The wrong Bluejays advanced to the District Semifinals Tuesday as the Rock Port Bluejays used seven 3-pointers and a 24-point fourth quarter to beat Northeast Nodaway 68-53 in opening round district action. However, the loss did not look quite so bad after Rock Port's next game, in which they erased a 16-point West Nodaway lead with four minutes left in the game and won 70-69 on a last-second shot.
Generally, Northeast Nodaway has started off fast in its games this year. However, the opposite was true against Rock Port as they fell behind 11-2 just 4 1/2 minutes into the game and could never catch up. The Bluejays had lit up the scoreboard in its last few games, including a 66-59 win over Tarkio in its final regular season game of the year that broke a long losing streak. Before that, they had scored 68 in losing efforts against DeKalb and CFX. But they could not solve Rock Port's man to man defense until it was too late. And Rock Port attacked one of Northeast's achilles heels as they repeatedly attacked the middle successfully in the early going to get some easy layups. After Rock Port's initial run, Tyler Davis kept the Bluejays in the game as he hit a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer from the left wing with 2:18 left that cut it to 11-7.
But Rock Port kept attacking the middle and pushed the lead back up to 21-11 with 5:54 left in the second. Colby Wiederholt broke the run with a free throw and Josh Wideman hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to cut it back to six. Rock Port went through a rare scoring lull, but Northeast could not cut it any closer than six thanks to some unforced errors as well as some traveling calls. The Bluejays trailed 29-20 at the half.
Rock Port extended its pressure in the third quarter, denying the wings and the posts and creating a bunch of bad passes as a result. Consequently, Rock Port took its biggest lead of the game at 38-26 off a D.J. Shallenberger 3-pointer. Rock Port had several different players who could pull the trigger, meaning that Northeast could not key on one. The lead stayed in double digits until Josh Wideman hit a pair of free throws and Colby Wiederholt scored off a fast break with 13 seconds left to cut it to 42-34. But Northeast gave up a drive and a shot from Chase Chamberlin at the buzzer, keeping the Rock Port lead at 10 going into the fourth.
Northeast switched to a 2-3 zone to try to slow Rock Port down, and it worked for the first two minutes of the fourth. But the Bluejays could not take advantage of it on offense as they only points they got were a shot from Tyler Davis. But Zach Murphy hit a pair of free throws and then Spencer Pierpoint stole an errant lob pass to push it right back up to 12. Bryce Farnan hit two free throws and Tyler Davis hit four as Northeast used a 6-1 run to cut it to 49-42 with still plenty of time left. But Treyton Lewis got a putback for Rock Port and then Murphy stole a lazy inbounds pass and converted a 3-point play to provide the dagger that broke Northeast's backs. Murphy would go on to steal another errant inbounds pass to cap a 6-0 run that left Rock Port up 62-46 with just under two minutes left.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Northeast Nodaway Girls Close Out Best Season in Seven Years
Northeast Nodaway girls closed out their best season in seven years with a gallant effort against Craig/Fairfax, but fell to the Bulldogs 51-40 in district semifinal action Wednesday night. Playing her last game of her career was Cammi Hansen, who developed into a strong role player for the Bluejays as well as a defensive stopper. The Bluejays figure to be one of the teams to beat in the area once again as they return everyone else to a 21-7 squad.
The Bluejays borrowed a page out of Worth County's playbook by employing the same defense that the Tigers used against CFX in their opening round game; they went to a 1-3 zone with Jacqueline Schulte guarding Whitney Harrington and denying her the ball. Schulte, still battling a case of strep throat, did her job admirably; not only did she hold Harrington to 9 points, she scored 14 points herself in the losing effort. But CFX's role players stepped up and filled in the void; Kelsey Sly scored 10 points, most of them during critical periods for the Bulldogs. And Amanda Geib scored 16 to lead all scorers for CFX.
Things started off well for Northeast as they scored the first six points of the game. CFX started out in a man to man to neutralize Northeast's 3-point shooting, which almost brought them back from the dead against the Bulldogs in their first meeting. But that allowed Northeast to slow down the game against the explosive CFX squad. Jacqueline Schulte scored from the left baseline, Blair Schmitz scored from the inside, and Kristin Sherry, playing with a stress fracture, scored from the left baseline after a Schmitz kickout. But then the Bulldogs rallied back and Sly hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put them in front 7-6.
That seemed to spark Craig/Fairfax, which went on to score 20 points in the second quarter despite Harrington not scoring her first points until the 2:36 mark in the period. CFX followed the lead of their opening-round game with Worth County, in which they started off slowly, but then used a strong second quarter to pull away. The game was played at their pace, as they were able to collect most of their points on drives, layups, and transition points. Northeast struggled at times against the relentless Bulldog press and Schulte was winded from battling her illness and guarding Harrington. Blair Schmitz tried to carry the Bluejays in the period, as she took a charge, got two free throws, and scored on a fast break after Kristin Sherry drove coast to coast and got her the ball. However, like the first game, she picked up her third foul and sat down for the last two minutes of the quarter. CFX led by as much as 25-12 before Schulte broke the run with a 3-pointer from the top of the key after Michelle Schulte collected an offensive board despite her small size and kicked it out to her.
