Brock Healy had a career night with 28 points for Worth County Friday, but the bubble finally burst for the Tigers against Mount Ayr as they fell 75-72.
The game looked like it was going from bad to worse for the Tigers, as Jackson Ruggles was up to 34 points for the Raiders at the 4:15 mark, Tiger coach Les New had gotten a technical foul for protesting a call, Mount Ayr was up 57-37, and the game was in danger of spiraling into running clock territory.
But the call served to fire up the Tigers as Hayden Sanders, who had been battling all the bumps and bruises he had gotten during football, suddenly emerged as a third scoring option behind Healy and Caleb New. He had a pair of free throws and then drove, pulled back, and hit a 3-pointer to make it 57-42. Adler Reed, Mount Ayr’s most physical player, drew a technical foul and sat until the closing minutes of the game. Brock Healy added a free throw and Caleb New, who had been bottled up by Ruggles all night, finally got loose inside to make it 57-45.
Ruggles finally hit two free throws to make it 59-45, but a box and one, with Dylan Smith and Jordan Dannar taking turns guarding him, finally slowed him down as the Tigers kept coming. Hayden Sanders hit a pair of 3-pointers and Caleb New drove and converted a three-point play, and all of a sudden, it was a brand new ballgame at 59-54 after three.
Hayden Sanders drove and hit two free throws to start the fourth quarter to make it 59-56, but Mount Ayr’s supporting cast came through as Rowan Sackett hit two free throws after an offensive board, Drew Graham drove and scored, and Hayes Stogdill hit a guarded three to put the Raiders back up double digits at 66-56.
But Worth County kept coming as Ryder Smyser suddenly started finding the open man at will, hitting Caleb New for three, Brock Healy for three, Hayden Sanders for a drive, and Caleb New in the high post to make it 67-66.
Tate Dugan hit a pair of free throws and then connected from inside to make it 71-66 with 1:38 left, but Brock Healy brought it up and hit a pullup three to make it 71-69.
Dylan Smith, whose defense on Ruggles had been instrumental in Worth County’s comeback bid, picked up his fifth foul and Ruggles finally got untracked with a pair of free throws to make it 73-69. But Brock Healy hit Hayden Sanders for three and Worth County was not done yet. Ryder Smyser got a steal and Worth County had a golden opportunity with 27 seconds left to tie or take the lead.
But Brock Healy missed both free throw tries, and Worth County was forced to foul. Jackson Ruggles got his 39th and 40th points to make it 75-72 with 15 seconds left.
As Hayden Sanders was bringing the ball up the floor, Hayes Stogdill wrapped him up with eight seconds left to prevent a tying three-point attempt. At first, one referee called it an intentional foul, which would have meant Worth County getting the ball back after two free throws, but then another referee rushed in and waived it off. Hayden Sanders missed the first and intentionally missed the second, touching off a wild scramble. The ball went out of bounds off Worth County, and Mount Ayr was able to run out the clock.
Brock Healy had the hot hand for Worth County in the first quarter, knocking down 14 points in the period. But Jackson Ruggles was even hotter, getting 16 points, including three 3-pointers for the Raiders, who took a four point lead at one point before Caleb New beat the buzzer to make it 21-20. It was like the district title game back in 2022, when Tony Osborn went off on Worth County for 62 points.
The same thing happened for Mount Ayr in the second quarter, with Ruggles continuing to have the hot hand and everybody else chipping in for them as they led by as much as 41-24 before Hayden Sanders hit a pair of free throws and Brock Healy got his second wind to cut it to 43-31 at the half. The third quarter belonged to Ruggles, who scored 12 of his team’s first 14 points in the period before Worth County began its comeback bid.
Brock Healy had 28 points for the Tigers. Hayden Sanders had 23, Caleb New 18, and Jordan Dannar 3.
Ryder Smyser had 1 block.
Caleb New had 9 rebounds. Ryder Smyser had 6, Brock Healy, Hayden Sanders, and Brayden Combs had 2, and Ethan Lininger and Jordan Dannar had 1.
Ryder Smyser had 8 assists. Hayden Sanders had 4, Brock Healy 3, Caleb New 2, and Ethan Lininger, Dylan Smith, and Brayden Combs 1 each.
Caleb New had 4 tips. Brock Healy had 3, Jordan Dannar and Dylan Smith 2, and Ryder Smyser, Brayden Combs, and Hayden Sanders 1.
Hayden Sanders had 4 steals. Brock Healy, Ethan Lininger, Caleb New, Ryder Smyser, and Dylan Smith all had 1.
The girls game went the same way, with Mount Ayr building up a big lead before Worth County put together a frantic rally at the end before falling 58-47. The Tigers had every reason to fear Izzy Gilbertson, one of the best post players they will see all year. But Mount Ayr was beating them up and down the floor like King City did as they built up a 12-10 lead after one. Six of their 12 points were off transition looks. The Tigers battled the shot clock early, but adjusted by the second quarter. With Gilbertson on the bench with two fouls, Kristen Tracy got a putback, Kambree Briner scored from inside, and Megan Tracy hit a 3-pointer as Worth County erased a late deficit and took a 21-20 lead at the half.
But Gilbertson returned to start the third quarter, and the tide began to turn. Audrey Runde hit in the high post to make it 23-20, but Mount Ayr started beating Worth County up and down the floor again and built up a 30-26 lead. Kambree Briner hit two free throws with 3:00 left in the third to make it 30-28, but then Mount Ayr responded with a 17-0 run spanning the rest of the third quarter and start of the fourth to take a 47-28 lead. Out of those 17 points, ten of them were off steals and transition looks and two were when someone lost track of their player on defense.
Rylee Ruckman stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer to make it 47-31, but Mount Ayr still maintained a 19-point lead at the 3:23 mark.
Worth County began its comeback bid when Audrey Runde drove and scored and Kristen Tracy added a steal. Tracy scored from the baseline and added a free throw to make it 54-42 before Gilbertson stopped the bleeding for Mount Ayr. Rylee Ruckman hit a 3-pointer and Megan Tracy scored from inside to make it 56-47, but the Tigers ran out of time at the end.
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