Bison sweep with 34-point first quarter, belief in a comeback

McCook junior Kooper Rakes (left) was part of a great Bison sweep through their final two games at the Goodland, Kan., Topside Tournament.

R.B. Headley/McCook Gazette

GOODLAND, Kan. — The classic chant “I believe we will win!” never rang more clearly than during McCook High’s two Topside Tournament weekend games.

However, they followed two entirely different routes to victory.

A 34-point first quarter sparked McCook’s 76-40 whipping of Wray, Colo., Friday evening to begin consolation play.

Junior Trey Tiller’s first two three-point shots showed the Bison were ready to roar following a first-round setback vs. Norton, Kan.

Tiller had tallied 19 points in that first Topside game.

Sophomore Tripp Raile followed with 15 points, many off steals but mostly due to great ball sharing from every Bison in this contest.

That’s right: “share the ball” was another constant throughout this big bounceback victory.

“Yeah, we did a great job of that, moving the ball around for good shots,” senior Andrew Pochop confirmed as he eventually totaled 15 points which matched Raile for top honors.

Yet McCook featured four double-digit scorers overall while three other Bison netted at least seven points.

“We’re having fun, all of us working together. Nobody’s selfish on this team,” Pochop added. “I thank the Lord most of all to be part of this.”

Junior Bryson Gullion’s three long-range triples — another reference to his favorite sport baseball — was a Bison highlight after he hit four in each of McCook’s first two contests.

Yet Saturday was a totally different start against the Ulysses, Kan., Tigers.

The Bison fell behind 18-10 and eventually faced deficits of more than 10 in this Topside fifth-place game Saturday afternoon.

“Hey, you’re not going to score 34 in the first quarter every game,” coach Joe Imus said. “Ulysses is a scrappy, good team. But we found a way to come back and get the win.”

McCook triumphed 58-50 with always-a-sparkplug guard Brody Graham scoring 16 points.

Sophomore Kooper Rakes stepped up to score 16 and continuing to show while he could become quite an offensive threat just like Tiller.

Raile ripped 13 points through the nets as he’s followed up his strong finish to last season.

The Bison finished Topside at 2-1 while improving to 3-2 overall.

They’ll host Kearney Catholic on Friday evening before visiting Holdrege Saturday afternoon to finish 2024 play.

Both the Stars and those sharp-shooting, explosive Dusters will give McCook two good tests before the Christmas break.