Northeast finally began breaking the CFX press as Blair Schmitz got open inside twice and Jacqueline Schulte drove against the press and missed a shot, but Michelle Schulte collected the putback on their third chance; that cut the Bulldog lead to 29-21. The game went into a long lull as Northeast couldn't buy a defensive board, but CFX was stymied by traveling calls as they were having trouble solving Northeast's 1-3-1 that they employed successfully against DeKalb. Harrington picked up her third foul, but Northeast gave up one offensive board too many and Geib's putback sparked a 6-0 run that put CFX back in control at 35-21 with 1:21 left. Schulte hit a transition 3-pointer after Northeast burned the press, but Geib's drive with 3 seconds left kept Craig/Fairfax in control at 36-24.
Back came the Bluejays at the start of the fourth qaurter, sparked by the play of Jessica Redden. She opened the scoring with an inside shot off an inbounds play; she would play strong defense against their inside game. Jacqueline Schulte followed by a drive down the middle against the pressure and hit a pair of free throws, causing CFX to take off their press for a few plays. Kristin Sherry hit a shot from the right wing after a Michelle Schulte drive and kickout, and the Bluejays were within striking distance at 36-30. But Craig/Fairfax spread out the floor and isolated Harrington, and her drive to the basket and a subsequent steal and drive by Geib put the lead back up 40-30 with 4:08 left. The teams traded buckets down the stretch, but the Bulldogs' role players stepped up again as they scored the last seven points for their team. Amanda Yocum's 3-point play gave the Bulldogs a 47-34 lead with 2:06 left.
Jacqueline Schulte struck again, driving to the basket with 1:55 to kickstart a Bluejay rally. Michelle Schulte scored off a Schulte kickout and Taylor Dougan, recovering from an injury enough to play, came off the bench to chip in a shot from the left wing with 1:10 left to cut the margin to 47-40 with 1:10 left. But CFX went to Sly, and she hit four for four from the line in the final 56 seconds to deny Northeast a comeback and a chance to play Jefferson.
The Bluejays borrowed a page out of Worth County's playbook by employing the same defense that the Tigers used against CFX in their opening round game; they went to a 1-3 zone with Jacqueline Schulte guarding Whitney Harrington and denying her the ball. Schulte, still battling a case of strep throat, did her job admirably; not only did she hold Harrington to 9 points, she scored 14 points herself in the losing effort. But CFX's role players stepped up and filled in the void; Kelsey Sly scored 10 points, most of them during critical periods for the Bulldogs. And Amanda Geib scored 16 to lead all scorers for CFX.
Things started off well for Northeast as they scored the first six points of the game. CFX started out in a man to man to neutralize Northeast's 3-point shooting, which almost brought them back from the dead against the Bulldogs in their first meeting. But that allowed Northeast to slow down the game against the explosive CFX squad. Jacqueline Schulte scored from the left baseline, Blair Schmitz scored from the inside, and Kristin Sherry, playing with a stress fracture, scored from the left baseline after a Schmitz kickout. But then the Bulldogs rallied back and Sly hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put them in front 7-6.
That seemed to spark Craig/Fairfax, which went on to score 20 points in the second quarter despite Harrington not scoring her first points until the 2:36 mark in the period. CFX followed the lead of their opening-round game with Worth County, in which they started off slowly, but then used a strong second quarter to pull away. The game was played at their pace, as they were able to collect most of their points on drives, layups, and transition points. Northeast struggled at times against the relentless Bulldog press and Schulte was winded from battling her illness and guarding Harrington. Blair Schmitz tried to carry the Bluejays in the period, as she took a charge, got two free throws, and scored on a fast break after Kristin Sherry drove coast to coast and got her the ball. However, like the first game, she picked up her third foul and sat down for the last two minutes of the quarter. CFX led by as much as 25-12 before Schulte broke the run with a 3-pointer from the top of the key after Michelle Schulte collected an offensive board despite her small size and kicked it out to her.
Northeast finally began breaking the CFX press as Blair Schmitz got open inside twice and Jacqueline Schulte drove against the press and missed a shot, but Michelle Schulte collected the putback on their third chance; that cut the Bulldog lead to 29-21. The game went into a long lull as Northeast couldn't buy a defensive board, but CFX was stymied by traveling calls as they were having trouble solving Northeast's 1-3-1 that they employed successfully against DeKalb. Harrington picked up her third foul, but Northeast gave up one offensive board too many and Geib's putback sparked a 6-0 run that put CFX back in control at 35-21 with 1:21 left. Schulte hit a transition 3-pointer after Northeast burned the press, but Geib's drive with 3 seconds left kept Craig/Fairfax in control at 36-24.
Back came the Bluejays at the start of the fourth qaurter, sparked by the play of Jessica Redden. She opened the scoring with an inside shot off an inbounds play; she would play strong defense against their inside game. Jacqueline Schulte followed by a drive down the middle against the pressure and hit a pair of free throws, causing CFX to take off their press for a few plays. Kristin Sherry hit a shot from the right wing after a Michelle Schulte drive and kickout, and the Bluejays were within striking distance at 36-30. But Craig/Fairfax spread out the floor and isolated Harrington, and her drive to the basket and a subsequent steal and drive by Geib put the lead back up 40-30 with 4:08 left. The teams traded buckets down the stretch, but the Bulldogs' role players stepped up again as they scored the last seven points for their team. Amanda Yocum's 3-point play gave the Bulldogs a 47-34 lead with 2:06 left.
