Thunder earn first district title in program history

TUCKER MCCOLLOUGH/THE FORUM
Nodaway Valley won the Class 2, District 16 Tournament on Saturday in Maysville.

MAYSVILLE, Mo. — With its victory on Saturday, Nodaway Valley won its first-ever district championship since becoming the Thunder. The co-op between the school districts of Nodaway-Holt and West Nodaway known as the Thunder defeated Albany 63-41.

For the first time in over a month, the Thunder were at full strength as senior Savanna Marriott returned after missing the last five weeks of the season.

“It was good to have her back,” Thunder coach Mitch Barnes said, “… the first basket of the game was her three.”

Marriott initiated the Thunder’s scoring with a 3-pointer, which was coupled with an Ava Graham layup.

However, Albany responded by applying pressure, drawing fouls, and hitting a 3-pointer to take an 8-5 lead, prompting a Nodaway Valley timeout midway through the quarter.

“Nobody has pressed us this year, so we respond by pressing them back,” Barnes said.

After the timeout, Nodaway Valley got to its bread and butter with Graham and went on an 11-0 run. Quality offense along with multiple stops on defense led by Paige Hanson and Paidyn Linville, allowed them to go up 16-8 at the end of the quarter.

“They got a nice young post player in Albany (Jayden Hillyard), but it was important for me to … continue to work towards the prize after,” Graham said.

The second quarter started with Nodaway Valley working the free throw line, getting Albany in foul trouble early. Jayden Hillyard kept the game in reach for the Warriors scoring eight of their team’s 10 points in the quarter. Nodaway Valley was running away with the game as the quarter ended, and if Albany wanted a chance, they needed to adjust.

“Nobody has put good hard pressure on them, so that definitely helped us,” Barnes said.

The start of the third quarter shook the gym as Albany went on a 12-2 run, closing the lead to within three and forcing Graham to pick up her third foul. In response, Nodaway Valley called a timeout to regroup and regain focus and ask his team a basic question.

“During my timeout it was simple,” Barnes said “I just asked them if they wanted to be district champions.”

After the timeout, the Thunder picked it up, giving maximum effort and diving after every ball. They ended the quarter on an 8-3 run to go up 41-33.

“I love their grit, their determination and their hard work,” Barnes said.

Nodaway Valley continued its tear in the fourth.

Annalee Livengood went 100 percent from the charity stripe and Gracie Larabee made two layups to put the game away. The Thunder won 63-41 and were crowned Class 2 District 16 champions, making it the first time in program history.

“It means everything, we have been trying at this for four years, and this is the first time our school has ever won a district championship,” Graham said.

Graham led the scoring with 24, followed by Livengood with 13, Hanson with 11, Marriott with seven and Linville and Larabee with four, respectively.

The win puts Nodaway Valley in the state tournament bracket. They will face North Platte (24-4) in sectionals on Tuesday in Dearborn at 6 p.m.

“We got to keep our heads, keep pushing in practice, and we don’t stop here,” Hanson said.