Skyler Florea has 15 Points, 14 Boards as Bluejays Bust Slump Against Tigers

Northeast Nodaway's girls busted a two game slump and extended Worth County's as they ran away with a 58-24 win over the Tigers Tuesday, January 14th in the first round of the Stanberry Tournament. The game was a matchup between two teams in a slump. Worth County had gotten off to a 4-1 start, but has not won a game since. Northeast Nodaway had a big winning streak to close out December, but they took running clock losses to the two top girls teams in the area in Rock Port and Nodaway Valley when they came back in January.

With all of the defensive attention on Baylie Busby, the Bluejays have had multiple players step up and go off. In December's win over Worth County, it was Hayley Yost with a double-double. In last Tuesday's game, it was Skyler Florea with 15 points and 14 boards. While Keira Hardy did a lights-out job in holding Busby to 10 for Worth County, Baylie was still able to make everyone around her better, getting 10 points, 10 boards, 8 assists, and 6 steals. As a result, eight different Bluejays reached the scoring column with six scoring five or more points.

Meanwhile, Worth County saw Audrey Runde get her third double figure game in a row with 11 points and Kristen Tracy nearly had a double-double with 9 points and 12 boards. But the rest of the team scored four points.

In a game between two teams fighting a slump, sometimes the one with the first big run is the one to win. Sure enough, Skyler Florea got a putback, Baylie Busby hit a 3-pointer, Hadley DeFreece hit Kynder Florea for a backdoor layup, and Baylie Busby hit Florea inside and Skyler converted it into a three point play to make it 10-0 at the 4:22 mark.

Audrey Runde broke the shutout for Worth County and she scored four points in the period to keep it at 14-4. Hadley DeFreece hit a 3-pointer from her favorite spot in the left corner and Baylie Busby added a free throw to make it 18-4 before Kristen Tracy cut it to 18-6.  

Worth County twice cut it to 11 in the second, the last time being a play where Audrey Runde drove, Skyler Florea knocked it away, but right into the hands of Kristen Tracy to make it 22-11. But then Busby squeezed through a gap that nobody else could and finished and then threw a pick and roll pass to Skyler, who was heavily guarded, but she still knocked it down to make it 26-11. Rylee Ruckman converted a steal into a free throw to make it 26-12, but then Mylee Wilmes hit Blair Nelson in her favorite spot on the right baseline and added a 3-pointer to make it 31-12 before Runde's free throws cut it to 31-14.

The Tigers tried to come out in a full court man to man look, but after they got a pair of scores from Kristen Tracy and Audrey Runde to keep it at 36-17, Northeast solved the pressure defense. Baylie Busby scored two free throws off a drive, Skyler Florea got a putback, and Kynder Florea beat the press and got a long pass from Busby to finish to make it 42-17

 

Worth County tried its zone press, but Skyler Florea found Blair Nelson behind the press for two and then Baylie Busby went coast to coast after grabbing a defensive board to make it 46-19 after three.

The Tigers finally looked like they were making some headway against the press when Kambree Briner got a steal and fed Kristen Tracy for two and then Audrey Runde hit a 3-pointer to make it 48-24. But then Northeast pushed it into running clock territory as Sasha Deardorff hit Hayley Yost inside, Blair Nelson hit Skyler Florea inside, Sasha Deardorff found Hadley DeFreece behind the Tiger defense for two, Baylie Busby broke the press and took on three black shirts to score, and Sasha Deardorff drove down the left baseline to make it 58-24.

For Worth County Audrey Runde had 11, Kristen Tracy 9, Megan Tracy 3, and Rylee Ruckman 1.

Kristen Tracy had 12 boards. Keira Hardy and Megan Tracy had 6 each, Audrey Runde 4, Kambree Briner 3, Rayleigh Smith 2, and Rylee Ruckman 1.

Kambree Briner and Rylee Ruckman had 2 assists. Kristen Tracy, Audrey Runde, and Megan Tracy had 1.

Kambree Briner had 7 tips. Kristen Tracy and Rylee Ruckman had 2 each and Audrey Runde had 1.

Megan Tracy and Rylee Ruckman had 3 steals each. Kambree Briner and Keira Hardy had 2 each, and Kristen Tracy had 1.

For NEN, Skyler Florea had 15 points. Baylie Busby had 10, Hadley DeFreece and Hayley Yost had 8 each, Blair Nelson 6, Mylee Wilmes 5, Kynder Florea 4, and Sasha Deardorff 2.

Skyler Florea had 2 blocks. Hadley DeFreece and Baylie Busby had 1 each.

Skyler Florea had 14 boards. Baylie Busby had 11; both had a double-double. Kynder Florea had 4, Sasha Deardorff had 3, Hadley DeFreece and Hayley Yost 2, and Bristol Hicks and Blair Nelson 1 each.

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

Hadley DeFreece had 5 tips. Baylie Busby had 4, Skyler Florea, Blair Nelson, and Sasha Deardorff had 2, and Kynder Florea and Hayley Yost had 1 each.

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