T-Birds defeat Raiders 81-69 in season opener

COLUMBUS, Neb. — Four players scored in double figures as the Cloud County Community College Thunderbirds opened their season with an 81-69 win over Central Community College-Columbus on Thursday night.
Sophomore guards Alvin Thompson and Jerome Kidd Jr. scored 17 points each for Cloud County.
Thompson hit 8 of 12 field goal attempts and one of three free throws. He also had five rebounds.
Kidd Jr. came off the bench and knocked down 8 of 14 shots from the floor and grabbed five rebounds.
“I thought Jerome really took to our game plan the minute he went on the floor.” Cloud County coach Jordan Altman said, “Because of how successful he was our other guys started to match him. We were very determined to get to the rim tonight, and that's where Alvin and Jerome got most of their points.”
Gabe Pieschl, a freshman guard, scored 10 points in his debut with the T-Birds. He was four of eight from the floor, and hit two of four three-points attempts.
“What I've always like about Gabe is that he finds a way to help whether he's hitting shots or not. He did a lot of great things for us offensively and defensively. A blocked shot and two steals to go with 10 points is not bad for a freshman coming out of Marysville.”
Edoardo De Cadia, a 6-8 freshman forward, tossed in 10 points in 13 minutes of play. He was five of nine from the field and pulled down five rebounds.
Cloud County lost to Central 71-65 in the season opener last year, but used a big second half to pull out a win.
Cloud County had a 38-37 lead at halftime on the Raiders.
The game was tied 49-49 in the second half when the T-Birds went on an 11-0 run in a span of three minutes to go up 60-49.
“It was created on both sides of the floor,” Altman said of the spurt, “We hit some shots and really dug in to get some stops. Once we strung a couple of stops and scores together, and Jerome had a big dunk that got the bench excited, it kind of snowballed from there.”
The Raiders would get no closer than eight points over the final 12 minutes of the game.
Cloud County shot 53 percent (36 of 68) from the field and made four of eight free throws.
The T-Birds connected on 5 of 19 three-point attempts for 26 percent.
Mayra Almayra paced Central with 18 points. He was seven of nine from the floor and three of three from the line.
Nathan Frost scored 11 points for the Raiders.
Central shot just 38 percent (28 of 74) from the field, and made 6 of 30 threes for 20 percent.
Cloud County will play in a two-day classic hosted by Pratt Community College on Saturday and Sunday.
The T-Birds take on Next Level Hoops Academy at 5 p.m. Saturday and the Kansas Wesleyan University junior varsity at 4 p.m. Sunday.
“We've really been stressing to the guys that there is a fundamental mentality to winning,” Altman said, “I'm really hoping with these two games here that we can build our confidence and work on some things in our offense without necessarily being pressured by a team as talented as we will see in the KJCCC.”