Jacqueline Schulte struck again, driving to the basket with 1:55 to kickstart a Bluejay rally. Michelle Schulte scored off a Schulte kickout and Taylor Dougan, recovering from an injury enough to play, came off the bench to chip in a shot from the left wing with 1:10 left to cut the margin to 47-40 with 1:10 left. But CFX went to Sly, and she hit four for four from the line in the final 56 seconds to deny Northeast a comeback and a chance to play Jefferson.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Bluejay Girls, Under the Weather, Still Breeze Past Mustangs
Northeast Nodaway's girls played their best game of the year last Thursday, a 40-32 win over Tarkio. The Indians had beaten CFX, the team that hung 73 on Northeast, by 5, and they are a 2A powerhouse. Seemingly, the Bluejays stretched themselves to their limits with the win; Jaqueline Schulte came down with a nasty case of the flu which did not go down until just before gametime. Kristin Sherry injured her right foot and was wearing it in a cast; Taylor Dougan was also out with an injury. But Coach Ryan Davis said before the game that the team would be just fine in their opening-round district matchup with North Nodaway, and the 50-33 score bore him out.
North Nodaway figured to put up a better fight than the last time the two teams met; they were putting points on the board. They had played Tarkio tough, losing by only 10; they had also scored 47 against CFX even though they lost. With the addition of freshman Ali Ramsey, they suddenly developed several different scoring options. But Northeast started off the game strong and never allowed the Mustangs to get going until it was too late. Schulte, although under the weather, was still a factor and the rest of her teammates all picked up the slack, with five different players getting between six and ten points on the night. That made Northeast an extremely difficult team to stop. Defensively, the Bluejays played lights-out, shutting down their shooters until it was too late for the Mustangs to make up the difference.
The Mustangs tried to keep up with Northeast's offense and the two teams traded buckets. But then Northeast began attacking the middle successfully against North Nodaway's man to man and began to pull away. Emily Bryant had four points in the period while Kristin Sherry, showing no ill effects from her bad foot, had six in the period and playing as physical as she had all year. They managed to jump out to an 18-9 lead after one quarter despite getting only one point in the period from Jacqueline Schulte.
Northeast started the second quarter off strongly as Emily Bryant drove to the basket and hit a floater and Kristen Sherry posted up inside and got a pass from Blair Schmitz to make it 22-9. But a steal and 3-point play from Ramsey seemed to put the brakes on Northeast and the game slowed down to a prolonged crawl for the next several minutes. Northeast led 25-14 at the break.
The Mustangs went to a 2-3 zone to start the third quarter, hoping to force Northeast to miss their outside shots and hoping to capitalize on the resultant fast break opportunities on the other end. For the first four minutes of the third period, the strategy worked as North Nodaway crept closer, at 27-18. But then, Northeast began getting the ball into Blair Schmitz, who then kicked it out to the open person; Coach Ryan Davis said that his players shot much more confidently when the ball was kicked out to them. Schmitz would go on to lead with six assists, mostly when kicking the ball out to open players. Michelle Schulte hit a pair of open shots, and Jacqueline Schulte added a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
With the Northeast lead back up to 15, North Nodaway tried to extend their pressure out of the zone, but that simply created more opportunities for dribble penetration and offensive rebounding opportunities. Blair Schmitz got a putback and a shot from the high post in transition after a steal and Jacqueline Schulte added a shot from the top of the key and Kenzie Waldeier rounded out the Northeast scoring in the third with a putback with 8 seconds left that left the Bluejays up 42-19.
The Mustangs went to their bench to try and provide a spark, and they went on a brief 4-0 run in the first minute of the fourth quarter as Coach Ashley (Pride) Yount put in Karie Ogle, Paige Baker, and Sarah Workman. Baker hit a pair of free throws and a freshman, Nikki Larabee, posted up and scored inside. But Northeast reestablished control as Rachel Runde came off the bench to hit a pair of left baseline jumpers against the zone and Kristin Sherry hit another one. Michelle Schulte scored off an Emily Bryant steal as they ganged up on and trapped a Mustang player and stripped her of the ball to cap the scoring on the night for Northeast and give them a 50-25 lead. Coach Ryan Davis then turned it over to his bench, and North Nodaway never got the deficit under 20 until the closing seconds.
North Nodaway figured to put up a better fight than the last time the two teams met; they were putting points on the board. They had played Tarkio tough, losing by only 10; they had also scored 47 against CFX even though they lost. With the addition of freshman Ali Ramsey, they suddenly developed several different scoring options. But Northeast started off the game strong and never allowed the Mustangs to get going until it was too late. Schulte, although under the weather, was still a factor and the rest of her teammates all picked up the slack, with five different players getting between six and ten points on the night. That made Northeast an extremely difficult team to stop. Defensively, the Bluejays played lights-out, shutting down their shooters until it was too late for the Mustangs to make up the difference.
