Rylee Ruckman erupted for Worth County early as the Tigers floored Platte Valley 53-31 Tuesday, December 2nd in the first round of the Albany Tournament. Worth County was supposed to scrape the bottom of the barrel playing the numbers game, but Ruckman scored ten points in the first few minutes to lift the Tigers to a 10-1 lead early in the game. Platte Valley spent the rest of the quarter chipping away, coming as close to 12-8 before Kristen Tracy started scoring to keep the Tigers ahead 16-10 after one.
Platte Valley was supposed to run Worth County out of the gym with balanced scoring, the ability to do hockey line changes to keep fresh legs on the floor, and constant pressure defense and strong rebounding. When Rylee Ruckman picked up her second foul and Kenzie Redden, Mya Wray, and Maggie Swinford connected for Platte Valley in the early second quarter to tie it at 16, it looked like all the momentum was on their side. But Ruckman came back in and the rest of the cast started chipping in, with Audrey Runde hitting a free throw and Megan Tracy going backdoor.
All of a sudden, the breaks started going Worth County's way as Kristen Tracy scooped up a carom and scored, Kambree Briner grabbed an offensive board and muscled her way up against the tall Platte Valley front line to score, Briner inbounded to Kristen Tracy for two, Briner hit Audrey Runde backdoor, and Kristen Tracy knocked one down from the high post to make it 28-16 at the half.
Platte Valley started off by throwing a trapping zone, but Worth County kept right on pulling away as Kambree Briner hit Kristen Tracy inside, Megan Tracy scored from inside, Audrey Runde hit a free throw and then added a drive, and Kambree Briner added a drive. By the time the dust had settled, Worth County had completed a 21-0 run and was up 37-16 midway through the third.
But Platte Valley doesn't give up easily, and they threw their vaunted full-court press and started turning over Worth County. Emalee Langford connected to break the run, newcomer Hannah Klamm hit a 3-pointer, and Mya Wray hit two free throws to make it 37-23 before Kambree Briner inbounded it to Kristen Tracy and Rylee Ruckman drove against the press, blew by three blue shirts, and finished with a scoop shot at the third quarter buzzer to make it 41-23. Worth County, under April Healy, has always managed to convert a high percentage of its inbounds plays; they did so even during the lean years around 2010 during Healy's first tenure, when wins were hard to come by.
Platte Valley kept swarming and pressing, but Worth County kept slashing to the rim at will, getting drives from Kristen Tracy, Kambree Briner, and another scoop shot prayer from Ruckman that went down to make it 47-23 before both teams started clearing their benches. Kinley Steele (sister of Kynah Steele) got her first career points as a Tiger when she converted a putback in the closing seconds.
While the players wanted to win against Platte Valley so they could watch the State Championship Football game, they also wanted to beat their old coach, Tiffany Bliley, who is now an assistant at Platte Valley.
Kristen Tracy had 17 points for the Tigers. Rylee Ruckman had 14, Kambree Briner 10, Audrey Runde 6, Megan Tracy 4, and Kinley Steele 2.
Kambree Briner had 7 boards. Megan Tracy had 6, Kristen Tracy 5, Rylee Ruckman 4, Audrey Runde 3, and Kinley Steele 1.
Kambree Briner had 7 assists. Audrey Runde had 3, Megan Tracy 2, and Keira Hardy and Kristen Tracy 1 each.
Keira Hardy, Kambree Briner, and Rylee Ruckman had 4 tips, Megan Tracy had 2, and Kristen Tracy 1.
Megan Tracy and Kambree Briner had 5 steals. Kristen Tracy had 4, Rylee Ruckman 3, and Keira Hardy 2.
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