Bison girls salvage one win in Shootout trip west

The third time was the charm for the McCook High School girls on their panhandle basketball trip Feb. 10-12.

The Bison girls finally salvaged a win Saturday, Feb. 12, in their third and final game in the annual East-West Shootout. McCook rallied with a 20-point fourth quarter to beat host Alliance, 51-41.

McCook dropped a 50-43 decision at Gering Friday, Feb. 11, after losing to Scottsbluff in the Shootout opener one night before.

The Bison girls used a solid first half Saturday to build a 22-18 lead at the break. Bonnie Dominguez spurred McCook with seven points in the second quarter when the Bison outscored Alliance 15-10.

McCook opened a six-point lead midway through the third quarter on a basket by Gretchen Sehnert and two free throws by Emilyne Nichols. but Alliance rallied with eight unanswered points to take a 33-31 lead at the end of the period.

The hosts stretched the gap to 40-36 with five minutes left in the contest, then McCook came back behind Sehnert. Gretchen hit a shot from the lane and a 3-pointer to give McCook a 41-40 lead with just over two minutes remaining.

Nichols hit a pair of free throws, and following an Alliance miss, Brooklynn Trew dropped in a 3-pointer to put the Bison in control at 46-40 with just over a minute left. Alliance committed a turnover, and McCook capitalized when Sehnert made a pair of free throws with 56 seconds left.

Alliance then made one of two free throws to narrow the McCook lead to 48-41, but Kassidy Gillen countered by making one of two free throws with 22 seconds left.

Nichols hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds for the final margin.

Sehnert had 10 of her game-high 19 points in the final eight minutes. Nichols hit 9 of 10 free throws in the contest and also finished in double figures with 11 points.

Free throws were key to the Bison win. McCook made 19 of 25 free throws, while Alliance was 10 of 18 at the line.

Bison girls vs. Gering

In Friday night's loss to Gering, the host Bulldogs had a short scoring spurt at the end of the third period that was key to the game's outcome.

McCook was within 34-29 with Gering shooting free throws. The Bulldogs scored a basket off an offensive rebound on the free throw miss, then Morgan Greene hit a 3-point shot in the closing seconds as Gering took a 39-29 cushion into the final quarter.

The Bison still trailed by 10 points late in the fourth period before freshman Molly Sughroue scored five points to help McCook pull within 48-43. Gering hit two of four free throws sandwiched around a McCook turnover for the final margin.

Emilyne Nichols led McCook Friday with 16 points. Brooklynn Trew added 10 points, including eight in the fourth quarter.

The Bison girls trailed Gering 27-21 at halftime.

McCook head coach Jeff Ellis had several of his players under the weather last week, and the flu bug apparently caught up with the Bison mentor. Ellis was ill over the weekend and was unavailable for comment on the Shootout games.

District tournament next

The McCook girls end the regular season with a 9-14 record, a vast improvement over last year's winless campaign.

The Bison girls will likely be the fourth seed in the Class B-6 District Tournament that starts Tuesday, Feb. 22. If McCook remains the fourth seed, the Bison girls would meet fifth seed Alliance in the "bunny bracket" game Feb. 22 at Perkins County High School in Grant.

The Feb. 22 winner would advance to the B-6 District semifinals against the first seed -- probably Scottsbluff -- on Thursday, Feb. 24, at the Western Nebraska Community College gym at Scottsbluff.

Official pairings for the B-6 District meet will be announced later this week.