Bison fall short against Hastings

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Daily Gazette McCook senior Cory Gaston, right, goes up for a shot against Hastings' Nile Schneider (13). Hastings defeated McCook 58-53.

McCook to play

Sharon Springs

in Goodland

tourney opener

The McCook Bison varsity boys basketball team dug themselves a 13-0 hole in the first quarter and never led in Friday night's game against the Hastings Tigers at the MHS gymnasium.

The Bison fought back to tie the score at 48-48 with 1:39 left in the fourth quarter, but the Tigers' Andrew Lyle scored 8 points in 10-5 run that gave the Tigers a 58-53 win.

Lyle, a 6-foot-3 senior, led all scorers with 23 points, including three 3-pointers. Teammate Brett Herbek added 14 points and Travis Halbmaier 9.

Threee McCook players scored in double figures. Eric Rippen scored 13 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead McCook. Cory Gaston and Zach Wieser each had 12.

Seth Schaeffer added 9 and Matt Berry 7.

Berry, Gaston and Schaeffer each had 6 rebounds. Berry had 5 assists and Rippen 4. Rippen had 4 steals and Wieser 3.

McCook made 12-of-28 2-pointers, 6-of-13 3-pointers and 11-of-16 free throws.

"It was a great effort to get back into the ball game," said McCook boys coach Tim Garcia, whose team dropped to 1-1. "Hastings has a nice ball club. There's no shame losing to this ball club. We put ourselves in a position to win in the fourth quarter. We have to close it out.

"Andrew Lyle is one of the best one-on-one players we will face. Matt Berry (who guarded Lyle most of the night) is a tenacious defender. It's the little things we need to work on."

The McCook boys will compete in the Goodland (Kan.) Topside Tip-off Tournament next Thursday through Saturday.

The Bison will face Sharon Springs Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Goodland Junior High School High gym.

The McCook/Sharon Springs winner will face the Goodland/Weskan winner on Friday at 9 p.m. Other boys first-round matches include Ottawa vs. Colby and Norton vs. Denver Skyline.

Hastings: Andrew Lyle 23, Schneider 4, Brett Herbek 14, Halbmaier 9, Gawrych 2.

McCook: Berry 7, Cory Gaston 12, Eric Rippen 13, Zach Wieser 12, Schaeffer 9.

McCook JV boys 48, Hastings 46 -- McCook junior Ryan Hardin hit a baseline jumper at the buzzer to give the McCook Bison junior varsity boys a 48-46 win over the Hastings Tigers JV Friday night at the MHS gymnasium.

McCook trailed at halftime 25-20 and Hastings scored the first 5 points of the second half to take a 30-20 advantage.

The Bison rallied to tie the score at 44-44 in the fourth quarter and again at 46-46 before Hardin sank the game-winner. He finished with 9 points.

The Bison got 13 points each from Connor Larson and Mike Grabowski and 8 from Dustin Parde. Austin Larson scored 4 and Tye Smith 1.

Hardin grabbed 10 rebounds for McCook, Parde 8 and Austin Larson 6. Connor Larson had 3 assists. Hardin and Smith each had 2 steals. Parde had 2 blocked shots.

Amadeus Long led the Tigers with 22 points and Ross Hoglund added 16.