Menu
MCC women nip Colorado Christian JV
There's probably not too many basketball secrets between the McCook Community College Indians and the Colorado Christian University junior varsity.
The two teams played for the second time this season Wednesday night and the results were nearly the same as the first meeting. McCook nipped the Cougars, 53-52, at McCook's True Hall gym when a Colorado Christian shot in the final seconds missed the mark.
Colorado Christian competes in NCAA Division II as basketball members of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference along with University of Nebraska-Kearney and Chadron State. MCC head coach Benjamin Smith said the Colorado team's junior varsity gains valuable experience every day in practice, and that, in turn, helps make the JV squad a tough team.
"They are really tough and they're getting better," Coach Smith said. "They play day-in and day-out with juniors and seniors who have experience, who know the nuances of the game, and they bring that to the table. Every time we play them, we learn things from their players. They're resilient, they rebound, they shoot the heck out of the ball.
"We guarded them for 90 feet tonight. I thought we did a great job defensively. We missed a lot of bunnies, we missed a lot of open looks."
The Indians probably could have ran away with a victory if not for shooting as cold as the bone-chilling temperatures outside True Hall Wednesday night. MCC hit just 20 of 74 field goal attempts (27 percent), and just 4 of 16 shots from 3-point range (25 percent). The Indians were not much warmer at the charity stripe with the 9-of-21 effort (43 percent).
Colorado Christian didn't shoot much better, hitting 20 of 58 field goal for 34.5 percent, 8 of 23 from 3-point range (34.8 percent) and 4- of 12 at the line (33 percent).
Close game all the way
Wednesday's game was close throughout. Colorado Christian built a 16-9 lead midway through the first half. Donell Betts (freshman from Ft. Collins, Colo.) hit a 3-pointer for MCC and teammate Emmalee Fladland (sophomore, Colorado Springs, Colo,) hit a layup after a steal to help the host Indians cut the gap to 16-14.
The hosts took a 23-21 lead on a 3-pointer by Elle Hiester (freshman, Monument, Colo.) late in the first half. Christian answered with a 3-pointer, but McCook's Sierra Guy (sophomore, Toronto, Canada) swished a shot from the right wing in the final seconds to give MCC a 25-24 halftime edge.
Christian stretched the lead to seven points midway through the second half, but MCC answered with baskets by Hiester and Morgan Spencer (freshman, Yuma, Colo.) to tie the score at 45-45 with just under seven minutes remaining.
The visitors took a 52-48 lead on a 3-pointer by Monique Correia with 2:30 left. McCook made three of four free throws to pull within a single point, then MCC stole the ball with full-court pressure and Lauren Woods (freshman, Kersey, Colo.) hit a layup to put MCC ahead 53-52 with 1:34 left.
Both teams missed free throws down the stretch. Christian gained possession with less than 10 seconds to go. A shot from the corner hit the edge of the backboard, and Britney Bunker (sophomore, Colorado Springs) grabbed the rebound to help MCC hold on for the win.
Full-court pressure
Coach Smith employed full-court pressure against Christian most of the way Wednesday. The MCC defense recorded nine steals.
"We thought that we had a little bit of a skill advantage as far as their dribbling versus our dribbling," he said. "We were putting pressure and trying to attack at their point of attack and really making it difficult for them to run offense. I think our kids did a great job of taking them out of what they like to do. This team has consistently scored 60 and 70 and 75 points on teams in our region, and tonight with us holding them to 52, we did everything we were supposed to do defensively. We just didn't put the little round thing (ball) in the bigger round thing (hoop) enough times tonight."
Donell Betts led MCC with 14 points, and Elle Hiester added 10. Christian was led by Kelsey Bradley with 17 points.
Thursday night rematch
The two teams will meet again Thursday, Dec. 10, at True Hall, with tip-off set for 5 p.m. Coach Smith said he probably won't change much strategy from Wednesday night.
"I think the game plan stays pretty much the same. We know what they're going to do, they know what we're going to do. We've played them twice already, there's no surprises. They're going to come out swinging, we're going to come out swinging, and whoever's left standing is going to be ahead at the end of the game."
Smith said it will be a challenge for his squad to face the same opponent in less than 24 hours.
"It's tough because it's going to be the third time we played them -- that old adage about playing a team three times, and we already beat them twice. They're tough, they're resilient, they're a well-coached team with good athletes and good shooters. So I think we're definitely going to have our hands full."