Rebounding Woes Doom Bluejay Girls Against Platte Valley

In a back and forth game between Northeast Nodaway and Platte Valley's girls Tuesday, January 21st, it was rebounding that made all the difference as Platte Valley used a 35-21 rebounding advantage to grab a 38-36 win over the Bluejays in Jefferson.

The game featured big runs by both teams. First, Maleeah Bliley hit a 3-pointer and Emalee Langford scored off a drive to put Platte Valley in front 5-0. Then, Baylie Busby hit Hayley Yost backdoor and then Busby followed with a 3-pointer and an inside shot off a Hadley DeFreece inbounds pass to give the Bluejays the lead at 7-5. Mya Wray scored from the high post to knot it at 7, but Busby countered with a 3-pointer to make it 10-7.

Platte Valley started making use of their rebounding as Allie Day grabbed an offensive board and hit two free throws to cut it to 10-9 and Bliley hit her second triple of the quarter to give Platte Valley the lead back at 12-10 after one.

Free throws from Busby and Skyler Florea put the Bluejays in front 13-12 to start the second, but Mya Wray hit from the high post and then added a 3-pointer to give Platte Valley a 17-13 lead. The lead stayed at four at the half. Busby cut it to 19-17, but then Langford's free throw and Wray's triple gave Platte Valley its biggest lead of the night.

But then Blair Nelson hit a 3-pointer from the left wing and Busby got a putback. Busby twice hit Hayley Yost inside to give the Bluejays the lead back at 26-23 after three.

Mya Wray then took over the next three minutes, scoring from inside, knocking down a shot from the high post, and scoring off a steal to make it 29-26 at the 5:24 mark. Busby made one of two with 4:20 left after splitting two defenders, but Maleeah Bliley hit a 3-pointer with 3:14 to make it two possessions. Hayley Yost scored two free throws to cut it to 32-29 with 3:06 left, but a Langford steal led to a feed of Mackenzie Swinford from Mya Wray to make it 34-29.

Northeast made a big push as Kynder Florea got on the board with a free throw and then Baylie Busby converted a steal to make it 34-32 with 2:05 left. Bliley scored for Platte Valley to make it 36-32, but Kynder Florea drove and hit two free throws to make it 36-34. 

Hadley DeFreece got a steal with Platte Valley trying to run the clock out, but missed a contested layup. Platte Valley was able to run the clock from 40 seconds down to 20 as Northeast had to foul three times to finally put them on the line. But then the rebounding woes resurfaced at the worst possible time. First, Bliley missed two, only for Swinford to grab an offensive board and allow Platte Valley to run it down to 14 seconds. Then, the Bluejays put Mya Wray on the line; she missed two free throws, only for Swinford to grab it again and Platte Valley ran it down to 9 seconds. Finally, Mya Wray hit two free throws to make it 38-34. Kynder Florea drove and scored with 3 seconds left, but Platte Valley was able to hold the ball out of bounds to run out the clock.

Baylie Busby had 17 points for the Bluejays. Hayley Yost had 8, Kynder Florea 5, Blair Nelson 3, Hadley DeFreece 2, and Skyler Florea 1.

Blair Nelson and Hadley DeFreece had 5 boards each. Skyler Florea had 4, Baylie Busby 3, and Sasha Deardorff and Kynder Florea 2.

Baylie Busby had 5 assists. Hadley DeFreece had 2, and Hayley Yost, Skyler Florea, and Kynder Florea had 1.

Baylie Busby had 7 tips. Hadley DeFreece had 4, Kynder Florea 2, and Hayley Yost had 1.

Hadley DeFreece and Baylie Busby had 5 steals each. Hayley Yost had 2, and Kynder Florea, Blair Nelson, Skyler Florea, and Sasha Deardorff had 1.