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Haymakers swipe win from McCook girls
McCOOK, Neb. — They became the essence of a smiling Grinch-faced frosted Christmas cookie Tuesday night.
The Cozad Haymakers were stealing McCook joy all evening — and they never felt bad about it for one second.
Especially since that final moment expired with Cozad’s Abby Cornelius clutching the basketball and a 38-35 road victory.
No presents for you tonight!
Cornelius picked off McCook’s final downcourt pass and held on as time ran out on the Bison varsity home opener.
“Our defense is definitely the key because we’re struggling to shoot the basketball,” coach Zachary Stauffer said about the Haymakers’ first win this season. “We have an aggressive mentality to get the ball and get to the free-throw line.”
Senior Abby Thramer achieved both goals with Cozad clinging to a 32-31 lead.
Thramer stole another Bison ball, flipped up her own shot and saw it drop through the net while foul was being called.
The 5’8” Thramer made her free throw to finish a huge late three-point play that made it 35-31.
“Our offense is coming. It’s kind of like a volcano that will explode somewhere,” Stauffer observed.
The coach offered similar predictions for Bison senior posts McKenzie Smith and Jayceea Hanson.
Smith tallied 10 second-half points while Hanson delivered four assists, seven points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
“They are tough to stop,” Stauffer said about the Bison’s tallest trees.
“Jayceea is a very good passer,” McCook coach Amy Scheil confirmed. “We’d like to see her shoot it a little more.”
Hanson’s first made shot helped the Bison (1-3 record) heat up early and flow to an 11-7 lead.
Senior Brooke Stewart followed her 18-point effort on Saturday by hitting some smooth mid-range shots and dropping in a three-point bomb.
Sophomore Tiara Matson joined the fun as she sank two free throws — that second banking off the backboard glass with perfect touch.
However, Cozad caught the Bison 11-11 and McCook soon began losing some touch on crucial press-breaking passes.
“We didn’t handle the pressure,” Scheil said while mentioning Cozad’s press was NOT tougher than what McCook saw at the Topside Tipoff Tournament last weekend.
“No, Colby (Kan.) had a tougher press. We just didn’t handle it well tonight,” she said. “We let them (Cozad) have the ball.”
Cozad (1-5 record) took momentum and carried a 20-17 lead into halftime.
Another shot made it 22-17, but the Bison showed winning tenacity. Smith deflected a Haymaker pass, leading to one Bison steal which set up Hanson’s turnaround jumper.
Hanson then spotted discus-throwing district champion pal Smith, whose running bank shot caught Cozad at 23-23.
Smith’s next two free throws gave McCook what would actually be its final lead of the evening.
The Haymakers unleashed a quick 6-0 flurry to regain its 29-25 advantage through three periods.
McCook rallied to tie one more time on Stewart’s layup off a tipped-but-nicely-placed Brolin Morgan lead pass.
With moments, Hanson delivered one more bounce pass to Smith. Smith’s driving basket forced one more tie at 29.
Morgan made the Bison shot for a 31-31 deadlock.
Yet nobody could match Cozad senior Brenna Dugan.
She scored a game-high 22 points following 34 in Cozad’s loss to Valentine last weekend.
Dugan made four of four free throws in the final quarter. Her last two regained a 36-33 lead which McCook could never erase due to some late steals.
“We wanted to get the ball down low to our posts,” Scheil said about the last two Bison chances. “But it’s tough when you have so many sophomores trying to break a press. We struggled to go to the ball at times.”
The Bison can regain momentum at North Platte Friday night followed with Saturday in Holdrege. They’re a combined 3-4 so far this season.
“We’re expecting two very tough games,” the coach concluded.
Scoring summary
From Tuesday’s varsity game at McCook High:
McCOOK (35) — Brooke Stewart 11 points, Mackenzie Smith 10, Jayceea Hanson 7, Ashley Miller 2, Tiara Matson 2, Brolin Morgan 2, Emma Kehler 1. Three-pointer: Stewart.
COZAD (38) — Brenna Dugan 22 points, Abigail Cornelius 4, Mckenzie Lee 3, Abigail Nelsen 3, Abby Thramer 3, Sydney Lindstedt 2, Addy Hergenrader 1. Three-pointers: Dugan, Nelson.
Other McCook Bison girls leaders on Tuesday:
Rebounds: JAYCEEA HANSON 10, Mackenzie Smith 9, Emma Kehler 6, Brooke Stewart 6, Tiara Matson 5.
Assists: HANSON 4, Morgan 2, Kehler 2.
Steals: SMITH 3, Hanson 2, Stewart 2, Ashley Miller 1, Kehler 1.
Blocked shots: Hanson, Matson and Stewart each swatted one.