East-West Shootout: Bison boys, girls fall to Gering

John J. Mesh/McCook Daily Gazette McCook High School seniors Andrea Soden (34 in white) and Kayla Wilson (54) play defense against Gering's Brittanie Shaw (20) and Ashley Scott (54) during Thursday night's East-West Shootout game at the MHS gym. Gering defeated McCook 46-42.

The McCook High School boys and girls varsity basketball teams dropped their East-West Shootout openers to Gering Thursday.

The McCook girls (7-13) lost at home to the Bulldogs 46-42 and the Bison boys (8-12) lost at Gering 80-50.

The Bison girls host Alliance at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Scottsbluff at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Bison boys play at Alliance at 7:30 p.m. Friday central time and Scottsbluff CT at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

In the varsity girls game, Gering led early 10-3, but McCook tied the score at 11-11 and 13-13. The Bison led 22-19 at halftime and 32-28 after three quarters.

The score see-sawed back-and-forth until Gering took the lead for good at 40-38 on Jourdan Land's second 3-pointer of the period.

Gering outscored McCook 6-4 in the final minute.

McCook placed three players in double figures. Jillian Bryant scored 11 points, Allison Smith 10 and Kayla Wilson 10.

Taryn Placzek added 6, Andrea Soden 3 and Betsy Kohmetscher 2.

Bryant dished off 5 assists and blocked 2 shots. Kayla Wlson grabbed 6 rebounds.

Placzek, Austin Wilson, Bryant and Jessica Harris each had 2 steals. Kohmetscher had 3 assists.

Land drained three 3-pointers and led all scorers with 13 points. Ashley Buskirk added 11.

Land's 3-point shooting was crucial for the Bulldogs, said McCook girls basketball coach Barry Schaeffer.

"We lost our defensive assignment on a couple plays," Schaeffer said. "I'm not disappointed in the way the girls played on defense. I've been pleased with the defense the last few games. Offensively we didn't execute well. I don't fault the girls -- it was a great effort."

The Bison played most of the fourth quarter without junior guard Jessica Harris, who was involved in a collision during a loose ball scramble.

The coach added that the team will need to be ready to play Alliance.

"We have a good Alliance team coming in. We've got to bounce back."

In other East-West Shootout girls action Thursday, Alliance defeated Lexington 41-38 and North Platte defeated Scottsbluff 60-52 in overtime.

Gering: Trackwell 2, Shaw 6, Teahon 4, Brady 6, Jourdan Land 13, Ashley Buskirk 11, Scott 4.

McCook: Kohmetscher 2, Placzek 6, Soden 3, Jillian Bryant 11, Allison Smith 10, Kayla Wilson 10.

Gering boys 80,

McCook 50

GERING -- The host Bulldogs jumped on McCook for a 22-5 first-quarter lead and increased the lead to 38-22 at halftime and 54-34 after three periods.

John Swanhorst came off the bench to lead McCook with 11 points.

Brandon Crick added 9, Josh Cherry 8, Tony Purvis 8, Cory Gaston 4, Brett Burton 4, Joel Arterburn 4 and Garrett Rippen 2.

Nate Greene led the Bulldogs with 22 points. Brady Hubbard added 18 and Max Hadenfeldt 11.

In other East-West Shootout boys action, Alliance defeated Lexington 60-53 and North Platte defeated Scottsbluff 68-66.

Gering: Nate Greene 22, Hutchison 4, Stobel 1, Landrum 7, Max Hadenfeldt 11, Roper 1, Brady Hubbard 18, Erdman 6, Scwab 4, Morrow 2 Molko 4.

McCook: Cherry 8, Gaston 4, Purvis 8, Crick 9, Burton 4, Rippen 2, Arterburn 4, John Swanhorst 11.

McCook JV

girls 47,

Gering 37

Kelsee Meissner scored 13 points and grabbed 6 rebounds, and teammate Betsy Kohmetscher added 10 points as the McCook junior varsity girls defeated Gering 47-37 Thursday at home.

Marissa Wallace added 8 points, Amy Beckenhauer 6, Austin Wilson 2, Ashley Carfield 2, Lindsey Hazlitt 2, Taryn Placzek 2, Cody Korus 1 and Melissa Lyster 1.

Jessica Einspahr played but did not score.

Wilson had 6 steals and 3 assists. Lyster and McNutt each had 4 rebounds.

Beckenhauer, Carfield and Lyster each had 2 assists.

Megan Kautz led Gering with 14 points.

Shayla Sylvester and Dani Smith each had 7.

Gering JV

boys 62,

McCook 44

GERING -- The Gering junior varsity boys ran out to a 24-9 first-quarter lead against the Bison en route to a 62-44 victory Thursday.

Cory Gaston led McCook with 14 points.

Andy Lambing scored 6, Chance Unger 5, John Swanhorst 5, Brett Burton 4, Matt Palu 2, Kendell Foster 2, J.D. Stone 1 and Brady Dame 1.

Brad Peters led the Bulldogs with 16 points.

Matt Landrum scored 12, Zach Roper 8 and Jon Hutchison 7.