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MCC men win twice in holiday tourney
DRTE are four very important letters for the McCook Community College men's basketball squad.
MCC head coach Brandon Lenhart stresses defense, rebounding, toughness and execution, and the York College junior varsity got a dose of DRTE Saturday evening.
The Indians topped the York College JV 83-61 in MCC Thanksgiving Tournament action at the True Hall gym in McCook.
"Our staple is defense, rebounding, toughness and execution -- DRTE -- and we try to live and die that every single day," Coach Lenhart said following Saturday's win. "We always talk about getting stops and getting scores, consecutive stops in a row, consecutive scores in a row. We keep track of that on a regular basis, a very religious basis. That's something that we stress on a day-to-day basis, on a game-to-game basis.
"We play at a really high level a good majority of the time, I mean, 98 percent of the time. Now, do we always play smart? We don't always do that. We kind of shoot ourselves in the foot. I thought that was a little bit of what happened versus Garden City a little bit the other night (an 87-77 loss at home Nov. 24), and also, I thought tonight could have easily been a 40- or 50-point game if we had taken care of the basketball and made better decisions."
Coach Lenhart gave York credit for a strong performance, and he said the Indians did not fold with the opponent's effort.
"Hats off to our guys for continuing to just play," Lenhart said. "There's not a lot of things that bother them. If (the opponents) score buckets or go on a run they just kind of stay composed, and I love that about our team. They gather themselves and continue to try and play our way."
The Thanksgiving weekend tournament featured four teams, with each squad playing twice in the two-day event. The host Indians and Otero (Colo.) Junior College each went 2-0. McCook ran to a 150-74 win Friday over the MCC All-Stars, a group of players from McCook and the surrounding area. Otero claimed an 85-71 win Friday over the York College JV. Otero topped the MCC All-Stars 87-72 Saturday.
Dye keys MCC run
York held a three-point lead over the Indians early in the first half of Saturday's tournament finale. MCC used a 7-0 run in a one-minute span to take the lead for good.
Freshman guard Antonio Dye (Mishawaka, Ind.) hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the score at 18-18. Dye then rebounded a missed York JV shot and fired a quick outlet pass to sophomore Keenan Gaskin (Monroe, La.) for an easy layup. Freshman George Pollard (Colorado Springs, Colo.) drove the lane for another MCC basket and a 22-18 cushion.
York kept the game close until the final minutes of the first half. McCook scored eight unanswered points to end the half with a 42-33 lead. Freshmen Eric Cutright (Zwolle, La.) and Shawn Tarver (Gary, Ind.) and Gaskin each hit baskets for the Indians in the run.
The hosts stretched the gap to 55-37 early in the second half after an 10-0 run. Five different Indians scored baskets in the MCC run, including Cutright and Dye, Pollard plus sophomores Andrew Hanson (South County, R.I.) and Drew Diediker (Allen, Neb.).
York cut the MCC lead to 12 points, but Dye ignited a 9-0 McCook run. The smooth freshman hit a 3-pointer and added a pair of field goals around two free throws by freshman Darius Robinson (Jacksonville, Fla.). Gaskin later hit consecutive shots from the lane to boost MCC to a 20-point cushion with just under nine minutes left.
York would get no closer than 18 points the rest of the way.
Gaskin and Cutright each scored 17 points to lead the Indians. Dye added 15 points and Tarver chipped in 11. The York JV was led by Landon Bailey, a 6-5 junior from North Platte, with 17 points.
Dye grabbed 21 rebounds and had 6 assists to lead MCC.
The Indians shot 53.7 percent from the field, hitting 36 of 67 shots. York was 27 of 59 from the field for 46 percent. Both teams hit just 3 of 17 3-point shots.
Friday night romp
MCC romped to the easy win Friday over the area all-star squad. Six Indians scored in double figures, led by Cutright with 23 points and Dye with 21.
Coach Lenhart has a deep, talented team-oriented MCC roster this season. That depth and talent is giving the coach plenty of options each game.
"We're very deep. If somebody's not doing what they're supposed to do and they're not producing, we have somebody else to go to," he said. "They do complete hard and they compete for minutes and things like that. But it's an all-for-one, one-for-all type of deal. They don't take it personal and they don't have a personal vendetta against each other. I think that's special.
" I think that's important when you have a team that doesn't care who gets the credit and they continue to play.
"They make mistakes, and we try to coach the best we can and tell them what they need to do better. More often than not, they're going to get another try at it. Once they do that, they get another try and continue to get better from the mistakes that they made, then things are good."
Tough Colorado tournament on deck
The Indians, 8-4, return to action at Sterling, Colo. next weekend in the Pepsi Classic Tournament at Northeastern Junior College. MCC will face Air Force Prep Friday, Dec. 4, at 5 p.m. CST before a meeting with the tournament hosts Saturday, Dec. 5, at 7 p.m. CST.
MCC will have its final game before the Christmas break Friday, Dec. 11, in a home contest against Colby (Kan.) Community College.