The Mustangs tried to keep up with Northeast's offense and the two teams traded buckets. But then Northeast began attacking the middle successfully against North Nodaway's man to man and began to pull away. Emily Bryant had four points in the period while Kristin Sherry, showing no ill effects from her bad foot, had six in the period and playing as physical as she had all year. They managed to jump out to an 18-9 lead after one quarter despite getting only one point in the period from Jacqueline Schulte.
Northeast started the second quarter off strongly as Emily Bryant drove to the basket and hit a floater and Kristen Sherry posted up inside and got a pass from Blair Schmitz to make it 22-9. But a steal and 3-point play from Ramsey seemed to put the brakes on Northeast and the game slowed down to a prolonged crawl for the next several minutes. Northeast led 25-14 at the break.
The Mustangs went to a 2-3 zone to start the third quarter, hoping to force Northeast to miss their outside shots and hoping to capitalize on the resultant fast break opportunities on the other end. For the first four minutes of the third period, the strategy worked as North Nodaway crept closer, at 27-18. But then, Northeast began getting the ball into Blair Schmitz, who then kicked it out to the open person; Coach Ryan Davis said that his players shot much more confidently when the ball was kicked out to them. Schmitz would go on to lead with six assists, mostly when kicking the ball out to open players. Michelle Schulte hit a pair of open shots, and Jacqueline Schulte added a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
With the Northeast lead back up to 15, North Nodaway tried to extend their pressure out of the zone, but that simply created more opportunities for dribble penetration and offensive rebounding opportunities. Blair Schmitz got a putback and a shot from the high post in transition after a steal and Jacqueline Schulte added a shot from the top of the key and Kenzie Waldeier rounded out the Northeast scoring in the third with a putback with 8 seconds left that left the Bluejays up 42-19.
The Mustangs went to their bench to try and provide a spark, and they went on a brief 4-0 run in the first minute of the fourth quarter as Coach Ashley (Pride) Yount put in Karie Ogle, Paige Baker, and Sarah Workman. Baker hit a pair of free throws and a freshman, Nikki Larabee, posted up and scored inside. But Northeast reestablished control as Rachel Runde came off the bench to hit a pair of left baseline jumpers against the zone and Kristin Sherry hit another one. Michelle Schulte scored off an Emily Bryant steal as they ganged up on and trapped a Mustang player and stripped her of the ball to cap the scoring on the night for Northeast and give them a 50-25 lead. Coach Ryan Davis then turned it over to his bench, and North Nodaway never got the deficit under 20 until the closing seconds.
Tigers Throw Scare into State-Ranked CFX Before Falling
Worth County's girls threw a scare into state-ranked CFX before falling to them 58-18 Monday in district action. The loss ended their season with only two wins on their ledger, both of them near the end of the year. But Coach April Healy said that she was upbeat about the team despite her team's disappointing record and the one-sided score. "They played hard for me the whole season," she said. "A lot of teams could have gotten down on themselves in that sort of situation, but these girls did not. I was spoiled, because they were really easy to coach." Healy said that the time for them to improve would be in the offseason; she said that she would set up a basketball camp so that they could learn more about the game and that she would try to bring in an automatic rebounder so that players could come in and shoot during the summer months. "I'll be asking a lot from them during the offseason, because we will have some big shoes to fill," she said.
Playing their last games as Tigers were Jessica Borey and Haley Green. "We asked Jessica to do everything for us," said Healy. "She played entire games, guarded the other team's best shooter, and brought the ball up the floor for us. She improved so much during the year. Haley Green was physical, rebounded well, and always posted up hard. We ran more sets than anyone this year, and teams had to go to zone against us. I was proud of the fact that everyone on the team learned them and could run them on the floor at any time."
CFX jumped out to a 5-2 lead three minutes into the game. But Worth County successfully slowed them down for a long time with a box and one on Whitney Harrington. Jessica Borey took a charge on her, which seemed to take away a lot of their aggression early on. The Tigers broke CFX's full court press and were able to take big chunks of time off the clock, allowing them to slow the game down against the fast-paced Bulldog squad. After Brooke Adams hit a shot from the high post, cutting it to 5-4 at the 4:16 mark, the score was stuck there as Harrington and Geib were bottled up and nobody else could pick up the slack for CFX. Finally, in an effort to change the tempo of the game, CFX went to man to man, but Jessica Borey burned it as she drove down the right side and fed Haley Green for a layup with 1:40 that put them up 6-5.
Harrington finally got going with an NBA 3-pointer with 1:10 left; Haley Green's free throw with 58 seconds left was answered with a putback by Gieb at the buzzer that made it 10-7. For the first two minutes of the second quarter, the game turned into a defensive slugfest, with neither side able to get anything going. Finally, Harrington scored off a backdoor cut with 5:42 left and followed it up with a 3-pointer from the top of the key off a steal, and things began to fall apart for Worth County. The Tigers slipped back into their old habit of settling for rushed shots and forcing passes that were not there after breaking the press. Haley Green picked up her third foul and had to sit on the bench, and Amanda Yocum was all alone for a fast break layup after a breakdown on transition defense. Jessica Borey's free throw with 3:27 left off a drive cut it to 18-8, but then Chelsea Miller scored two free throws and Rebecca Geib scored off a steal.
