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Third-quarter shooting woes end Bison state tourney hopes
SCOTTSBLUFF, Nebraska -- The McCook High School boys basketball team will probably spend a little time in the near future wondering about what could have been.
Especially if the Bison could have eliminated the third-quarter dry spell Tuesday, March 1, in the Class B-6 District Tournament championship final.
Scottsbluff pulled away from McCook in the third quarter en route to a 58-46 win in the B-6 final at the Western Nebraska Community College gym in Scottsbluff.
After a strong first half by the Bison, McCook couldn't get the ball in the basket in the third period as the Bearcats outscored the Bison 15-6 to build a 44-33 cushion.
Sean Backer's 3-point shot from the left corner gave McCook a 12-6 lead with just under two minutes left in the opening quarter. The Bison stretched the gap to 15-8 with 30 seconds left on a 3-point shot by Matt Chitwood. Scottsbluff answered with a long-range bomb by Eric Moreno to pull within 15-11 at the quarter break.
The teams traded leads late in the second period. Scottsbluff went ahead 27-23, but McCook answered with a spinning shot in the lane by Kyle Gaston, and Cody Wudtke's shot from the corner to knot the score at 27-27 with 35 seconds left.
Scottsbluff missed a long shot in the closing seconds of the first half. But Isiaih Castellaw had perfect position in the late for an easy put-back to let the Bearcats take a two-point lead to the locker room.
Strong Bison zone defense
McCook employed a strong zone defense in the first half that helped neutralize Scottsbluff's strong inside game anchored by 6-4 junior Zach Clemens. Clemens scored just six points in the opening half.
"We came out in the first half and we forced them to play our type of basketball, because we opened up a little bit of a lead and came out and played really well," said McCook head coach Tim Garcia. "They ended up taking a two-point lead into the locker room, but we were still able to force them to play our type of basketball."
The Cats scored early in the third quarter to take a 34-27 lead. Scottsbluff then held the ball, forcing McCook to abandon the zone for a chasing man-to-man defense.
"Scottsbluff is a very well-coached team, they know exactly what they want to do," Garcia said. "They know that they have a mismatch with us as far as post players go. They know that they want to get us into a man-to-man set. Once they got that seven-point lead, Coach Liske did what a lot of coaches wouldn't do, because maybe they think it's wrong, but he pulled the ball out. Believe you me, he would have held that ball out at the half-court line for the next two quarters if he had to, to get us to jump into a man-to-man.
"We had to jump into a man-to-man and were a little more vulnerable. That exposes our weaknesses on defense a little bit more as a team, and they took advantage of that."
Clemens had three field goals in the third period, all on strong moves down low. The junior added six more points in the fourth period to finish with a game-high 18 points.
McCook scoring drought
McCook scored just 19 points after halftime.
"The second half, especially the third quarter, we had a little bit of trouble putting points on the board. It was one of those things where we came out and the shots were just not falling. Shots were left, shots were right, shots were short, shots were long. The shot just wasn't falling for us. We missed some layups, some wide-open ones.
"We left a lot of points on the court, and when you're playing in this caliber of a game against this type of a team, you can't afford to leave points on the court."
A quick series early in the fourth period was perhaps the definition of McCook's problems Tuesday night.
Connor Larson stole a pass and drove downcourt, passing to Mack Alspaugh under the basket. But Alspaugh lost control of the ball out of bounds, with a little help from a Scottsbluff defender trailing on the play.
Cody Jankovits stole the ball from Scottsbluff on the next possession, but Jankovits couldn't convert at the other end with a Bearcat defender on his tail. Wudtke got another steal for the Bison on the ensuing possession, but Cody watched his layup bounce off the rim.
Bison rally
Despite the double-digit deficit entering the final quarter and their shooting woes, the Bison would not fold. McCook used a 7-2 spurt to cut the lead to 46-40, with Backer hitting his third 3-pointer of the night. Scottsbluff answered with six straight points to push the lead to 52-40 with 2:10 remaining.
Gaston came back with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to narrow the cap to 56-43. But the Cats put together another 6-0 run to end McCook's hopes.
Backer led the Bison with 16 points, including four shots from 3-point range. Gaston added 12 points, hitting two of McCook's eight total 3-point shots.
Fifteen wins
McCook finishes the season with a 15-10 record. Garcia will have a strong nucleus of returning players next year with extensive varsity experience, as he loses just four seniors from this year's edition.
The Bison coach praised Tuesday's opponent as McCook suffered their third loss of the year to the Bearcats.
"You have to give credit where credit is due -- we got beat by a very good team, a high-quality team, a very well-coached team, and we wish them nothing but the best of luck."
Scottsbluff, 18-7, advances to the Class B boys state tournament starting Thursday, March 10 in Lincoln.