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McCook boys rally for exciting win at Cambridge
CAMBRIDGE, Neb. -- It might have been hard for basketball fans watching the McCook-Cambridge boys scrimmage to believe the teams were only in their second week of workouts preparing for the 2011-12 season.
The two teams put on an exciting display Tuesday, Nov. 22, in the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame exhibition at the Cambridge High School gym. McCook rallied in the closing minutes to top the Trojans, 57-54.
Net proceeds from the event will benefit the state high school sports shrine.
The games will not count in the official won-loss records of either team, nor will the outcome be figured into Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) wild card point calculations.
Bison battle back
Cambridge grabbed a 41-34 lead at the end of the third quarter on a 3-point shot by Rayce Dauwen. A basket by Austin Jackson put Cambridge ahead, 47-41, with 4:50 left in the final period. McCook answered with a 3-pointer by Cody Wudtke, then a layup by Mack Alspaugh on an assist from Wudtke to cut the Cambridge lead to 47-46.
The teams traded points. with Jackson's free throw with 1:18 remaining giving the Trojans a 52-50 lead. Wudtke drove the baseline for a tying field goal with 45 seconds to go.
Sean Backer stole a pass in McCook's full-court press, but Backer missed his drive in the lane. Wudtke was there for the tip-in to put the Bison ahead , 54-52, with 30 seconds left.
Cambridge turned the ball over, then Wudtke was fouled and he made one of two free throws with 18.8 seconds to go. Matt Chitwood rebounded Wudtke's second free throw and scored from the lane to put McCook in control, 57-52. Zane Petersen scored on an offensive rebound for Cambridge in the closing seconds for the final margin.
Wudtke led all scorers with 18 points -- all in the second half. Mack Alspaugh added 11 points for the Bison. Cambridge was paced by Rayce Dauwen with 18 points. Zane Petersen added 13 points and Weston Rich chipped in 12
McCook shot less than 30 percent from the floor, but head coach Tim Garcia knows it's very early in the season and that his team's shooting will improve. He liked the Bison effort competing against a very tough Cambridge squad.
"That's one of the things we talk about every day in practice -- compete every day, compete every play," Garcia said. "One of the things we've talked about is, if we're going to win games this year, we have to be competitive All of the other things will fix themselves, everything else will fall into line as we get better, as we continue to practice and get more reps.
"That was the one thing we talked about before the game, coming out playing great defense and being competitive. We got one of the two. We kind of stunk it up on defense every once in awhile, but that's something we can fix. The competitiveness is there, maybe even a little too much -- we got down on ourselves when we made some mistakes, and that's something we can't afford to do. We have to stay in the game as a team and not get that individual mentality. Overall our competitiveness is where it needs to be at this point, but it has to continue to grow."
Tough opponent
The Bison coach also liked the fact that the Class D-1 Trojans put his squad to a tough test in the exhibition scrimmage.
"It was a great game. It was exactly what we needed," Garcia said. "I'm sure a lot of people are out there going, 'Oh my God, how does that happen?' But the truth of that is, that is a quality ball club, and quality is quality -- I don't care what class it comes from. That's a quality ball club, very well-coached.
"This was our first taste of real competition, live basketball. That's one of the things we talked about after the game, were we ready for that? No way. That's why we did this. I'm glad we did. It was a great experience for the boys."
Cambridge head coach Craig Wamsley was happy that his Trojans and the Bison could meet in the scrimmage.
"We've got some athletes. We've got a lot of speed. We don't have quite the size McCook has," Wamsley said. "Coach Garcia does a good job with his team. It's just a battle. It's McCook-Cambridge, it's a rivalry that's been here for ages. Anytime you can (play), it's going to be a competitive game. It was a lot of fun.
"This wasn't a pre-season game. This had the feel of the middle of the season, minus a few of the turnovers and stuff. This was a game. It was a lot of fun."
Coach Wamsley liked the pressure situation at the end for both teams.
"They came from behind and won, and we had the lead and we let it go," he said. "They're learning from that, and we're obviously going to learn from our mistakes and stuff. They missed a lot of threes, which helped us stay in the game. We had a bunch of turnovers and a bunch of missed box-outs (on the boards).
"They had great ball pressure and they got up and down the floor. We like to run, they like to run as well, so it was good for us that way. They were all over us. They did a great job denying the pass and ball pressure, which is great. That's going to help us in the long run because there's not very many teams we play in our conference that ball pressures the way McCook does. That's going to help us out in the long run, big time."
Official start in one week
McCook opens the 2011-12 season with their first official game at Chase County Friday, Dec. 2. Cambridge kicks off the season at home against Hitchcock County Thursday, Dec. 1.