Bison boys run past Hastings

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Ethan Hardin (10) of McCook makes contact with Hastings defender Ben Reimer (left) as Hardin drives for a layup in boys basketball action at the Senior High gym Saturday night. Reimer was called for a foul on the play. [Click to enlarge]

McCook High School boys head basketball coach Tim Garcia wants his team to improve every day.

Judging from final score comparisons, the Bison have taken some big strides forward since the holiday break.

The McCook boys ran past Hastings 56-40 in a Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference contest Saturday, Jan. 16, at the Senior High gym. The Bison edged Hastings 58-54 in GNAC Tournament play at North Platte Dec. 30.

"That's our goal -- you've heard me say it all season long -- we improve every day, we have to," Coach Garcia said. "Even on our days off, we have to improve, whether it's resting our muscles, whatever it is. They are getting a lot better."

Since a 50-40 loss to Columbus in the fifth-place final at the GNAC Tournament Dec. 31, the Bison have reeled off five-straight wins to improve to 10-4 on the season.

Strong defensive effort

It took a quarter for McCook to get rolling Saturday, as Hastings led 11-7 at the end of the first period. The Bison outscored the Tigers 18-8 in the second quarter for a 25-19 halftime cushion.

"At the beginning the shots weren't quite falling," said McCook senior Tye Smith. "Then we turned it up -- with some good 'D' -- and stuff started going down, we put it all together at the end."

Garcia agreed that his team's defense was a key to the win.

"We put together three good quarters of basketball, only scoring seven points in the first quarter," Garcia said. "Thank goodness our kids played great defense, because we only gave up 11 in the first quarter. That's just the proof is in the pudding, that your defense will keep you in the ball game. That's exactly what happened tonight. We played great defense, holding a pretty good team to 40 points.

"Our great defense allows us to get out and score in transition, allows us to attack a disorganized defense, allows us to set up the half-court offense, be patient in what we're doing. I thought our kids did a great job tonight defensively and offensively being patient in what we were trying to do."

McCook used an 8-0 run, fueled by a pair of field goals by junior guard Conner Larson, to take the lead for good midway through the second quarter. Larson added a 3-pointer with just over three minutes left in the first half for a 19-15 Bison lead. Smith's shot from the lane in the final minute boosted McCook to the six-point lead at intermission.

Bombs away

The Bison bombed away midway through the third quarter to pull away from the stubborn Tigers. Larson hit a pair of 3-point shots sandwiched around another 3-pointer by senior Dustin Parde at the end an 11-0 McCook run for a 40-25 Bison lead.

Hastings got within 10 points at the end of the quarter. Consecutive baskets by seniors Nate Crick and Mark Nichols boosted McCook back to a comfortable 49-33 lead with just over five minutes remaining. The Tigers got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

Larson led the Bison with 16 points. Nichols and Parde added 14 points each. Parde led McCook with 8 rebounds, while Nichols and Larson had 7 rebounds each.

Key effort from role players

Coach Garcia refers to that trio as McCook's big three -- Larson, Nichols and Parde were the only players returning with any considerable varsity experience from last season. While that threesome leads the Bison season scoring stats, Garcia knows the contributions he gets from the rest of his players are vital to the team's success.

"Our role players are doing a phenomenal job," Garcia said. "Our big three, if you will, they stepped up and they scored the points they needed to score. We get those three scoring their average and we're going to be a tough team to beat, especially if we have the role players step up. Tonight all three of those guys were in double figures. You add a Tye Smith and Nate Crick and Ethan Hardin, the stuff that they did when they were on the court, they all handle the ball well.

"We've got great kids. The kids that step up and accept their role on this team, it's what makes our team go, it really is."

Smith is one of those role players who continually adds a key ingredient to the Bison success. The senior had 5 points and 4 rebounds.

"My role is to just work, get in there for rebounds, play good D, take shots when I'm open, drive to the basket, kind of do the dirty work," Tye said.

Hardin, a senior point guard, led McCook with 5 assists.

Post defense work

Hastings was led by 6-3 center Jack Anderson with 18 points.

"Obviously one of the weakness we have, we gave up 19 points to their post player -- we have to do a better job on post defense," Coach Garcia said. "I don't think any of that has to do with effort, I think a lot of that has to do with technique. That's something that as a coaching staff we really need to study our film and figure out if we can put our kids in a better position defensively in post defense, to allow them to be more successful. That's something that we'll definitely be looking at as we break down this game film."

Those low-post points allowed and the slow start might have been the only negatives the McCook coach could find in Saturday's effort.

"Overall our team continues to improve," Garcia said. "Our confidence with the ball -- you're seeing a totally different Ethan Hardin and Tye Smith and Nate Crick. Even Mark and Dustin and Conner, you're seeing totally different kids on the court today than what we were this summer, what we were at the beginning of the season -- a lot more confidence. They're playing very well. It's fun to watch them play when they play with that type of confidence."

Kansas tournament

The Bison will face a weekend of tough tests at the 25th annual Orange and Black Classic in Colby, Kan. McCook is scheduled to face Wichita (Kan.) South in first-round tournament action Thursday, Jan. 21, at 6:30 p.m. at the Colby High School gym.

Garcia expects an athletic Wichita South team that will be toughened by facing tough Wichita City League competition this season.