CCCC knocks off Mavericks, 61-54

Looking to put an end to a five game losing streak, the Cloud County Community College Thunderbirds found themselves trailing the Northwest Kansas Technical College Mavericks by four points early in the fourth quarter.
Cloud County used a 13-0 run to surge to a 53-42 lead, and knocked down 8 of 10 free throws over the final 3:09 to pull out a 61-54 Jayhawk Conference win over Northwest Tech Saturday afternoon in Bryant Gymnasium.
It was the first win for the T-Birds since they opened conference play by knocking off Garden City Community College 62-58 back on November 27. They are now 7-9 overall and 2-4 in the conference.
“It was great to get a win as Northwest Kansas Tech brought a very talented team to Concordia today,” Cloud County coach Brett Erkenbrack said.
Cloud County carried a 40-36 lead into the fourth quarter.
Consecutive three-point shots by Zantasia White, her first of the game, gave Northwest Tech its first lead of the second half, 42-40, 57 seconds into the final period.
The Mavericks would then go nearly six minutes without scoring.
Sophomore Lydia Ostenson, who came off the bench to score 12 points, scored on a drive to ignite the 13-0 Cloud County spurt.
A basket by Haven Hamilton capped off the run with a basket that made it 53-42 with 3:52 remaining in the game.
Two free throws by Josie Cook ended Northwest Tech’s lengthy scoring drought, and closed the gap to 53-44 with 3:18 on the clock.
Cloud County would not score again from the field, but did go 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
The Mavericks, 5-9 overall and 1-5 in conference play, were not able to get any closer than the final margin of seven points.
“We made some free throws down the stretch and had some big defensive possessions and rebounds when we needed them, so I’m happy how we performed today,” Erkenbrack said.
LaKya Leslie led the way for Cloud County with 14 points and also pulled down 14 rebounds. She made 10 of 14 free throws, including five of six down the stretch.
Kelsie Kelly finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Jacy Dalinghaus added 10 points.
Cloud County hit 20 of 65 field goal attempts for 31 percent and 19 of 27 free throws for 70 percent.
Jada Russell paced Northwest Tech with 16 points.
White scored 13 points and pulled down six rebounds.
Lauryn Vieira chipped in 11 points.
The Mavericks shot just 27 percent (19 of 70) from the field and 66 percent (11 of 20) from the free throw line.
Cloud County jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the game, but scored just two points over the final 5:42 of the first quarter.
Northwest Tech closed the gap to 10-9.
The Mavericks scored the first two points of the second quarter, and led 11-10.
An 8-2 run gave Cloud County the lead back at 18-13.
Scoring seven straight points, the Mavericks went back on top, 20-18.
Back to back baskets by Dalinghaus and two free throws by Ostenson put Cloud County up 24-20.
Russell hit from 12 feet with time running out in the first half, and Northwest Tech was down just 24-22 at halftime.
The Mavericks would pull even twice in the third quarter, but could not wrestle the lead away from the T-Birds.
Trailing 40-36, Northwest Tech got the two threes by White in the first minute of the fourth quarter to go up 42-40.
The T-Birds responded with the 13-0 surge that propelled them to the win.
Cloud County will play at Barton Community College on Wednesday night.