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McCook girls fall in first round of Class B state tourney
LINCOLN, Neb. -- McCook High School's girls held the three-time defending state champion Seward Bluejays scoreless in the fourth quarter.
That was one of the few bright spots for the Bison girls Thursday, March 1, in first-round Class B state tournament action at Lincoln's Pershing Auditorium. Seward outscored McCook 30-1 in the first period Thursday night en route to a 71-50 victory.
A smothering, ball-hawking defense and sharp-shooting from the perimeter keyed the early Seward spurt and boosted the Bluejays winning streak to 99 games.
The Bluejays knocked down six shots from 3-point range in the first quarter alone. For the game, the Jays hit 12 3-pointers, and several observers said Seward went 9 for 11 beyond the 3-point arc in the first half as the winners built a 57-17 halftime advantage.
Seward scored 15 unanswered points to start the game before Maddie Elder finally got McCook on the board when she hit a free throw midway through the period.
Senior Emilyne Nichols and junior Megan Ruppert each hit 3-point shots for the Bison in the second quarter. McCook got rolling, too little too late, in the final period, as the Bison outscored Seward 25-0. Ruppert knocked down a trio of 3-point shots -- several coming two big steps behind the line -- to lead McCook with 18 points.
Final game for Bison senior
Nichols added 14 points as the lone senior on the Bison roster sees her high school basketball career come to an end.
"When we went into halftime, they were so far ahead, we were a little worried," Nichols said. "The coaches said, 'Fight, do what you do.' That's what we do, we play together and we fight to the end."
Brooklynn Trew scored 5 points for McCook. Molly Sughroue had 4 points, while Brenleigh Daum and Rachel Goltl had 3 points each. Kassidy Gillen added 2 points and Elder had 1 point.
Seward was led by 6-foot-1 center Kourteney Zadina with 24 points -- including four shots from 3-point range. Hannah Tvrdy added 14 points (three 3-pointers) and Beth Bohuslavsky had 9 points.
Bohuslavsky has been the starting point guard for the Bluejays since her first game of her freshman year -- she has started every game in the 99-game win streak.
Shining example
Nichols said the Bison program hopes to use Seward as an example and possibly develop another Class B girls basketball powerhouse on the other end of the state.
"That's what they do there is play basketball," Emilyne said, "and that's something we're trying to establish here in McCook, is play together as a team, to play all the time, and at some point in time we will be the next Seward."
McCook head coach Jeff Ellis agreed with his senior standout.
"They showed the true reason why they are who they are and why they've done what they've done," Ellis said. "I'm just proud of my girls for getting here. The score in the first half doesn't dictate the girls' mindset in this game. It just happened to be that they (Seward) are just a much better basketball team than we are in all phases. We've got a lot of room to improve.
"They're at that level that a lot of teams -- us included -- envision ourselves being at in a few years. They are there and they are there for a reason -- they've worked hard to get there. Just a quality team, but I'm proud of our girls for going out there toe-to-toe with that team tonight."
Returning veterans
The good news for McCook is Nichols is the lone senior on the roster. The Bison qualified for the state tournament for the first time since 1995. Coach Ellis hopes the state meet experience will fuel the desire for his returning players to get better and make a return trip to state next year and for many years to come.
"A great experience for all of them," Ellis said. "Throughout the course of the game we were reminding the girls to take in everything that was around them. You don't talk about those things during regular season basketball games. I was giving them permission to kind of sneak a peak on what's going on above us, around us, behind us, because it's that special and it means that much.
"I told them don't get caught up so much in this loss. Try to get absorb everything that's going on. The whole experience of this state tournament is what you want to have memories about, then let that continue to make you hungry to be back here consistently."
McCook entered the Class B-6 District Tournament last week seeded fourth. The Bison opened the district meet at Grant with a 59-35 win over fifth seed Scottsbluff Feb. 21. Two nights later, McCook beat top seed Sidney, 52-43 to advance to the district finals.
The Bison earned the trip to state with a 50-32 romp over Alliance in the district championship game Feb. 24.
Building a successful program
This year marked just the third time in McCook school history that the Bison girls team qualified for the state tournament.
Coach Ellis wants that to become a regular routine for his team.
"We were not going to shed teams after this game, win or lose, because of what we've accomplish," Ellis said. "Although I think if we would have won there would have been some tears shed -- I would have been balling my eyes out. The mindset was we're not going to shed tears. This game here is not going to take anything away from what we accomplished in this later part of our season. The girls are proud of themselves, they know what they accomplished."
Thinking about next year
Ellis said he would allow his girls Thursday night to revel in the state meet accomplishment.
"Tomorrow start thinking this needs to be us here consistently at this level," he said. "I'm excited for the future for this basketball program."
With a host of returning players, that future should be bright as McCook will look to make a big improvement over this year's 12-15 overall record. Ellis and his team will miss their talented senior, but Nichols said she will remain close to her former teammates and coaches.
"I've had great opportunities here at McCook and I loved all the coaches, and all the girls," Emilyne said. "It's really hard and really sad for me to know that I'm done with basketball, I'm done with cross-country, and I've got one season left (track and field).
"I'm going to be one of those girls like today, I was getting text messages from the seniors that I played with my freshman year wishing me luck. These girls, I love each and every one of them, and next year I am going to be their number-one fan. I'm going to be at every game possible to support these awesome girls."
Nichols plans to study nutrition at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with plans to attend medical school and become a physical therapist.
With the focus on her studies, Emilyne said she won't compete in collegiate sports at UNL.
"But I'm definitely going to have a basketball and keep running," she said.
Seward wins another title
Seward won its 101 consecutive game and fourth straight Class B state championship in the finals Saturday, March 3. The Bluejays topped Beatrice, 46-35, in the state tournament finale at the Devaney Center.
Seward advanced to the finals with a 45-31 win over Norris in the semifinals Friday, March 2.
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