Clean sweep for Bison squads at Lexington

Monday, January 28, 2008

LEXINGTON -- It was a good night for the McCook High School varsity and junior varsity boys and girls basketball teams, who swept four games from their rivals Thursday at Lexington.

The McCook varsity boys defeated the Minutemen 65-45, the varsity girls won 50-41, the JV boys won 56-43 and the JV girls defeated Lexington 44-43 in double overtime.

The McCook boys, who defeated the Minutemen 61-38 in the seventh-place game of the GNAC Tournament in McCook Dec. 29, jumped out to a big early lead and evened their season record at 9-9.

McCook led 17-3 early in the first frame and had a 21-12 lead at the end of the first quarter and 36-20 at halftime.

The Bison led 47-30 after three quarters and outscored the Minutemen 18-15 in the fourth period.

The Bison boys have won three straight games.

McCook placed three players in double figures.

Matt Berry and Cory Gaston each scored 11 points and Eric Rippen 10. Seth Schaeffer scored 9 and Connor Larson 8.

Zach Wieser added 5 points, Chance Unger 4, Ryan Hardin 4, Tyrone Sellers 2 and Aaron Ruppert 1.

Mike Grabowski, Dustin Parde, Max Kugler and Austin Larson played but did not score.

Wieser pulled down 5 rebounds. Rippen and Wieser each had 3 assists. Gaston had 3 steals.

Matt Cunningham led the Minutemen (4-9) with 8 points. Stuart Long added 7, John Dillard 6 and Kellen Schroeder 6.

"The boys played very well as a team tonight," said McCook boys coach Tim Garcia. "We moved the ball well and found the open shooters, placing three players in double figures and having several others score as well.

"We will continue to work hard. We have to continue to improve every day and every week to reach our potential. These boys work hard and play hard, so I know we won't get outworked on the floor.

"Our focus is all Ogallala like it was with Lexington last week. We will be prepared mentally and physically on Friday night. It will just be a matter of getting on the court and getting it done."

The McCook boys will host Ogallala at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

McCook varsity girls 50,

Lexington 41

McCook senior Melissa Lyster hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer and the Bison girls opened strong in the second half against Lexington.

The Bison girls trailed by as much as 13 points in the first half at 28-15.

Lyster's trey cut a 10-point deficit to 30-23 at the break. McCook outscored Lexington 27-11 in the second half.

Lindsey Hazlitt scored 13 of her 15 points in the first half. Joanna Bryant added 10 points, Kelsee Meissner 8, Tara Powell 7, Lyster 6 and Audrie Krepcik 2.

Lyster hit two 3-pointers and Powell one.

Bryant grabbed 9 rebounds, Hazlitt 8, Meissner 7 and Lyster 6. McCook outrebounded Lexington 32-25.

McCook made 13-of-17 free throws, including 10-of-12 in the fourth quarter. Lexington shot just seven free throws and made two.

Meissner and Powell each had 1 assist. Bryant had 5 steals, Meissner 3 and Lyster 3. McCook forced 16 turnovers.

Hailey Mandelko led Lexington with 17 points. Senior Hannah Mandelko, who played with a torn ACL, added 9. Terah Maloley scored 5.

"Once again, the girls played avery good game in a tough environment," said McCook girls coach Barry Schaeffer. "They did a great job of sticking together and turning up the intensity in the second half.

"We were able to build momentum off a big 3-point shot in the first half by Melissa Lyster that closed a 10-point gap to 7 points. Then we came out in the third quarter and reeled off 6 straight points to cut the gap to 1.

"Once we gained the lead, we never let it go and we hit free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the win."

McCook has won three games in a row, including four of its last five, and improved to 9-11.

Lexington dropped to 8-6.

The McCook girls will host Ogallala at 5:45 p.m. Friday.

McCook JV boys 56,

Lexington 43

The McCook junior varsity boys basketball team improved its record to 8-1 with a 56-43 win Friday night at Lexington.