The game was still remotely competitive at 22-8, but then a phantom foul call on Jessica Borey, who had a clean block on a Whitney Harrington shot, seemed to take the fight out of the Tigers. The call was so bad that even the CFX fans thought that the official made a bad call against the Tigers. Harrington made one out of two free throws on the play and then following a turnover, converted a four-point play when she knocked down a 3-pointer from 30 feet out to make it 27-8.
Worth County kept up with CFX during the first three minutes of the third quarter. They countered a couple of buckets by Geib and one by Harrington with a shot from the right wing from Ashley Reynolds in transition and a baseline shot from Brooke Adams. That kept the deficit at 33-12. But CFX was pounding the ball inside to Geib and Green drew her fourth foul, which opened the floodgates for another run. They finished off the Tigers with a 14-0 run in a three-minute span than left them up 47-12 before Jessica Borey broke the run with a drive and shot from the high post. The Bulldogs continued to play the game at their speed, getting another rash of transition buckets and layups; Worth County went scoreless for another eight minutes before Borey scored off a steal and drive with 2:20 left in regulation and Delaney Davidson scored an inside shot with 27 seconds left to round out the scoring.
Playing their last games as Tigers were Jessica Borey and Haley Green. "We asked Jessica to do everything for us," said Healy. "She played entire games, guarded the other team's best shooter, and brought the ball up the floor for us. She improved so much during the year. Haley Green was physical, rebounded well, and always posted up hard. We ran more sets than anyone this year, and teams had to go to zone against us. I was proud of the fact that everyone on the team learned them and could run them on the floor at any time."
CFX jumped out to a 5-2 lead three minutes into the game. But Worth County successfully slowed them down for a long time with a box and one on Whitney Harrington. Jessica Borey took a charge on her, which seemed to take away a lot of their aggression early on. The Tigers broke CFX's full court press and were able to take big chunks of time off the clock, allowing them to slow the game down against the fast-paced Bulldog squad. After Brooke Adams hit a shot from the high post, cutting it to 5-4 at the 4:16 mark, the score was stuck there as Harrington and Geib were bottled up and nobody else could pick up the slack for CFX. Finally, in an effort to change the tempo of the game, CFX went to man to man, but Jessica Borey burned it as she drove down the right side and fed Haley Green for a layup with 1:40 that put them up 6-5.
Harrington finally got going with an NBA 3-pointer with 1:10 left; Haley Green's free throw with 58 seconds left was answered with a putback by Gieb at the buzzer that made it 10-7. For the first two minutes of the second quarter, the game turned into a defensive slugfest, with neither side able to get anything going. Finally, Harrington scored off a backdoor cut with 5:42 left and followed it up with a 3-pointer from the top of the key off a steal, and things began to fall apart for Worth County. The Tigers slipped back into their old habit of settling for rushed shots and forcing passes that were not there after breaking the press. Haley Green picked up her third foul and had to sit on the bench, and Amanda Yocum was all alone for a fast break layup after a breakdown on transition defense. Jessica Borey's free throw with 3:27 left off a drive cut it to 18-8, but then Chelsea Miller scored two free throws and Rebecca Geib scored off a steal.
The game was still remotely competitive at 22-8, but then a phantom foul call on Jessica Borey, who had a clean block on a Whitney Harrington shot, seemed to take the fight out of the Tigers. The call was so bad that even the CFX fans thought that the official made a bad call against the Tigers. Harrington made one out of two free throws on the play and then following a turnover, converted a four-point play when she knocked down a 3-pointer from 30 feet out to make it 27-8.
Worth County kept up with CFX during the first three minutes of the third quarter. They countered a couple of buckets by Geib and one by Harrington with a shot from the right wing from Ashley Reynolds in transition and a baseline shot from Brooke Adams. That kept the deficit at 33-12. But CFX was pounding the ball inside to Geib and Green drew her fourth foul, which opened the floodgates for another run. They finished off the Tigers with a 14-0 run in a three-minute span than left them up 47-12 before Jessica Borey broke the run with a drive and shot from the high post. The Bulldogs continued to play the game at their speed, getting another rash of transition buckets and layups; Worth County went scoreless for another eight minutes before Borey scored off a steal and drive with 2:20 left in regulation and Delaney Davidson scored an inside shot with 27 seconds left to round out the scoring.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Public smoking ban could change habits, affect business
A proposed bill in the Missouri legislature that would ban most smoking in public places has some local businesses owners concerned. They say that the bill would be unenforceable and that people would just find ways around the ban anyway. Jim Harrell of Jim's Friendly said that as an ex-smoker, he said that second-hand smoke didn't bother him, but that it bothered others. But he said that it would hurt city businesses. "I know of 2-3 bars in Independence that closed after they passed a smoking ban there," he said. "One bar had been there for several years." And he said that up in Iowa, which has such a smoking ban, he said that most people would simply go outside to have a smoke anyway, which would render such a law unenforceable. However, Harrell said that he could live with a bill that allowed designated smoking areas.
Barb Rowe of the Sheridan Diner said that "it was a good way for the government to lose tax dollars," saying that the government would have to raise taxes on other people to make up for the people who quit smoking and quit paying the $6.10/carton tax. Rowe said that people would simply "sneak a smoke" to get around public smoking bans. "I worked in substance abuse for several years, and knowing how addictive these things can be, it is very hard for people to quit smoking," she said. She said that she had gotten no complaints about second-hand smoke from customers.
