CCCC opens season with 86-48 win over Knights

NORTH Platte, Neb. — Erupting for 52 points in the second half, the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team opened its season with an 86-48 road win over North Platte Community College on Sunday afternoon.
Cloud County led North Platte 34-23 at halftime.
The Thunderbirds outscored the Knights 27-13 in the third quarter to extend the lead to 61-36.
Cloud County pumped in 25 points in the final period, and limited North Platte to just 12 points.
“I thought our second half defense was very good, especially with us playing all 12 people a lot of minutes,” Cloud County coach Brett Erkenbrack said, “We were a little out of sync in the first half against North Platte's 3-2 zone. It always takes a little bit of time early in the season to get comfortable playing against a zone, so it just took us a little while to settle down and figure out where our shots were going to come from.”
Sophomore Scout Frame, the leading returning scorer for Cloud County, led the way with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Cassidy Haufler, a sophomore transfer, also recorded a double-double for the T-Birds by scoring 11 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in her debut.
“I thought Cassidy was very good. She is going to be a good player for us this season, and Scout played really well in that second half,” Erkenbrack said.
“Kamryn Collins, a freshman guard, hit six of nine field goal attempts in scoring 14 points for Cloud County.
Freshmen guard Lydia Ostensen and Emmiley Hendrixson added nine points each.
Cloud County had a slim 16-12 lead after one quarter of play.
The T-Birds scored 18 points in the second period, and gave up just 11, to go up 34-23 at halftime.
Cloud County shot 48 percent (36 of 75) from the field during the game, and went 21 of 41 in the second half for 51 percent.
Madison Francis led North Platte with 20 points. Nahatabaa Nacona added 12 points.
The Knights connected on just 21 of 68 field goal attempts for 31 percent and two out of three free throws. They were 4 of 25 from three-point range for 16 percent, and made just 1 of 14 in the second half.
“I didn't think we did a very good job of covering the three-point line in the first half, but then we played with a little more energy in the second half. We were getting our hands on the ball more, and did a nice job of communicating and challenging the shot more. And then the big key to holding somebody to a low shooting percentage is not allowing second-chance shots,” Erkenbrack said.
The T-Birds will play at home for the first time when they host the Kansas Wesleyan University junior varsity at 6:00 Tuesday night.
“Usually between the first game and a second game of the season we see a significant jump in our play, but one of the things I was most proud of (Sunday) was how we saw a significant jump in our level of play between the first and second half,” Erkenbrack said, “I want us to start Tuesday the way we ended tonight and go from there.”