"The kids played a solid game from start to finish," said McCook JV boys coach Jeremy Yilk.

Three Bison scored in double figures, led by Ryan Hardin with 17 points. Mike Grabowski made 8-of-12 free throws and finished with 13 points. Connor Larson scored 11.

Austin Larson contributed 7 points, Dustin Parde 4 and Tyrone Sellers 4.

Ethan Hardin, Mark Nichols and Dylan Parde played but did not score.

Sellers pulled down 6 rebounds and Ryan Hardin 5. Connor Larson dished off 4 assists and Hardin had 4 steals.

McCook made just 17-of-27 free throws.

Josh Chessmore led Lexington with 18 points. R.J. Seberger scored 8.

McCook JV girls 44,

Lexington 43 2 OTs

Audrie Krepcik scored the game-winning shot in the second overtime to give the Bison junior varsity girls a 44-43 win over Lexington Friday night at Lexington.

Krepcik and Sydney Jumps each scored 9 points to lead the Bison. Tara Powell scored 7 points, Kali Lyons 6, Ashley Palic 4, Brianna Watkins 4, Hanah Swanhorst 2, Morgan Chitwood 2 and Kelsey Pohl 1.

Adrian Lambing, Becky Goodenberger and Kelsey O'Dea played but did not score.

Krepcik and Chitwood each pulled down 6 rebounds, Lyons 5 and Swanhorst 5. McCook outboarded Lexington 38-28.

Four players had 1 assist each. Six players had 2 steals each.

Katherine Longly led Lexington with 9 points. Maisie O'Meara added 7.

"We had three opportunities to win the game in the final seconds and were able to get the win on the third try," Schaeffer said. "In regulation, the kids executed and got the ball into Hanah Swanhorst in the post, but she was called for a travel.

"Then in the first overtime, Kali Lyons got the ball up court off an out of bounds play and got off a good shot but missed. In the final overtime, Audrie Krepcik hit the game-winning shot after we executed our offense and got a great shot for her to take.

"At times it was not pretty, but we played well when we needed to and got a win."

Varsity boys

McCook (9-9) 21 15 11 18 -- 65

Lexington (4-9) 13 8 15 9 -- 45

McCook: Matt Berry 11, Cory Gaston 11, Eric Rippen 10, Schaeffer 9, C. Larson 8, Wieser 5, Unger 4, Hardin 4, Sellers 2, Ruppert 1.

Lexington: Cunningham 8, Long 7, Dillard 6, Schroeder 6, Araujo 4, Tingelhoff 4, Albus 4, Bernal 2, Cantrall 2, Chessmore 2.

Varsity Girls

McCook (9-11) 7 16 11 16 -- 50

Lexington (8-6) 11 19 2 9 -- 41

McCook: Lindsey Hazlitt 15, Joanna Bryant 10, Meissner 8, Powell 7, Lyster 6, Krepcik 2.

Lexington: Hailey Mandelko 17, Hannah Mandelko 9, Maloley 5, A. Seberger 4, Gnirk 4, B. Seberger 2.

JV boys

McCook (8-1) 15 14 13 14 -- 56

Lexington 14 6 13 10 -- 43

McCook: A. Larson 7, Ryan Hardin 17, Connor Larson 11, Mike Grabowski 13, Du/Parde 4, Sellers 4.

Lexington: Long 6, Rios 4, Araujo 2, Albus 6, Cantrall 2, Seberger 8, Josh Chessmore 18.

JV girls

McCook 6 11 10 10 4 3 -- 44

Lexington 6 7 12 12 4 2 -- 43

McCook: Krepcik 9, Jumps 9, Powell 7, Lyons 6, Palic 4, Watkins 4, Swanhorst 2, Chitwood 2, Pohl 1.

Lexington: Longly 9, O'Meara 7, Stroka 5, McKeone 5, B.Seberger 4, Fong 4, Laguna 4, Reynolds 2.

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