Kevin Austin of Country Corners said that he would not have a problem with such a ban, provided that it allowed for designated smoking areas. He talked about the work of Smokebusters, an R-III student organization that discourages people from starting smoking; they gave a presentation to the Worth County School Board asking them to make the school smoke-free. He said that the young people were the ones who would live with the decisions of today; "If they want such a ban, I'm all for it," he said. Austin said that such a ban, combined with increased cigarette taxes and corporate mergers, would drive more people to quit in the coming years.
Proponents of the public smoking ban say that it is not a matter of personal choice, but that it is a public health issue; they say that there is a link between second-hand smoke and health problems. For instance, the Missouri Youth Adult Alliance cites figures in Italy saying that heart attacks dropped by around 10% among older adults after such a ban was enacted in Italy. But the gambling industry is one of the big opponents of such a ban, citing what they say are hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues annually in states that have such a ban compared to states which don't have such a ban. For instance, Missouri, which doesn't have such a ban, gained revenues while states that do have such a ban lost gambling revenues. That would mean less money for schools, which take a portion of money from gambling revenues.
Barb Rowe of the Sheridan Diner said that "it was a good way for the government to lose tax dollars," saying that the government would have to raise taxes on other people to make up for the people who quit smoking and quit paying the $6.10/carton tax. Rowe said that people would simply "sneak a smoke" to get around public smoking bans. "I worked in substance abuse for several years, and knowing how addictive these things can be, it is very hard for people to quit smoking," she said. She said that she had gotten no complaints about second-hand smoke from customers.
Kevin Austin of Country Corners said that he would not have a problem with such a ban, provided that it allowed for designated smoking areas. He talked about the work of Smokebusters, an R-III student organization that discourages people from starting smoking; they gave a presentation to the Worth County School Board asking them to make the school smoke-free. He said that the young people were the ones who would live with the decisions of today; "If they want such a ban, I'm all for it," he said. Austin said that such a ban, combined with increased cigarette taxes and corporate mergers, would drive more people to quit in the coming years.
Proponents of the public smoking ban say that it is not a matter of personal choice, but that it is a public health issue; they say that there is a link between second-hand smoke and health problems. For instance, the Missouri Youth Adult Alliance cites figures in Italy saying that heart attacks dropped by around 10% among older adults after such a ban was enacted in Italy. But the gambling industry is one of the big opponents of such a ban, citing what they say are hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues annually in states that have such a ban compared to states which don't have such a ban. For instance, Missouri, which doesn't have such a ban, gained revenues while states that do have such a ban lost gambling revenues. That would mean less money for schools, which take a portion of money from gambling revenues.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Trojans Butched!
Ashley Reynolds scored 15 points, all in the second half, as Worth County's girls picked up their second win of the year in an emotional senior night. It was the last home game for Haley Green and Jessica Borey; however, it was Reynolds who carried the Tigers in the second half and refused to let them lose against the Trojans and allow them to pick up their lone win of the season. Her teammates nickname her "Butch" and for good reason, as her physical play was the difference after a ragged first half by both teams.
Green scored on an easy layup after a drive down the right side from Jessica Borey and Borey drove into the high post for a 15-footer to make it 4-0 right off the bat. However, the Tigers were victimized by the hacking and fouling problems that had plagued them earlier in the year as Reynolds was sent to the bench with three fouls and Green with two. Nodaway-Holt fought back to tie at 4; however, the Tigers made a run with Green and Reynolds on the bench as Brooke Adams connected from inside and Jessica Borey scored off a Lauren Null steal off the Tiger press. Worth County was able to use their zone press to good effect against the slower Trojans all night.
Whitney Keith's free throw closed the gap to within 10-9 at the 7:09 mark of the second quarter; however, Brooke Gilland connected from the right wing and Jessica Borey scored a 3-pointer in transition as the Tigers pushed their lead back up to 15-9. But Worth County was fortunate to be ahead 17-13 at the break as they were constantly making bad passes in the period; however, Nodaway-Holt was not much better at taking care of the ball.
But with the game in doubt, Ashley Reynolds scored the first nine points of the third period for the Tigers; she scored on an inside shot, a free throw, a baseline jumper, and two rebound putbacks as the lead swelled to nine points several times in the period. Lauren Null's free throws with one minute left made it 30-21. But then, Nodaway-Holt, sensing their last chance to get a win slipping away, put on a press. Jodi Holmes closed out the third with a left wing shot, Alycia Keith opened the fourth with a 3-pointer, and Crystal Poppa hit two free throws to bring it back to within 30-28. But then, the Trojans got "Butched" again; they seemingly got a stop and a defensive board when Reynolds came out of nowhere to strip the rebounder and lay it in to make it 32-28. That was a four-point swing; instead of the game being tied, the Tigers were up by four. Holmes hit a 3-pointer, but Brooke Gilland hit a free throw and Haley Green scored on an inside shot after Jessica Borey drove the right baseline to make it 35-31.
