Lady Bison finish sixth at Topside Tip-Off

Monday, December 11, 2017
From left to right, McCook’s Mackenzie Smith, Brantleigh Morgan and Emily Arp play defense against Norton, Kan., during Saturday’s fifth place game of the Topside Tip-Off Tournament in Goodland, Kan. The Lady Bison fell to the Lady Bluejays 50-42 and finished the weekend 1-2. McCook is back in action this week with three games. The Lady Bison travel to play Cozad tomorrow (Tuesday), then host North Platte and Holdrege on Friday and Saturday.
Jennifer Morgan/For the Gazette

GOODLAND, Kan. -- GOODLAND, Kan. -- McCook took an early lead but was outscored 43-31 in the final three quarters, as the Lady Bison fell to Norton, Kan., 50-42 in Saturday’s fifth-place game of the Topside Tip-Off Tournament.

The Lady Bison jumped out to an 11-7 lead after the first quarter before the Lady Bluejays went on a 12-8 run to even the score at 19-19 heading into halftime.

Norton took a 32-27 lead in the third quarter then scored 18 more in the fourth to hold on for the consolation victory.

“As a team we did a nice job controlling out turnovers and controlling the (first) half,” said McCook head coach Amy Scheil. “The second half, Norton went to a 2-3 zone and we got out of control, took some quick shots and turned the ball over way too much.”

Scheil said McCook struggled with post entries against Norton’s zone defense.

“We didn’t do a good job using the correct angles to enter the ball to our post players, which ended up in turnovers.  At the end of the game, our bench applied a lot of pressure and did a great job trying to get us back in it.”

McCook got a season-high 20 points from freshman Liviya Wier, who was playing in just her sixth career varsity game (five regular season games, plus a preseason Jamboree contest).

“Liviya has a great game on both ends of the court,” Scheil commented. “Her and Emily did a nice job slowing Norton’s fast break and applying pressure to their ball handlers.”

Emily Arp and Erika Fisher were McCook’s second and third scorers with seven and five points, respectively.

While Jayceea Hanson and Mackenzie Smith were held to four points each, Scheil said she was pleased with their play on the defensive end.

“Jayceea and Mackenzie did a great job disrupting Norton’s inside game.”

Tayli Hartwell led the Lady Bluejay attack with 12 points. Four other players registered eight or seven points for Norton, which improved to 3-1 with the win.

McCook is back in action with three games this week. The Lady Bluejays travel to Cozad Tuesday night before hosting North Platte and Holdrege on Friday and Saturday.

Score by quarter

NOR (3-1) 7 12 13 18 - 50

MCK (2-3) 11 8 8 15 - 42

Scoring leaders

McCook - Wier, 20; Arp, 7; Fisher, 5; Miller, 5; Hanson, 4; Smith, 4; Honn, 1. Norton - Hartwell, 12; Ambrosier, 8; Engelbert, 8; Bailey, 7; Kuhn, 7; Hauser, 4; Hauser, 3.


McCook 53, Wallace County 42 (Friday)

GOODLAND, Kan. -- On Friday, McCook shot an efficient .535 from the field to propel the Lady Bison to a 53-42 win over Wallace County, Kan.

McCook built a 29-17 lead at halftime before hanging on in the second half to record its second victory of the season.

Jaden Bryant led the Lady Bison with 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting (.667). Bailey Honn added 11, while Erika Fisher scored 7. Fisher was 2-of-3 (.667) from behind the arc.

Wallace County was led by Carli Haislip’s game-high 14 points.

McCook also won the turnover battle 26-16.

Score by quarter

MCK 15 14 15 9 - 53

WAL 9 8 14 11 - 42

Scoring leaders

McCook - Bryant, 13; Honn, 11; Smith, 9; Fisher, 7; Arp, 5; Hanson, 4; Morgan, 2; Wier, 2. Wallace County - Haislip, 14; Hennick, 9; Perry, 8; Ayers, 6; Allen, 5.

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