T-Birds open with win over Swedes

Leading by just three points with under four minutes to play in the third quarter, the Cloud County Community College women’s basketball team outscored Bethany College 34-19 the rest of the way to secure a 73-55 victory in its long-awaited season opener Thursday night in Bryant Gymnasium.
Kicking off its season in late January instead of the usual early November because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Cloud County team with a roster full of newcomers was finally able to separate from a pesky Bethany team over the final 14 minutes of the game.
“They (players) were happy to play. I know they were excited to get the uniform on and have starters announced. I think it did bring some sense of normalcy,” Cloud County coach Brett Erkenbrack said.
Cloud County had extended a seven point halftime lead to 39-28 early in the third quarter when Bethany tossed in eight straight points to close the gap to 39-26.
It was a 42-39 game when the Thunderbirds got a basket by Sydni Keys and a three-point shot by Derin Akdeniz to go up 47-39.
Sarah Iskra hit from 18 feet, and the Swedes trailed 47-41 with 1:06 remaining in the third quarter.
Kennedy Becker grabbed an offensive rebound and scored, Lexi Jeffcoat made a layup and Keys knocked down a three-point shot to give Cloud County a 54-41 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Le’Yanna McGinnis scored the first four points of the final period, and the T-Birds led 58-44.
McGinnis, a 6-1 forward, scored a team high 22 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in her debut. She also had five blocked shots.
“I thought Le'Yanna McGinnis gave us some really good production again, as she did in the scrimmages. She was pretty dominant defensively,” Erkenbrack said.
Bethany would not go away.
Megan Bartel knocked down consecutive threes and Ambreenique Williams made a layup to pull the Swedes within nine points, 58-49, with 7:20 to play in the game.
Keys, a 5-7 sophomore guard from Choteau, Okla., scored five straight points and McGinnis made one of two free throws to put Cloud County up 64-49.
Williams made one of two free throws for Bethany to make it 64-50.
McGinnis scored six straight points as the T-Birds built a 70-50 lead and put the game out reach.
Keys finished with 12 points and four steals for Cloud County.
Jailynn Brooks, a freshman guard from Leavenworth, added 10 points.
Becker, a freshman forward from Corning, had 14 rebounds to go with six points.
“I thought Kennedy Becker did a fantastic job on the boards,” Erkenbrack said. “And I have been very pleased with the play of Sydni Keys, both in the scrimmages and last night. I think there were a lot of bright spots.”
Cloud County hit 26 of 70 field goal attempts for 37 percent and was 9 of 25 from three-point range for 36 percent.
The T-Birds had a 55-36 rebounding advantage.
Jericka Moore paced Bethany with 12 points. Mary Parks scored 11.
Cloud County got out to a quick 7-0 lead in the game, but the Swedes went on a 15-4 spurt to go up 15-12.
A three-point basket by Jeffcoat pulled the T-Birds even at 15-15 heading into the second quarter.
The two teams went back and forth over the first eight minutes of the period.
A three-point play by Lexi Neel pulled Bethany within a point, 27-26.
“I was really concerned that we had some dramatic drop-off when we substituted a couple of different times. I am hoping we can get that corrected in fairly short order,” Erkenbrack said.
Consecutive threes by Brooks gave Cloud County a 33-26 lead at halftime.
The T-Birds would push the lead to 11 points in the first three minutes of the second half.
Bethany was able to climb back within three points, but couldn’t keep pace down the stretch.
Cloud County will have a week off before hosting Northwest Kansas Technical College at 6 p.m. next Wednesday.
“One down and hopefully 20-plus to go,” Erkenbrack said.