Back came the Trojans again as Holmes was seemingly playing the role of Hector, stealing the ball at will and denying the Tigers chances to run the clock out. Holmes' two free throws and an inside shot from Hailey Poppa finally tied the game at 35 with 3:38 left. Brooke Gilland then traveled with the basketball and Nodaway-Holt came back with a chance to take the lead. But unlike other occasions when they had the lead late in the game, the Tigers did not roll over, and the Trojans got "Butched" again. Hailey Poppa drove down the right baseline with just over three minutes left, going in for an ill-fated layup that would have put the Trojans in front for the first time all game. But she traveled with the basketball, and Reynolds found a seam in the high post, connecting from 15 feet to put the Tigers back in front. Holmes missed two 3-pointers that would have put Nodaway-Holt up by one, and they never got another chance as Reynolds connected again from the same spot to make it 39-35 with 1:52 left.
At that point, even though it was still a game, the looks of defeat were apparent in Nodaway-Holts' eyes; after the teams exchanged turnovers, Haley Green jumped a pass and the Tigers ran a big chunk off the clock before Reynolds was fouled and went to the line for a 1-1. She missed, but Green got a key offensive rebound and Crystal Poppa shoved Reynolds in frustration with 40 seconds left and drew an intentional foul; Reynolds connected to give the Tigers a 41-35 lead. Jessica Borey hit another pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to round out the scoring for the Tigers.
The game was rounded out by an emotional senior night tribute in which seniors Haley Green and Jessica Borey got a group hug from all their teammates before going out onto the floor with their parents.
One of the key stats for the Tigers was in the rebounding department; they outrebounded Nodaway-Holt, an excellent rebounding team, 38-33 for the night. Besides Reynolds, Brooke Adams had 8, Jessica Borey had 7 despite her small 5'1" size, and Haley Green and Brooke Gilland have 5 each. Borey had six steals to lead the Tigers; Brooke Adams, Haley Green, and Lauren Null each had 3. Shooting had been a problem all year for the Tigers and they still missed their share; however, Reynolds shot 7 for 11 from the field Friday night as she followed Coach April Healy's advice to "get her feet set."
Green scored on an easy layup after a drive down the right side from Jessica Borey and Borey drove into the high post for a 15-footer to make it 4-0 right off the bat. However, the Tigers were victimized by the hacking and fouling problems that had plagued them earlier in the year as Reynolds was sent to the bench with three fouls and Green with two. Nodaway-Holt fought back to tie at 4; however, the Tigers made a run with Green and Reynolds on the bench as Brooke Adams connected from inside and Jessica Borey scored off a Lauren Null steal off the Tiger press. Worth County was able to use their zone press to good effect against the slower Trojans all night.
Whitney Keith's free throw closed the gap to within 10-9 at the 7:09 mark of the second quarter; however, Brooke Gilland connected from the right wing and Jessica Borey scored a 3-pointer in transition as the Tigers pushed their lead back up to 15-9. But Worth County was fortunate to be ahead 17-13 at the break as they were constantly making bad passes in the period; however, Nodaway-Holt was not much better at taking care of the ball.
But with the game in doubt, Ashley Reynolds scored the first nine points of the third period for the Tigers; she scored on an inside shot, a free throw, a baseline jumper, and two rebound putbacks as the lead swelled to nine points several times in the period. Lauren Null's free throws with one minute left made it 30-21. But then, Nodaway-Holt, sensing their last chance to get a win slipping away, put on a press. Jodi Holmes closed out the third with a left wing shot, Alycia Keith opened the fourth with a 3-pointer, and Crystal Poppa hit two free throws to bring it back to within 30-28. But then, the Trojans got "Butched" again; they seemingly got a stop and a defensive board when Reynolds came out of nowhere to strip the rebounder and lay it in to make it 32-28. That was a four-point swing; instead of the game being tied, the Tigers were up by four. Holmes hit a 3-pointer, but Brooke Gilland hit a free throw and Haley Green scored on an inside shot after Jessica Borey drove the right baseline to make it 35-31.
Back came the Trojans again as Holmes was seemingly playing the role of Hector, stealing the ball at will and denying the Tigers chances to run the clock out. Holmes' two free throws and an inside shot from Hailey Poppa finally tied the game at 35 with 3:38 left. Brooke Gilland then traveled with the basketball and Nodaway-Holt came back with a chance to take the lead. But unlike other occasions when they had the lead late in the game, the Tigers did not roll over, and the Trojans got "Butched" again. Hailey Poppa drove down the right baseline with just over three minutes left, going in for an ill-fated layup that would have put the Trojans in front for the first time all game. But she traveled with the basketball, and Reynolds found a seam in the high post, connecting from 15 feet to put the Tigers back in front. Holmes missed two 3-pointers that would have put Nodaway-Holt up by one, and they never got another chance as Reynolds connected again from the same spot to make it 39-35 with 1:52 left.
At that point, even though it was still a game, the looks of defeat were apparent in Nodaway-Holts' eyes; after the teams exchanged turnovers, Haley Green jumped a pass and the Tigers ran a big chunk off the clock before Reynolds was fouled and went to the line for a 1-1. She missed, but Green got a key offensive rebound and Crystal Poppa shoved Reynolds in frustration with 40 seconds left and drew an intentional foul; Reynolds connected to give the Tigers a 41-35 lead. Jessica Borey hit another pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to round out the scoring for the Tigers.
