Worth County suffers first GRC setback despite 30 points from New
JON DYKSTRA/THE TIMES-TRIBUNE
Worth County junior Caleb New pulls up for a shot against North Andrew on Tuesday in Rosendale.
ROSENDALE, Mo. — With wins over King City and Albany before the break, Worth County found itself in a tie alongside Princeton for first in the GRC West going into Tuesday’s road game at North Andrew. The Tigers won the GRC West two seasons ago and Princeton won it last season.
The two teams appeared to be on a collision course for a couple weeks from now in Grant City to determine the conference crown. North Andrew (7-5; 2-1 GRC) had other ideas though and played spoiler with a 64-57 upset over the Tigers on Tuesday.
“It is a conference game right off the break,” Worth County junior Caleb New said. “We got to be ready to play defense and rebound. They are a physical team. I thought we just weren’t getting the 50-50 balls and little things hurt us.
“… This is one that we really needed, so now we are going to have to beat Princeton for sure and with the rest of our conference games from now on. That is our one hiccup that we can have.”
Worth County (5-3; 2-1 GRC) had a 17-13 lead after freshman Brock Healy knocked down a 3-pointer. Foul trouble for New and Cole Ruby derailed the Tigers’ momentum with a 10-2 Cardinal run.
New checked back in late in the second quarter and immediately sparked a run with back-to-back scores followed by a Ethan Lininger bucket then two more New scores to close the half with a 29-24 lead.
“He is getting to where he can get to spots and elevate,” Worth County coach Les New said. “He hit some good 15-footers off the bounce which is what he has been working on because they are going to run him off the 3-point line, so he has got to be able to shot-fake and drive.”
All the Tiger momentum evaporated during the halftime break as North Andrew repeatedly punished them in the post with post ups and offensive rebounds. The Cardinals went on a 16-4 run for a 40-33 lead.
“We weathered the storm and then just came out flat in the second half,” Caleb New said.
Worth County answered back with its three top scorers making plays as New hit a 3-pointer, Healy came through with a floater and Ruby had a steal and layup for a 7-0 run in the final minute to tie the game at 40-40 after three quarters.
The two teams traded baskets early in the fourth, but rebounding bit the Tigers again. On a third-chance possession, Levi McAfee hit a go-ahead 3-pointer.
“We had some open shots, but just missed absolutely everything and never got a rebound,” Les New said. “We are a jump-shot shooting team. Sometimes you are going to hit them and sometimes you aren’t, but when you miss, you gotta rebound.”
Caleb New answered with a basket to pull within one, but North Andrew scored the next nine points before New ended the run with an and-1 with 2:28. The Cardinals went on another quick 4-0 run to essentially put the game away.
“They were really quick and we didn’t rotate very well,” Worth County junior Hayden Sanders said. “That was really our problem.”
Caleb New finished with 30 points despite his outside shot not falling as Worth County only had four 3-pointers as a team. Healy had 11 points, Ruby and Sanders each had five, and Ryder Smyser and Lininger each had two points.
“We are a 3-point shooting team and, of course, that didn’t really work out tonight,” Sanders said. “We are trying to figure out how to drive, get the ball to our big and there is a lot of work to be done, but I think that we can do it.”
Noeth Cook had 24 points for North Andrew while Isaac Coats added 17 points.
Worth County hosts Stanberry on Friday before going into next week’s Stanberry Tournament as the No. 1 seed.
