Mustangs dumped in Fairfax Invitational finals
HENRY JANSSEN/DAILY FORUM
Madison Thompson denies Rock Port’s Jackie Bradley a high-percentage look on Friday night. The Mustangs fell to the Blue Jays by 25 points.
After trailing by just three points entering the second quarter at 9-6, the North Nodaway girls’ basketball team never had a shot on Friday night, falling 52-27 in the championship of the Fairfax Invitational Tournament.
The game was moved from Saturday to Friday and played in Tarkio due to potentially icy roads on the weekend.
The Blue Jays enacted a full-court press throughout the game to great effect.
Rock Port head coach Jim Skillen said that the press is a major part of his team’s makeup.
“We try to guard the whole court, and some nights are better than others,” Skillen said. “They have a lot of size, but not a lot of quickness. I don’t think it’s a very good matchup for them against us. I think our athleticism wore on them. That has an effect as the game goes on.
“We’ve put together a little bit of a winning streak while beating some good teams.”
Kelcie Gaines led Skillen’s side with 13 points. Jackie Bradley was the only other Blue Jay in double figures with 12, but Dayle Davis and Journi Burke were both on the cusp with nine.
North Nodaway did not have any girls enter double-digits in scoring. Madison Thompson scored eight points, and Audrey Trimble and Kristen Herndon each posted a pair of buckets.
Mustang head coach Sami Jackson said that most of Friday night’s mistakes were psychological.
“We were prepared for the press, tonight we handled it a lot better until the end of the game,” Jackson said. “We weren’t connecting on our shots, but in the first half, the press wasn’t as big of a bother as it was before. We got frustrated really quickly. That’s something that’s been killing us all season. We slowly start to hang our heads, and we can never come back and win. We’ve got to work on coming back from a deficit like that.”
The Mustangs will travel twice next week, first to Osborn on Tuesday then to Nodaway-Holt on Friday.
SCORING – NORTH NODAWAY (7-7): Thompson 8, K. Herndon 4, Trimble 4, B. Herndon 3, Davison 3, O’Riley 3, Oberhauser 2.
ROCK PORT (12-3): Gaines 13, Bradley 12, Burke 9, Davis 9, Chamberlain 4, LaHue 3, Brown 2.
HENRY JANSSEN/DAILY FORUM
North Nodaway’s Kristin Herndon makes a move and looks toward the cup in Friday night’s loss. The Mustangs will play again Tuesday night in Osborn.
HENRY JANSSEN/DAILY FORUM
Keagan O’Riley fakes right and goes left toward the post in a loss to Rock Port. The Mustangs were dominated throughout in the championship of the Fairfax Invite.
