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CCCC routs Allen County, 92-55

Despite playing in its fourth game in seven days, the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team did not look like a team battling fatigue.
The Tthunderbirds were energized, focused and on a mission during Wednesday's showdown with Allen County Community College, rolling to a 92-55 laugher in one of their most complete performances of 2019.
Cloud County (16-11 overall, 9-9 KJCCC) shot 45 percent (34-of-76) and limited its turnovers to a season-low of five, all while playing all 12 players and receiving double-digit scoring efforts from five different T-Birds in their rout of the Red Devils (3-24 overall, 1-16 KJCCC).
"To be able to run up and down the floor like we did, play a lot of people and shoot it as well as we did and be as active as we were; I'm real proud of our ballclub," Cloud County head coach Brett Erkenbrack said, "This is a real good win for us. We certainly expected to win, but there have been some games we've won where it didn't feel like we won. (Wednesday), it was a nice team effort and a good performance from our ballclub."
Sophomore forward Scout Frame and freshman guard Emmiley Hendrixson led the way with 15 points apiece,while freshmen guards Chase Siedlik and Lydia Ostenson added 12 points.
Ostenson, getting her third straight start, has responded well to the added responsibilities as she also contributed three rebounds, four assists and tallied a steal and a block in her 26 minutes.
"I thought Lydia Ostenson really played well. She's stepped into that starting role and I think has made us better," Erkenbrack said. "She's really improved her game. She's calmed down and really using her athletic ability when the opportunities present themselves and not forcing things. That was great to see."
After doubling up Allen County in the first quarter to take a 16-8 lead, the T-Birds broke the game open in the second quarter with a scoring barrage that saw them outscore the Red Devils, 32-11, on 12-of-22 shooting (55 percent).
At the center of the storm was sophomore forward Destiny Pittman, the fifth T-Bird in double-figures Wednesday, as she score six of her 10 points off the bench against her former team.
"She did a lot of (damage) when the game was still to be decided," Erkenbrack said of Pittman, who spent her freshman season at Allen County. "She hit two three-pointers in that second quarter and that's really when we started to extend that lead out and took strong control of the game. I thought she did a really good job not just shooting the ball, but she made some nice passes. She gives us a different dimension because she can play out on the perimeter with the ball and can also post up."
The contributions continued up and down the lineup as redshirt freshman Cassidy Haufler posted six points and a team-high 11 rebounds; sophomore forward Mikaela Meyers scored nine points and added two blocks; and the quartet of Maeson Dewey (2 points), Chiara De Virgilio (5 points), Faith Martin (four points) and Kamryn Collins (2 points) all cracked the scoresheet.
Defensively, the T-Birds were sound from the opening tip as they limited Allen County to 37 percent shooting (21-of-57) while collecting 13 steals, led by a team-high four from Hendrixson.
Cloud County will look to ride the momentum of Wednesday's win into its final road game of the regular season at 4 p.m. Saturday against Independence Community College.
The T-Birds lost a tight 59-52 battle with the Pirates, winners of their last seven games, the first go ahead back on Jan. 26 in Concordia.
"Independence is probably playing as well as any team in the KJCCC East," Erkenbrack said. "They beat Cowley, they beat Butler the other night and think they've won 6-7 in a row. That'll be a big test for us. I felt like we kind of gave the game away here. They're really big, but we're a lot better than we were a couple weeks ago when we played them. It'll be a good test of where we are and what we need to improve on heading into the playoffs."

 

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510 Washington St.
Concordia, KS 66901