Sports

CURTIS, Neb. — Blanked through an entire half, a senior suddenly blazed the way to victory and Medicine Valley followed it brilliantly Thursday night. Sam Heapy’s 66-yard kickoff return sparked the Raiders’ 24-point second half as they edged tough Wauneta-Palisade, 24-22...

HOLDREGE, Neb. — Fear on the eve of Friday the 13th was never an option for McCook High’s volleyball team. Or any other night, but the Bison’s fearless and confident approach really paid off against rival Holdrege. Elsa Wilcox crushed 10 kills, Tiara Matson made 10 digs and Liviya Wier served five of McCook’s 10 aces Thursday evening...

Gazette lazy couch potato R.B. (Really Bald) Headley continues his college picks by declaring: BIG RED will regoup and finish this wek against a less-than-stellar Northern Illinois team: Nebraska 34, NIU 20. Other picks from R.B., who’s 65-13 and did Top 25 picks on Thursday:...

McCOOK, Neb. — Weights? Who needs weight lifting when you are: Working construction. Training horses. Moving teammates around softball bases. Lifting auto insurance rates. “I never have to worry about her work ethic,” McCook High coach Jason Cochran said about Bison softball blaster Kaylin Martin following another powerful Bison win, 15-4, over rival Lexington...

MAYWOOD, Neb. — Senior Avery Johnson’s 15 kills and four ace blocks helped power the Maywood-Hayes Center Wolves through a 25-5, 25-13, 25-18 sweep of visiting Maxwell Thursday night. The Wolves remained unbeaten at 7-0 as senior teammate Jaycee Lapp served 23 points on a 25-for-25 effort with three aces...

Southern Valley senior Grace Hogeland (4) sets up a teammate during the Eagles’ 25-18, 25-15, 25-16 home win over Southwest Thursday evening. Southern Valley raised its season record to 5-1.

COZAD, Neb. — Southern Valley/Alma Saints watched the game slip away early and couldn’t recover in a 13-3 softball loss to Cozad on Thursday. The Saints are now 8-2 this season. Cozad took the lead oThe Southern Valley/Alma Saints Varsity struggled to put runs on the board and had a tough time defensively containing Cozad, giving up 13 runs...

McCOOK, Neb. — The McCook Community College golf team led the Region IX field after the first day of play at the Heritage Hills Golf course on Thursday. The Indians lead Eastern Wyoming by six shots. “It was a very windy day and it made it a mentally exhausting day,” MCC Coach Tyler Loop said...

GARDEN CITY, Kan. – The McCook Community College volleyball team completed a season-sweep over Garden City Community College Thursday, but it didn’t come easy. The Lady Indians won 29-27, 25-22, 22-25, 25-11. “It only took three sets for us to warm up, but set 4 is what MCC Volleyball should look like all the time,” MCC Coach Hayley Kobza said...

After taking a 20-7 halftime lead over the North Platte St. Pat’s Irish Friday, Chase County trailed 21-20 after a pair of Irish touchdowns in less than 10 seconds with more than a quarter of football left to play. The Longhorns built some character, responding just two plays later with a 52-yard touchdown by Kobe Clevenger to put the Longhorns back up for good en route to a 35-28 win...

McCook High teammates greet senior Kaylin Martin after she crushed a three-run homer that finished the 16-4 varsity softball victory over Lexington Thursday evening. McCook finished 6-1 on this fantastic seven-game home stand starting one week ago tonight. More details will be featured in Friday's McCook Gazette...

McCOOK, Neb. — The York Dukes aren’t too worried about entering Weiland Field Friday evening. “I can’t imagine it being a bigger crowd than what we saw last week (at Blair),” coach Glen Snodgrass said about York’s 14-0 win which spoiled those Blair Bears’ Homecoming. “They were ranked No. 4 in the state. But our guys have been in a lot of big environments.”...

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — The McCook High freshman football team defeated North Platte, 22-20, with three second-quarter touchdown runs on Tuesday. Coach Bill Ramsay reported the Bison built a 22-6 halftime lead and then stopped North Platte’s final potential game-tying two-point conversion. Ramsay offered these remarks:...

NEW YORK (AP) — No ranked teams are playing each other this week in college football. This could go two ways: Very boring or totally batty. The last time there was a schedule like this was 23 months ago and the result was the latter. Seven ranked teams lost to unranked teams, three that were favored by at least two touchdowns...

McCook’s determined cross country girls ignited top two performances from both Bison teams at the Lexington Invitational on Tuesday. Senior ElsiAnna Rodewald (fifth) and freshman Samantha Rodewald (sixth) powered the Bison into second overall, according to results posted at athletic.net...

LEXINGTON, Neb. — Senior Erik Graff earned a Top 10 place to lead McCook High’s strong cross country performanc at the Lexington Invitational on Tuesday. Graff earned ninth place among 91 varsity runners who finished this 5,000-meter challenge. Bison teammates Brandon Tucker (11th) and Josh Hegwood (12th) gave McCook three of the top 12 placers. The Bison tallied 74 points for second placer overall in “hypothetical” totals appearing on athletic.net. Here are more invite results:...

Latest results from TJ’s Family Fun Center in McCook: Men’s Major TJ’s Family Fun Center 59-31 J&L Construction 55-35 Wagner’s Ford 51-39 Stockman’s Feed 49.5-38.5 Quality Irrigation 36-54 Burton Well Drilling 33-57...

TRENTON, Neb. — The complete schedule for Saturday’s Hitchcock County Volleyball Invitational: Pool A play at Trenton Hitchcock County vs. Wauneta-Palisade, 9 a.m. Wauneta-Palisade vs. Arapahoe, 10:15 a.m. Hitchcock County vs. Arapahoe, 11:30 p.m. Pool B play...

McCOOK, Neb. — Kearney Catholic’s Stars clearly ran into an asteroid belt of McCook momentum and big hits throughout an 11-3 Bison softball victory Tuesday. Every Bison who stepped to the plate either scored or drove in at least one run during McCook’s fourth win in five home games...

BARTLEY, Neb. — Confidence’s building in Bartley this fall along with quite a senior-freshman combination on the volleyball court. Senior Jadyn Brooks showed what she can do when not captaining Southwest’s cheerleading squad. Trailing Sutherland one set, Brooks served huge point after point to help finish a 25-10 Roughrider win...

OGALLALA, Neb. — Ogallala scored a 25-13, 25-16, 25-6 sweep of the McCook Bison varsity volleyball team Thursday night. Bison leaders: Peyton Doucet 14 digs and 3 assists. Tiara Matson 7 assists. Livivya Wier 4 kills Narissa Fawver 12 digs Addison Randel 3 blocks...

TRENTON, Neb. — A first-set loss to winless Perkins County didn’t slow the Hitchcock County Falcons for too long Tuesday evening. The Falcons took their next set then promptly fell behind 9-2 during their decisive third contest. However, Hitchcock County rallied behind strong serving from several Falcons who suddenly caught Perkins defenders off-balance...

LOOMIS, Neb. — The strongest Wolves arrived from Maywood-Hayes Center with their sweeps of Loomis Wolves and Arapahoe Warriors Tuesday evening. Coach Kory Rohde’s volleyball team made it 6-0 after sweeping Loomis 25-13, 25-11; and RPAC foe Arapahoe 25-16, 25-12...

OBERLIN, Kan. — With 318 rushing yards, the Decatur Community Red Devils didn’t need to complete one pass during their 42-0 opening win over Quinter Friday evening. Senior Bryson Metcalf took his 13 carries to 140 rushing yards and three touchdowns...