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Another win eludes Bison girls in districts
KEARNEY -- It's been a long season for the McCook High School girls basketball team.
The Bison girls have struggled all season with turnovers and a lack of consistent offense as the team did not win a game all year. Those same woes continued Tuesday night for head coach Jeff Ellis and his squad in the Class B-5 District Tournament at Kearney High School.
McCook saw its season come to an end without a varsity victory after the 41-29 setback to Hastings in the first round of the B-5 District.
"Tonight kind of summed up our whole season," Coach Ellis said. "I kept looking at the scoreboard, I'm like, 'God, if we could get this thing to nine, eight, seven, we're going to be there,' because the girls were fighting their tails off clear to the end. We just couldn't get any breaks.
"I thought we were getting hammered throughout the whole game. The refs just weren't seeing it. Maybe I was seeing different things, too, because we were getting to the free throw line."
McCook actually out-shot the Tigers at the charity stripe. The Bison girls hit 13 of 22 free throws, while Hastings was 9- of 19 at the line.
"I was encouraging the girls to get to the free throw line, attack that basket -- that's how you cut into some of those leads, is hitting some big free throws," Coach Ellis said. "Our shots weren't falling. It seemed like (Hastings) was moving well offensively, getting good shots."
Ellis thought a key to the game was Hastings dominating offensive rebounds, giving themselves multiple chances to score.
"What killed us was those darn rebounds, second shot opportunities," Ellis said. "They were holding us to one (shot), we were missing. Then they'd get two or three (shots), get the rebound and get it in there the third or fourth time. That hurt us."
Bison never quit
Junior Laura Brooks hit a basket late in the first quarter to pull the Bison within 11-6. Hastings stretched the lead to double digits in the second quarter. Sophomore Emilyne Nichols made three of four free throws in the final two minutes to held cut the McCook deficit to 22-14 at halftime.
Hastings built a 14-points lead midway through the third quarter. But the Bison refused to fold. Senior Kelsey Pohl hit one of two free throws with 2:53 left in the period to get McCook within 38-18. Freshman Brooklynn Trew made two free throws with just under a minute remaining, and Brooks scored on a shot from the lane with just over 30 seconds left to help cut the Bison deficit to 31-22.
The Tigers used a 10-3 run to open the final quarter to build a 41-25 lead. Hastings did not score in the final four minutes of the game, as the Tigers missed four straight free throws. But the Bison couldn't capitalize, as McCook hit only one field goal and just two of four free throws in the last four minutes.
Brooks scored 7 points to lead McCook. Hastings was led by Zoe Mays with 12 points.
Off-season work
Coach Ellis began his first season as head of the McCook girls basketball program with no returning starters and just a handful of players with any varsity experience from last year. Ellis had just three seniors on the team, and several did not play basketball last season. The McCook coach knows his girls -- and Ellis and his coaching staff -- have to put in some work in the off-season to help change the fortunes of the basketball program.
"We had a lot of things working against us, but there's no excuses -- we have to get better," he said. "I have to get better as the head coach. We've got to get better as a team. All-in-all we've all got to get better. I really do believe we've got a group of kids that, I think, are willing to get better. If that's the case, then we will."
Some of that work will start immediately as the head coach begins to plan for next season and think about a variety of 'what ifs' for his team.
"ll be sitting there thinking a million things," Ellis said.
The McCook coach feels he has some good, young basketball talent in the program. But Ellis knows those young ladies have to be committed to working hard in the off-season in order to become better players.
"We've got some young girls that honestly, if they are willing to work their butts off, if they're willing to do that, we're going to be better," Ellis said. "We're going to be better day-one next year, and it starts here in a month or so. We're going to take a good break here, let the girls do whatever.
"With camps and open gyms, I'm going to be at the gym whenever I need to be to help anybody get better. The girls can't pick up a basketball (at the start of) basketball season and expect to come out and compete. We can't right now. Some teams can do that. We've got to work our tails off in the off-season."
Hastings, 4-16, advances to the B-5 District semifinals Thursday to face Lexington.