North Andrew girls hoops tops King City to win Class 1 District 15 Championship

(ST. JOSEPH, Mo.)— With a little over 6 seconds left, King City had one last shot to either force overtime or knock a 3-pointer as they trailed 26-24.

Right as King City junior Brylin Armfield caught the inbounds pass, she immediately fired off a long mid-range shot that hit the rim. Sophomore Allie Schneider corralled the rebound and threw it up, but it bounced off the rim and into the hands the of North Andrew sophomore Kyra Lassen and the rest was history.

“In a game like this, every possession matter, every rebound matter,” North Andrew coach Audrey Elifrits said. “Coming out of the locker room we talked about rebounding and getting through the box block screens we got called on a couple times. After the last timeout (before the final possession) it was do or die time.”

From the start of tipoff, the Cardinals and Wildcats were a defensive slugfest. The games first points didn’t come until 4:16 in the first quarter, with North Andrew senior Lillian Richardson knocking down a long 2-pointer.

King City responded with a layup from freshman Kinley Potter. Potter was the engine for the Wildcats offense throughout the night, finishing with 10 points.

The remainder of the first half continued as a low-scoring affair, as both teams were knotted up 11-11 at halftime.

The beginning of the second half initially appeared to be a momentum swing for King City as a quick 4-0 run was capped off by junior Brylin Armfield coming with the steal and connecting with Potter in transition. Elifrits responded with a quick timeout to regroup and attempt to swing the momentum in the Cardinals favor.

North Andrew got their desired result as they tied the game at 15, with one of the baskets coming from leading scorer senior Briley Rainez who scored 10 points with most of them coming in the second half.

“I really wanted this game because it's my senior year. We won it last year and we beat them at home,” Rainez. “ I saw we kept going down for a second. I wanted to get back in front and give opportunities to my other teammates. I love these girls and I want to keep our season going.”

While the Wildcats managed to keep it tied at the end of third quarter at 21 a piece, the Cardinals came out in front at the start of the 4th and never looked back to claim the Class 1 District 15 District Championship.

As North Andrew advanced they will face off against a familiar opponent in the Rockport Blue Jays.

“I'm definitely nervous (for the next round) because you never know what can happen,” Rainez said. And if it's Rock Port court again, that has me a little nervous.”

North Andrew will take on Rockport in the Class 1 State Sectionals at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 2 at St. Joseph Christian.