A shorthanded Northeast Nodaway girls team made another run into the King City Tournament finals for a rematch with Albany. Baylie Busby had a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards and nearly got a triple-double with 7 steals, but foul trouble hurt the Bluejays in their rematch with Albany, and they fell to the Warriors 52-47 in the rubber game of their matchup.
The Bluejays were without Sasha Deardorff (flu), one of their scrappiest players. Sadie Hall moved, dropping their roster down to nine players, making it harder for them to scrimmage with a full set of players in practices. And Albany shot the ball much better against Northeast’s zone and worked the ball much better into the post than they did their first meeting; after battling illness the week before, the Warriors got most of their players back for Friday. After a bad second quarter, the Bluejays made several charges against the Warriors and even got the lead, only to falter in the end.
Northeast started off with a good first quarter as Hayley Yost and Skyler Florea scored from inside to start them off. Emme Hogue got Albany on the board, but Yost got a putback. Hayleigh Wink hit a 3-pointer, but Yost struck from the post again and Busby scored three straight to make it 11-5.
But then a costly defensive lapse, where the Bluejays let the ball enter the post and out to the wing where Kennedi Epperly hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer, swung the momentum in Albany’s favor. Northeast started hacking and fouling in the second quarter and the momentum swung in Albany’s favor. Their top three players, Busby, Yost, and Florea, all picked up three fouls and all hell broke loose as Albany went from down three to up 20-15 with a minute left. But with their top three players in foul trouble, Northeast somehow got a push as Blair Nelson hit from the left wing and Kynder Florea drove out of a trap down the left baseline and scored to cut the Bluejay deficit to 20-19.
Albany twice raised the lead to three to start the third quarter, but Busby scored from the baseline and Kynder Florea shot the Bluejays into a 26-24 lead. Hayley Yost picked up her fourth foul and Albany took advantage of her absence to regain the lead and pushed their lead up to 33-28 behind Maddix Epperly’s 3-pointer. But for the second time in a row, Northeast got a late push as Baylie Busby found Skyler Florea inside and then Skyler hit a 3-pointer to tie it up again with six seconds left.
Northeast nearly had a miracle finish to end the period as Busby stole an errant pass at half court, but her heave at the buzzer that would have changed the momentum went in and out and the game remained tied at 33.
Hadley DeFreece shot the Bluejays into the lead again at 37-35 with 5:55 left, but then the lack of depth started taking its toll and the Warriors started feeding Jayden Hillyard at will in the post. Maddix Epperly hit a 3-pointer and Emme Hogue hit a free throw to put the Warriors up 45-37 with 2:52 left. Kennedi Epperly’s steal led to two free throws with 1:41 left that made it 48-39.
The Bluejays made a late push after Baylie Busby drew Hillyard’s fifth foul with 1:10 left and made both free throws. Northeast had to start fouling and Hayleigh Wink made one of two with 1:04 left to make it 49-41. Skyler Florea rebounded the second miss and went coast to coast to make it 49-43. Kaitlyn Bunker missed a shot and Busby went coast to coast with 25 seconds left to make it 49-45.
But then Hayleigh Wink hit both free throws with 16 seconds left to make it 51-45. Skyler Florea hit a third chance putback, but Albany was able to inbound it to Wink, who made one of two at the end to make it 52-47.
Skyler Florea had 13 for the Bluejays. Baylie Busby had 12, Hayley Yost 10, Kynder Florea 5, Blair Nelson 4, and Hadley DeFreece 3.
Hayley Yost, Skyler Florea, Kynder Florea, and Baylie Busby all had 1 block.
Baylie Busby had 10 rebounds. Skyler Florea had 8, Hayley Yost 7, Blair Nelson 5, and Mylee Wilmes, Kynder Florea, and Hadley DeFreece 1.
Hadley DeFreece and Baylie Busby had 4 assists. Kynder Florea had 3 and Hayley Yost and Skyler Florea had 1 each.
Baylie Busby had 6 tips. Hadley DeFreece and Hayley Yost had 3, Kynder Florea and Skyler Florea 2 each, and Blair Nelson and Mylee Wilmes 1 each.
Baylie Busby had 7 steals. Hadley DeFreece had 3, Hayley Yost 2, and Blair Nelson and Kynder Florea 1 each.
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