Bison boys rout Longhorns

Friday, November 30, 2007
Imperial Republican McCook High School's Joanna Bryant (24), center, battles with Chase County's Tabitha Russell for a loose ball during Thursday night's varsity girls game at Imperial. McCook's Austin Wilson (20) is also part of the play. Chase County won 48-45.

McCook girls squad

clipped by three points

IMPERIAL -- The football players on the McCook High School boys basketball team only practiced for about a week entering Thursday night's season-opener at Imperial against the Chase County Longhorns.

Most of the Bison team members were still playing football because the squad reached the Class B state title game against Crete Nov. 17. Crete won 14-7 in overtime.

For the first few minutes of the Chase County game, the Bison were a bit rusty and did not score.

But the Bison started clicking and the end result was a 64-43 victory over a Chase County team that started a front line of 6-foot-9, 6-5 and 6-4.

Matt Berry and Zach Wieser led the Bison with 12 points each. Freshman Connor Larson and senior Chance Unger each scored 11.

Eric Rippen added 6 points, Seth Schaeffer 6, Cory Gaston 2, Adam Hill 2 and Aaron Ruppert 2.

Schaeffer and Wieser each had 5 rebounds, Hill 3, Tyrone Sellers 2, Connor Larson 2, Gaston 1, Mike Grabowski 1 and Ruppert 1.

The Bison had 26 steals and just 9 turnovers. Gaston had 6 steals, Berry 5, Schaeffer 4, Connor Larson 4, Rippen 2, Unger 2, Grabowski 2 and Sellers 1.

Austin Larson played but did not score for the Bison.

The Bison made 21-of-50 2-point shots, 6-of-18 3-pointers and 4-of-7 free throws.

"This was a good first game for us," said McCook's third-year boys coach Tim Garcia. "Chase County played well and kept it close for the first two quarters. They are going to have a nice squad by the end of the season.

"Defensively we were able to stay in the game even though our offense did not produce points until late in the first quarter. The defensive effort was tremendous and for a coach, having your players play with passion, intensity, and focus is a great feeling.

"That defensive effort tells me that they are enjoying what they are doing, having fun and we can build on that.

"Offensively, once we were able to break the seal on the basket, we relaxed and the shots started falling. We took 68 shots in the game -- a good number -- and only six to eight of them I would consider poor shot selection.

Our bench play was tremendous tonight. I like our lineup and rotation, the kids that start do a nice job setting the pace. The kids off the bench did a great job of giving us a boost when they hit the floor. We scored 36 bench points. That is huge. When we sub, we don't miss a beat."

The Bison boys host Hastings tonight. The junior varsity game starts at 6 p.m., followed by the varsity game at 7:45 p.m.

The McCook boys will compete in the Goodland (Kan.) Topside Tip-off Tournament next Thursday through Saturday.

The Bison will face Sharon Springs Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Goodland Junior High School High gym.

The McCook/Sharon Springs winner will face the Goodland/Weskan winner on Friday at 9 p.m. Other boys first-round matches include Ottawa vs. Colby and Norton vs. Denver Skyline.

McCook JV boys 59, Chase County 29 -- No information was available at press time.

Chase County varsity girls 48, McCook 45 -- The McCook varsity girls led by as much as 11 points, but Chase County rallied.

Melissa Lyster led McCook with 17 points, followed by Lindsey Hazlitt with 10.

Tara Powell scored 8, Kelsee Meissner 6, Austin Wilson 2 and Joanna Bryant 2.

Meissner had 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Hazlitt had 6 rebounds and Lyster had 3 steals.

Morgan Strand led the Longhorn girls with 12 points. Tabitha Russell and Nicole Dickey scored 10 points each. Ryann Spady scored 8, Erica Pirog 5 and Cara Kunneman 2.

The Bison outrebounded Chase County 29-27 and made 11-of-16 free throws.

"It was a typical first game," said McCook girls coach Barry Schaeffer. "We turned the ball over too many times (17 turnovers) and we gave up way too many offensive rebounds for easy baskets. However, despite that, we were in position to get the win at the end of the game and with a little better execution we can be on the other side of the outcome.

"We were disappointed that we did not win the game, but not disappointed in our effort on the court. I am proud of the effort the girls put forth and know that we can win some games if we continue to put that kind of effort into our game."

The Bison girls play at Grand Island Northwest Saturday, weather permitting. The JV girls game starts at 3:30 p.m., followed by the varsity girls game at 5 p.m.

The McCook girls will compete in the Goodland (Kan.) Topside Tip-off Tournament next Thursday through Saturday.

The Bison will face Weskan at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Max Jones Fieldhouse.

The McCook/Weskan girls winner will play the Colby/Ottawa winner at 3 p.m. on Friday. Other first-round matches include Goodland vs. Norton and Denver Skyline vs. Sharon Springs.

McCook JV girls 56, Chase County 12 -- The Bison JV girls jumped out to an 18-0 lead in the first quarter and cruised to their first win of the season.

Brianna Watkins and Morgan Chitwood each scored 13 points for the Bison and Joanna Bryant added 11. Adrian Lambing scored 8, Katie West 6, Kelsey Pohl 6, Audrie Krepcik 5 and Kali Lyons 3.

Chitwood pulled down 5 rebounds.

Jilanne German led the Longhorns with 4 points.

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