback for Stanberry, but then Cole Ruby threw up a prayer that went in from Hayden Sanders, who was sprawled on the floor, and converted a three point play and then Cannon Fletcher scored off a drive to make it 9-2. The answered prayer seemed to get Cole Ruby going, as he was a steady scoring presence all night long.
Colby McQueen exploded to the rim for two and then added a steal to cut it to 9-6, and Jaren Stoll's putback cut it to 10-8. Drew Parman again cut it to two at 12-10, but then Hayden Sanders hit two free throws at the end of the quarter to make it 14-10.
Ryder Smyser got loose in transition, Cole Ruby drove and threw up another prayer that went in, and Cannon Fletcher drove and scored to make it 20-10 before McQueen stopped the bleeding with a triple to make it 20-13. But Cole Ruby answered with one of his own to make it 23-13. Smithson cut it to 23-15 for Stanberry, but Cole Ruby drove and scored after Franklynn Taute grabbed an offensive board and then Karson Briner beat the first half buzzer from the high post to make it 27-15.
Karson Briner cut inside and got a pass from Cole Ruby to start the second half scoring for Worth County. Stanberry hung around and traded buckets with Worth County for a while, but then Cannon Fletcher drove and spun to the basket to start another Tiger run. Cole Ruby got loose against the Stanberry press and hit two free throws, added another one later during the run, and Ryder Smyser got a putback to make it 39-19.
Stanberry made another run as McQueen got loose for another 3-pointer and Sanders got called for a charge for his third foul. They got as close as 40-26, but then Lucas Frisch hit Cole Ruby backdoor, and then Hayden Sanders hit two free throws to make it 44-26 after three.
Cole Ruby picked Stanberry's wallet to start the fourth quarter to make it 20 again at 46-26. Aiden Graham cut it to 46-28, but a Lucas Frisch drive set up Karson Briner and then Cole Ruby got a free throw and added a 3-pointer to give Worth County its biggest lead of the night at 52-28.
Cole Ruby had 26 points. Hayden Sanders had 8, Cannon Fletcher, Ryder Smyser, and Karson Briner all had 6, and Lucas Frisch had 2.
Ryder Smyser had 2 blocks. Franklynn Taute and Karson Briner had 1.
Karson Briner had 9 boards. Cannon Fletcher had 6, Cole Ruby, Ryder Smyser, and Hayden Sanders had 5, Lucas Frisch had 3, Franklynn Taute 2, and Ethan Lininger 1.
Hayden Sanders had 10 assists. Cole Ruby had 4, Lucas Frisch 3, Cannon Fletcher 2, and Franklynn Taute and Karson Briner 1 each.
Lucas Frisch had 2 tips. Cole Ruby and Wes Brown had 1.
Hayden Sanders had 4 steals. Karson Briner and Cole Ruby had 3, and Ryder Smyser and Cannon Fletcher had 1.
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