Maifeld’s shot sinks Tigers

By Phil Cobb | January 24, 2024 |

ANTHONY CRANE/TIMES-TRIBUNE
Worth County senior Kynah Steele shoots a foul shot on Tuesday night against Rock Port in Grant City.

GRANT CITY, Mo. — Worth County came up just short of their first win of the season Tuesday night in Grant City. The Rock Port Blue Jays took the lead with seven seconds remaining and held on to beat the Tigers, 36-34.

Senior Kynah Steele was the driving force on both ends of the court Tuesday night. Steele scored five points early in the first quarter, helping the Tigers jump out to a 7-5 halfway through the first quarter.

“For us to put up points in the first quarter is big, and we’re slowly starting to do that more often,” Worth County coach Tiffany Bliley said. “In our last game we put some points on the board early, but I think tonight it was the defense that really gave us that spark early.”

Rock Port’s response was an 8-2 run over the final three minutes of the first quarter. The Blue Jays led 13-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Steele scored five more points in the second quarter, but it was the senior’s defense that helped Worth County regain the lead. Freshman Kristen Tracy got the ball rolling with an early basket, then a steal by Steele led to free throws that cut the Rock Port lead to one.

The Tigers, and specifically Steele, made things hard on the Blue Jays offense from that point. Worth County forced a turnover on Rock Port’s next possession, then Steele ended 3-straight possessions with a block.

Riley Ridge gave the Tigers a 14-13 lead with 2:34 left in the half. The Blue Jays scored their only point of the quarter, tying the game at 14 with 30 seconds later.

Worth County forced two more turnovers over the final two minutes with each leading to baskets for Steele. The Tigers turned those points into a 19-14 halftime lead.

“We knew coming into this that it was going to be a physical game after watching film,” Bliley said. “I think that is where Kynah thrives. When she knows she can get physical, she’s all in and I felt like tonight she understood her assignment very well and executed better than I’ve seen her all year.”

Steele added to her block total on Rock Port’s opening possession. But points were hard to come by in the third quarter as neither team scored until Tracy’s layup to put the Tigers up 21-14 at the 5:13 mark.

The Blue Jays slowly cut into the lead with four-straight points, cutting the lead to three. Sophomore guard Rylee Ruckman struggled from 3-point range Tuesday night, but her 3-pointer at the 2:38 mark helped the Tigers to a 25-20 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Worth County kept pace early in the fourth quarter in spite of Rock Port finding its rhythm from 3-point range. Senior Chaney Volger made two threes in the first two minutes of the quarter, but each time the Tigers had a response.

“I felt like the energy tonight was much different than we’ve had all year,” Bliley said. “If they hit a shot, it didn’t affect our mentality. We just decided that we would go score ourselves and that energy played a part in us continuing to score points. In the past, we would get down on ourselves and quit playing defense. At no point tonight did I feel like that was the case.”

Volger’s third 3-pointer of the quarter cut the Worth County lead to one at 31-30 with 4:30 to go. Steele immediately gave her team the cushion back, Euro-stepping her way to a 3-point play.

The second half of the quarter showed that the Tigers just couldn’t overcome the Rock Port 3-pointer. Addy Maifield rattled in a three to cut the lead to one, followed by a Blue Jays’ free throw at the 1:34 mark to tie the game at 34.

Maifeld then made the biggest shot of the night with seven seconds left in the game to give Rock Port the game’s final lead. The Tigers had a timeout left after the basket but didn’t want to give the Blue Jays time to set up a press.

Steele led the Tigers with 14 points, while Tracy finished second on the team with 10 points. Worth County will host Nodaway Valley on Friday night and then winless North Harrison on Monday.

“I think that they’re seeing the strides that they’re making, I’m seeing all the strides, and our fans are seeing the strides,” Bliley said. “I think that we’re getting better and I told them that we have Nodaway Valley on Friday night and that is going to be a tough test. But after that, I think there are some very winnable games in our future if we keep playing hard. I hope that in the next couple of weeks we start putting wins in the win column.”