Worth County to Host Boys District 16

Worth County’s boys will host Boys District 16 this year. That is the good news for the Tigers. The bad news is that the district title will go through Rock Port until someone else shows otherwise.

Rock Port has come out of the gate with a 5-1 record. Like Worth County, they got a late start due to the State Football Championship and were run out of the gym 84-47 to Faith Christian Academy on their first game of the season. But they have been winning ever since, with impressive wins over OSHS, Gallatin, and Green City.

Worth County is also at 5-1. They have an overtime win over King City and recovered from a 75-72 loss to Mount Ayr with a 42-36 win over Braymer.

Platte Valley sits at 2-8. They could be a matchup problem for Worth County with their 6’5” 300 pound behemoth Andy Mattson and freshman guard Grady Gockel. They have been faced with a brutal schedule in the first half, as every team they have lost to is a bigger school and/or well over .500.

Mound City, like Platte Valley, has had a brutal schedule to open up the season and sits at 3-6. They play Platte Valley at the start of the year, so something has to give between the two schools. Their coach, Alan Ottman, has gotten a lot of mileage out of his squad in postseason.

Stanberry, at 2-5, has been close in all but two of its losses. North Nodaway sits at 2-6, but could pose a matchup problem with its two big post players in Jordan DeLeon and Blaine Clements. Northeast Nodaway recently got their first win, over DeKalb. They are young, with a lot of freshmen getting playing time. But they are quick, don’t give up easily, and could do damage in the new year.

Whoever gets out of District 16 will have to get past Heartland Christian, the team that beat Rock Port. They nearly upset Braymer’s run to the Final Four last year and return most of their players from that squad. They have a lot of shooting and depth and are playing on a mission despite hitting a skid with two losses. Whoever wins that contest will likely have to deal with Braymer, who is still solid despite losing key players from last year’s Final Four squad.

On the girls side, Worth County will go to Stanberry for Class 1 District 16. That district is loaded and could go to any one of five possible teams.

Rock Port is at 8-1, headed by Ella Meyerkorth, who Northwest has shown interest in. Their only loss was to Mid-Buchanan, a Class 3 perennial powerhouse. They have only been challenged two other times, by Mound City and by Green City. The Blue Jays have two other Meyerkorth girls as well as some other players who can chip in.

Mound City got off to a rocky start, with losses to Plattsburg and Rock Port. But they have been winning ever since behind Maggie Osburn. Like Mound City, Stanberry got off to a rocky 1-2 start, but have not lost since. They have the most depth in the area besides Platte Valley, with 14 girls out for basketball, more than most.

Worth County has been streaky this year. They started off winning their first six, including the Albany Tournament. They dropped their next three, but righted the ship with a win over Braymer to go to 7-3. Platte Valley is at 4-5, but their highly physical style of play and their depth, with 20 girls out, will present a matchup nightmare. North Nodaway was seeded near the bottom in both the PVI and Stanberry Tournaments, but are surprising some people; they have picked up their fourth win before the break. They have struggled to break 30 points, but have teams under 30 in each of their four wins. Northeast Nodaway is rebuilding after losing a bunch of key players from last year and is still searching for its first win.

Whoever comes out of District 16 will likely play either King City, DeKalb, or surprising Union Star, which is at 5-3 to start the season.

For District 14, the good news for Gilman City’s girls is that they don’t have to play Santa Fe, the team that beat them by 16 in sectionals. Santa Fe got moved up to Class 2 this year. The bad news is that they will have to get past Princeton. The Blue Tigers got off to a rocky start this year, losing to the Hawks to start the season and then dropping two more at the Albany Tournament to start 1-3. But they have been winning ever since, and Mike Schmidli, their coach, has always overachieved in postseason play.

The rest of the district can’t be overlooked. Mercer lost to Worth County to start the season, but is on track to improve from last year and has an impressive win at Milan to its credit. North Harrison has length and athleticism and made a run to the Gallatin Tournament finals before losing to the Hawks. Pattonsburg, after playing a forgettable first half against the Hawks, played a much better second half and built on that, winning their next two. East Harrison is one of the most physical teams in the area, while Tri-County, which made it to the district finals last year, has reloaded and is at 5-3 despite losing key players from last year.

Gilman City’s boys won’t have to worry about Grundy County, the team that beat them in District Finals, as the Panthers have been moved to District 12. But they will have to travel to Princeton and get past the heavily favored Princeton squad.