Mac Attack paves the way

AFTON — Nodaway Valley's girls basketball team picked up a convincing 71-28 win at East Union Friday with Paige McElfish leading the way.

McElfish's 28 points came almost entirely in the first three quarters, as she filled up the hoop from the paint and the perimeter.

“Paige pretty well took over that game," Nodaway Valley coach Tom Thompson said.

After a long string of losses to the Wolverines, East Union competed in the first quarter and trailed just 10-9 several minutes into the game.

Callie Gossman's three first half 3-pointers helped the Eagles remain competitive.

"She didn’t shoot well down at Diagonal (0-9 in a 54-22 loss) and she was pretty downtrodden after the game," East Union coach Mike Cooley said. "We talked to her a little bit and she stayed a little while after practice and worked on getting more arch in her shot.”

It was McElfish who awed though, with 17 points at the half. She shot 11-of-15 from the floor, which included a 2-of-3 effort from 3-point land.

She just narrowly missed a triple-double as she grabbed 11 rebounds and stole the ball nine times.

Josie Clarke and Annie Herr both tossed in 15 points each for good measure.

The Wolverines took a 36-20 lead into halftime as many of the squad's 16 steals came in the first half.

“We’ve got four, five, six guards that we can rotate in and out and maintain pressure all the time," Thompson said.

Sidney McFee and Mara Weis both tallied six points for the Eagles as East Union shot 12-of-32 (37.5 percent) from the floor.

“The girls felt good about how they played compared to where they were," Cooley said.

UP NEXT —Nodaway Valley (3-0) heads to Lenox (2-1) for a 6:15 p.m. game Tuesday. East Union (0-2), will play at Mount Ayr (3-0) on Tuesday at 6:15 p.m.

Nodaway Valley (71) — Paige McElfish 11 4-7 28, Josie Clarke 6 3-3 15, Annie Herr 7 0-0 15, 3-point goals — 5 (Paige McElfish 2, Christiana Wilson 1, Annie Herr 1, Reagan Weinheimer 1). FG Shooting — 25-53 (49 percent). Rebounds — 30 (McElfish 11, Josie Clarke 4, Riley Lonsdale 4, Annie Herr 4). Assists — 6 (Addie Lamb 2). Steals — 16 (Paige McElfish 9, Keeley Shantz 3, Annie Herr 2). Blocked shots — 5 (Josie Clarke 4). Turnovers — N/A . Team Fouls — 11. Fouled out — None.

East Union (28) — Scoring — Callie Gossman 9, Mara Weis 6, Sidney McFee 6. 3-point goals — 3 (Callie Gossman 3). FG Shooting 12-32 (37.5 percent) Rebounds — N/A. Assists — N/A Team Fouls — 15. Fouled out — None.

NV — 17 19 26 9

EU — 9 11 6 2