MCC women can't stay with Colorado JC powerhouse

The McCook Community College women's basketball team might best be described as a blue-collar team.

The hard-working Indians did a great job defensively Friday, Feb. 26, in slowing down a potent Northeastern (Colo.) Junior College squad. Unfortunately, the MCC offense couldn't pry the lid off the bucket in a 58-45 loss to the talented Sterling, Colo. squad.

"They hang their hats on hard work. We always talk about it," said MCC head coach Benjamin Smith, when asked about his team's work ethic. "It sure would be nice to come way on the other end (winning) one of these.

"We hold teams under 60 points -- that's always our goal. We are doing a great job of that. (Northeastern) is probably the best team in the region right now. They score 58 points with a desperation 3-point shot at halftime, so realistically it was more like 55."

Coach Smith said his team played hard until the final buzzer Friday despite falling behind and not getting the shots to fall.

"We really feel like there's a lid on the basket," Smith said. "Our shots are rattling in and out. But the kids are not hanging their heads. They're still executing, they're still getting good shots, still getting the shots we want. We are not hanging our heads after this one. We're excited about it for what it means, and it's just another great game for us to take lessons away and prepare for the region tournament."

The Indians hit just 14 of 56 field goal attempts for a chilly 25 percent. Northeastern was 25 of 57 from the floor for 43.9 percent.

Indians won't quit

McCook seems to gain a little momentum at the end of the first half after trailing by as many as 12 points. Two free throws by sophomore Julie Hale with 5.6 seconds left cut the MCC deficit to 28-21. Northeastern standout Sabella Diata dribbled the ball down court and launched a long, off-balance shot at the buzzer. The ball caromed off the glass and through the hoop to give the visitors a 31-21 halftime lead.

McCook refused to fold, as Hale and sophomore Emmalee Fladland hit consecutive baskets in the opening minute of the second half to pull the Indians with 31-25.

"We were down 10 going into the half and there was a little bit of momentum because they hit that shot," Smith said. "We came out and scored the first four points, made it a basketball game again, then we just couldn't score. We hit two great shots, great execution, then it really just kind of went away from us as far as scoring the ball.

"We did a better job of taking care of the ball in the second half (15 first-half turnovers, 7 in the second half), so we gave ourselves a chance. But when we shot 14 of 56 for a total of 25 percent, we're just not going to win basketball games. The bottom line, you've got to score."

Northeastern steadily pulled away, taking a 21-point lead with less than five minutes left. McCook used a late run, fueled by consecutive baskets by freshman Jacqueline Lovato, to cut the Northeastern lead to 12 points with just over a minute left.

Hard work for every basket

Coach Smith said his young team doesn't get any easy points.

"We know that. Our team knows that we have to play very fundamental, very disciplined basketball because we just don't get a lot of (layups) on kickout passes, we're not normally as tall as or fast as other teams," he said. "We've got to be able to shoot it, we've got to be able to stretch (opponents) out a little more from the 3-point line. We pride ourselves on being a great 3-point shooting team, and we haven't proved that over the last couple weeks."

The Indians made just 2 of 12 shots from 3-point range, and Northeastern was 4 of 21 beyond the 3-point line. The winners also made 13 of 20 free throws, while MCC was 6 of 12 at the line.

Lovato led McCook with 9 points. Maty Diallo had 18 points and Diata 13 for Northeastern.

Region IX Tournament

Coach Smith said his team will go back to work this week in preparation for the upcoming Region IX Tournament.

"We're going to go back to the drawing board the next four days before the region tournament, try to figure those things out, put a great game together and just try to keep winning and advancing," he said.

The MCC women travel to Sterling, for the Region IX Tournament on the Northeastern Junior College campus. McCook faces Miles (Mont.) Community College Saturday, March 6, at 5 p.m. in first-round tournament action.