The game was rounded out by an emotional senior night tribute in which seniors Haley Green and Jessica Borey got a group hug from all their teammates before going out onto the floor with their parents.
One of the key stats for the Tigers was in the rebounding department; they outrebounded Nodaway-Holt, an excellent rebounding team, 38-33 for the night. Besides Reynolds, Brooke Adams had 8, Jessica Borey had 7 despite her small 5'1" size, and Haley Green and Brooke Gilland have 5 each. Borey had six steals to lead the Tigers; Brooke Adams, Haley Green, and Lauren Null each had 3. Shooting had been a problem all year for the Tigers and they still missed their share; however, Reynolds shot 7 for 11 from the field Friday night as she followed Coach April Healy's advice to "get her feet set."
Dismal Finale for Worth County Boys
In a dismal finale for Worth County's boys, they lost to the Nodaway-Holt Trojans in their final regular season home game of the year 60-43. Northeast Nodaway's five point loss to the same team earlier in the year all of a sudden did not seem so bad after the way that the Trojans manhandled the Tigers Friday night. Seemingly demoralized after their heartbreaking one-point loss to Princeton, the Tiger boys limp into districts having lost five out of their last six, most of them blowout losses in games that were winnable on paper. Playing in their last home game of the year were Jonny Hughes and Kyler Hiatt, both of whom will be tough to replace next year.
The game was essentially over after the first quarter. Michael Brown ran wild for the Trojans in the period, scoring the first nine points of the game off steals and 3-pointers; he would go on to score 14 in the period as Nodaway-Holt hung 21 on Worth County and led 21-10. Jonny Hughes tried to keep up, scoring six of Worth County's first eight points off a drive, a baseline jumper, and a backdoor cut off an Eli Mullock drive. However, nobody else wanted the ball as passes were going through peoples' hands. And when Kyler Hiatt went to the bench with two fouls late in the first quarter, the Tigers fell apart, settling for quick 3's rather than trying to get a good shot.
Zach Harmening took a charge early in the second quarter, which seemed to make the Trojans think twice about going to the rim for a while and slowing them down. But Worth County could not take advantage of their lull as Hiatt picked up his third foul, balls continued to go through peoples' hands, and the Tigers could only muster six points. Rather than being down by single digits and having a chance to make a game of it in the third period, Worth County still trailed by 11 at the half, 27-16.
Hughes scored a driving layup to cut it to nine and Brown picked up his fourth foul for the Trojans, but once again, Worth County failed to take advantage of their chance to get back in the game. Easy shots went in and out, players began showing frustration and not getting back on defense, and they were doing too much dribbling without a purpose on offense. Consequently, Nodaway-Holt made a 12-0 run, mostly with Brown on the bench, to lead 39-18 before Hughes broke the run with a shot from the right wing. But a 7-0 Nodaway-Holt run late in the third and early in the fourth was capped when Carson Long snatched an offensive board from three Tigers players who were standing and staring at the ball and put it back in at the 7:00 mark.
Worth County finally got a mild rally going as free throws from Todd Harding and a Jonny Hughes 3-pointer and a free throw made the score more respectable at 52-36. But Hughes fouled out and Brown came back off the bench to hit free throws down the stretch for Nodaway-Holt.
The game was essentially over after the first quarter. Michael Brown ran wild for the Trojans in the period, scoring the first nine points of the game off steals and 3-pointers; he would go on to score 14 in the period as Nodaway-Holt hung 21 on Worth County and led 21-10. Jonny Hughes tried to keep up, scoring six of Worth County's first eight points off a drive, a baseline jumper, and a backdoor cut off an Eli Mullock drive. However, nobody else wanted the ball as passes were going through peoples' hands. And when Kyler Hiatt went to the bench with two fouls late in the first quarter, the Tigers fell apart, settling for quick 3's rather than trying to get a good shot.
Zach Harmening took a charge early in the second quarter, which seemed to make the Trojans think twice about going to the rim for a while and slowing them down. But Worth County could not take advantage of their lull as Hiatt picked up his third foul, balls continued to go through peoples' hands, and the Tigers could only muster six points. Rather than being down by single digits and having a chance to make a game of it in the third period, Worth County still trailed by 11 at the half, 27-16.
Hughes scored a driving layup to cut it to nine and Brown picked up his fourth foul for the Trojans, but once again, Worth County failed to take advantage of their chance to get back in the game. Easy shots went in and out, players began showing frustration and not getting back on defense, and they were doing too much dribbling without a purpose on offense. Consequently, Nodaway-Holt made a 12-0 run, mostly with Brown on the bench, to lead 39-18 before Hughes broke the run with a shot from the right wing. But a 7-0 Nodaway-Holt run late in the third and early in the fourth was capped when Carson Long snatched an offensive board from three Tigers players who were standing and staring at the ball and put it back in at the 7:00 mark.
Worth County finally got a mild rally going as free throws from Todd Harding and a Jonny Hughes 3-pointer and a free throw made the score more respectable at 52-36. But Hughes fouled out and Brown came back off the bench to hit free throws down the stretch for Nodaway-Holt.
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