Bison basketball teams open season by sweeping Longhorns

IMPERIAL -- The McCook High School varsity and junior varsity boys basketball teams opened the season Thursday night at Imperial with a sweep of the Longhorns.

The McCook varsity boys defeated the Longhorns 78-48 and the Bison varsity girls won 58-44.

The McCook JV boys won 83-37 and the JV girls won 35-24.

The McCook varsity boys featured a balanced scoring attack and led from the opening tip-off, thus making the debut of first-year coach Tim Garcia a success.

Three Bison scored in double figures, led by senior Garrett Rippen with 19 points and 9 rebounds.

Joel Arterburn posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Brandon Crick scored 10 points and grabbed 4 rebounds.

Tony Purvis had 7 points and 4 rebounds. John Swanhorst had 7 points and 7 rebounds. Cory Gaston added 7 points and 2 rebounds.

Josh Cherry had 6 points and 3 rebounds. Joel Putz had 2 points and 1 rebound.

Andy Lambing had 2 points and 3 rebounds. Brett Burton had 2 points and 3 rebounds.

"It was absolutely wonderful," said Garcia about his coaching debut at McCook. "The kids bought into the new system. We took 76 shots last night. Our goal was 80.

"That's why we implemented this system. We don't have to rely on a zone to stop a big man and we get after it on defense. Our entire defensive philosophy is built on causing turnovers."

Chase County's individual stats were not available.

Coach Rick Titus had good things to say about McCook and his team.

"McCook played very well," Titus said. There is a reason why they lost two players in football and still made it to the championship game. They played well, give them credit.

"I felt their bench was a big factor in the game. I felt Scott Way and Darrin Schultz competed well for us."

McCook varsity girls 58,

Chase County 44

Seniors Jillian Bryant and Allison Smith both recorded double-doubles in Thursday's win over Chase County.

Bryant, a four-year starter for the Bison, scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. She added 6 assists and 3 steals.

Smith had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and added 1 assist and 3 steals.

McCook outscored Chase County 15-9 in the third quarter and 19-8 in the fourth period after trailing 27-24 at halftime.

Jessica Harris scored 9 points, Kayla Wilson 8, Andrea Soden 4, Lindsey McNutt 2, Michelle McKenna 2 and Taryn Placzek 1.

Soden and Betsy Kohmetscher each pulled down 5 rebounds, followed by Wilson with 4, McNutt 2, McKenna 2, Placzek 2 and Harris 1.

Wilson, Soden and McNutt each had 2 assists, Harris 1 and Placzek 1. Harris had 2 steals, McKenna 1 and Placzek 1.

Jaci Liewer led the Longhorns with 9 points, followed by Tabitha Russell 8, Whitney Paisley 8, Sarah Miller 8, Cara Kunneman 4, Celeste Pankonin 4 and Ryann Spady 3.

The Bison outrebounded Chase County 41-28 and outshot the Longhorns 47-43 percent from the line and 43-26 percent from the floor.

"We started out tight tonight and found ourselves in a close ball game in the first half," said McCook girls coach Barry Schaeffer. "We did not rebound very well in the first half and gave up too many second chance points.

"In the second half, we did a much better job rebounding the ball and created some opportunities from our defense. Our bench gave us a lift in the second half when we needed one.

"This was a complete team effort. One of the stats I'm most impressed with is as a team we had 15 assists. That means we were looking for each other and getting the ball to the right people in the right position."

Bison JV boys 83,

Chase County 37

A big first half set the tone for the McCook JV boys Thursday.

The Bison scored 20 points in the first quarter and 31 in the second quarter to take a 51-19 halftime lead.

Cory Gaston poured in 22 points for McCook. Andy Lambing added 13 and Andrew Reitz 11.

John Swanhorst tallied 7, J.D. Stone 6, Brett Burton 5, Chance Unger 4, Kendall Foster 4, Brady Dame 4, Eric Rippen 3, David Swisher 2 and Nate Berry 2.

Rony Siperda led the Longhorns with 9 points. Jose Enriquez and Talor Yaw each scored 8.

"Defensively we set the tempo by pressuring Chase County into doing things that they really did not want to do," said McCook JV boys coach Dan Hilton, who used 15 players.

"This gave our transition game a boost by fgetting into our offense by having numbers and converting many quick baskets.

"It was just nice to see everyone get their feet wet in the first contest and get some experience under their belts. For us to be successful, we will need contributions from everyone."

Bison JV girls 35,

Chase County 24

The Bison JV girls jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the first quarter and led 24-11 at halftime.

The Longhorns closed the gap by outscoring the Bison 7-0 in the third quarter but McCook pulled away with an 11-6 final frame.

Amy Beckenhauer and Michelle McKenna each scored 7 points for McCook. Jessica Einspahr added 5 and Lindsay Hazlitt 4.

Hazlitt pulled down 7 rebounds and Beckenhauer 3.

Marissa Grow led the Longhorns with 5 points. Ryann Spady added 4.

Chase County outrebounded McCook 40-23.

MCCook made 14-of-62 floor shorts and the Longhorns 9-of-42.

"We played hard defensively throughout the game and generated a lot of steals (16)," Schaeffer said. "Offensively we needed to become a little more consistent."

Bison boys

host Hastings

Friday night;

McCook girls

play at GINW

Saturday night

The Bison JV and varsity boys host Hastings Friday night, marking Tim Garcia's head coaching debut at home.

The JV game starts at 6 p.m., followed by the varsity boys game at 7:45 p.m.

The McCook JV and varsity girls play on the road at Grand Island Northwest Saturday.

The JV girls game starts at 3:15 p.m., followed by the varsity girls contest at 5 p.m.