Same woes for Bison girls

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette McCook freshman Megan Ruppert (44) looks for a shot against Holdrege Saturday night at the Senior High gym. Ruppert had two good offensive outings for the Bison girls last weekend. [Click to enlarge]

Jeff Ellis probably sounds like a broken record.

The first-year McCook High School girls head basketball coach has watched his team struggle trying to find an offensive attack early this season. The Bison girls suffered through two tough losses last weekend, dropping a 72-27 decision at North Platte Friday, Dec. 18, before a 53-20 loss to Holdrege Saturday, Dec. 19, in the first home game of the young season.

The two losses dropped McCook's record to 0-8.

Ellis has no returning starters returning from last season and just a handful of players with any varsity experience back from last year's team. The Bison girls have been bitten by turnovers and a lack of scoring in every game.

McCook is averaging just over 31 points per game while giving up an average of 58 points per contest. The Bison girls have scored more than 30 points just three times.

"We're struggling offensively," Coach Ellis said after Saturday night's loss. "Gretchen (Sehnert), who's been scoring the ball for us, tonight was held to only two points, so I'm sure she's a little frustrated with that. But when that happens, we've got to have another girl or two come in and step up and say, 'OK, Gretchen's not on tonight. I've got to step up and score some more points for this team,' and we just don't have anybody doing that."

The opening quarters have been especially painful for the McCook girls. In Saturday's loss to Holdrege, the visitors scored the game's first 13 points, and McCook trailed 15-2 at the end of the first period.

Holdrege increased the lead to 27-9 at halftime, then outscored McCook 13-8 in the third quarter to lead 40-17.

Ellis said his team had more than 30 turnovers in Saturday's game.

North Platte did the same thing Friday, as the Bulldogs led 17-8 after one period before outscoring the Bison girls 25-3 in the second period for a 42-11 advantage at intermission.

Freshman steps up

One bright spot for the Bison girls last weekend was Megan Ruppert. The 5-7 freshman came off the bench and led the team Saturday with 6 points. Ruppert also had 7 points against North Platte Friday along with Gretchen Sehnert's team-high 11 points.

The Bison girls will compete in the Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference Tournament over the Christmas break. First-round action will be held Tuesday, Dec. 29, with semifinal and final games scheduled Dec. 30-31.

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