Bison boys hope to continue win streak

Thursday, January 14, 2010
Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette McCook's Dustin Parde hits an easy layup against Sidney last Saturday night at the Senior High gym. Parde, a 6-6 senior, has been solid for the Bison in recent games. He scored 20 points to pace McCook in a huge win at Colby, Kan., Tuesday, Jan. 12.

The McCook High School boys basketball team is on a roll, with a tough Hastings team ready to derail the Bison Friday night.

McCook rides a four-game win streak into Friday's action against the Tigers. Tip-off for the boys varsity action is set for 7:45 p.m. at the Senior High gym following the McCook-Hastings girls game.

The McCook junior varsity boys and Hastings will meet at 4:30 p.m. at the Junior High gym.

The two teams are no strangers. The Bison topped Hastings 58-54 in the consolation semifinals at the Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference Tournament in North Platte Dec. 30. McCook rallied from an early deficit and took a comfortable lead in the second half, but the Tigers closed the gap down the stretch by hitting several 3-point shots.

McCook head coach Tim Garcia said the two teams know each other very well, and he doubts there will be many surprises in Friday's contest.

"What we have to do against Hastings, we have to take care of the ball," Garcia said. "We have to make sure we really handle their defensive pressure. They are a strict man-to-man defense -- they'll look to trap all over the court. We have to be able to handle their defensive intensity.

"We need to not get down in the first quarter. The first time we played them they got a lead on us in the first quarter and it took us to the second half to get that lead caught up. Then we did a nice job finishing the game. Really the game was a little wider margin that what it showed at the end. They came down and hit two huge 'threes' less than 30 seconds to go in the game to really narrow it down. We did a nice job converting our free throws in the fourth quarter and maintaining the lead and getting a nice lead there.

"We are familiar with them. We know what they are going to do. I don't see coach Mike Simmons coming out and doing anything different. Their pressure is going to be high-pressure man, their offense is going to go through their post players."

Garcia said the Tigers are similar to McCook up and down the roster, with several strong perimeter and post players. The McCook coach knows that Hastings will present another tough test for his squad.

"We're going to have our hands full with Hastings," Garcia said. "But nothing would make me happier than to see our kids come out and have another dominant performance on our home court."

Far from the peak

Garcia said his Bison are not even close to hitting their peak this season, as the four-game win streak will hopefully grow.

"We want to get five in a row here and set ourselves us up with a lot of confidence and momentum going the Orange and Black, which is going to be a really, really tough tournament," he said of next week's tournament action at Colby, Kan. "Hastings is a district opponent. There's a chance we'll see Hastings a third time down the road. We have improved, we're continuously improving. I think we are a much better basketball club right now than we were when we played Hastings the first time.

"I look for our kids to come out and try to dominate this basketball game. As a coaching staff, we'll definitely be ready for them -- we'll make sure we have everything ready to go, that the kids are confident in what they're going to do and that we're going to put our kids in a position to be successful."

McCook fans probably label the Bison team leaders as the 'Big Three' -- junior guard Connor Larson and senior post players Dustin Parde and Mark Nichols. Garcia said that trio have been leaders this season, but he also knows much of the success for his 9-4 team lies with a talented group of role players who have all made big contributions.

"I'm very proud of my role players and their families, their parents," he said. "In my opinion nothing is more important in building a program than parents and players being able to accept their role in what is best for the program, and this year I think that we have been exceptional in that with our players and parents accepting their players' roles.

"What I like about our role players is they're not forcing the issue. They are identifying the opportunities that they have to score and they're maximizing those opportunities. They are not forcing opportunities to try to get themselves points.

"You talk about our big three -- Connor, Mark and Dustin -- what I really like what they're doing is, they are identifying when it's time to kick it out and get the ball to one of our role players and let our role players take over and score some points for us.

"Our team chemistry is huge, and I think right now we're feeling pretty comfortable playing basketball with one another. This is a good time of the year for that to start setting in so we can continue to grow with that team chemistry."

Garcia said McCook's team chemistry is on the rise.

"Right now, things seem to be clicking," he said. " We seem to be progressing every day, be it a game or practice, we're improving every day. In practice, the kids are working hard. Again, they have great attitudes. They want to be here, they want to be part of a successful program and they're making it happen."

Strong defense

Garcia thinks his team defensive play has been a strong point. The Bison held a potent Sidney team to just four points in the opening quarter last Saturday in a 48-46 McCook win. Last Tuesday in the win at Colby, Kan., McCook again held Colby to just four points in the second quarter and to less than 10 points in each of the third and fourth periods.

"When we're playing defense like that we're going to be a real tough team to beat," Garcia said. .

Garcia hopes for another great home-town crowd Friday night.

"I was very pleased with our student section against Sidney," he said. "I thought they were absolutely wonderful. They were standing the whole game, cheering. I've been asking for a great student section since I got here. Saturday night with Sidney was by far the best student section we've had, and that's what we need every night that we're here playing.

"That's what we're here for is to represent our school and to represent our students in a positive manner and hopefully make them proud of what we're doing here as a team and proud of our school. To see them come out in those numbers and have the fun and support that they gave us, it's very important for us. It gets our kids pumped up as a team, it makes our kids want to go out and work even harder when they see that type of support and our community and our parental support.

"We look for this to be a packed house on Friday night. It's going to be a fun, fun game.

Coaches vs. Cancer

Friday will be Coaches vs. Cancer Night at the Senior High gym. The McCook coaching staff will wear basketball shoes and suits in honor of Friday night's fund-raising events -- a very worthy cause and a good lesson for his players, Garcia said.

"I'm always stressing to the kids that there's more to life than high school basketball -- basketball is a drop in the ocean as far as life for these kids," he said.

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