T-Birds topple Mavericks, 84-68

Breaking the game open with an 18-3 run, that was capped off by a seven-point possession, the Cloud County Community College women’s basketball team pulled away to an 84-68 victory over the Northwest Kansas Technical College Mavericks in the opening round game of the Region VI Tournament Saturday afternoon in Bryant Gymnasium.
Picking up wins in its final two regular season games to earn a home game in the opening round of the tournament, seventh-seeded Cloud County was having a tough time shaking 10th-seeded Northwest Tech.
The Thunderbirds led the game just 57-54 when Northwest Tech’s Elisha Sanchez connected on a three-point shot with 6:42 remaining.
Starting with a three-point play by Josephine Igherighe, Cloud County outscored Northwest Tech 18-3 in a span of 3:42 to open up a 78-57 advantage.
The Mavericks got no closer than 14 points over the final two minutes as the T-Birds captured the win to advance to the tournament quarterfinals.
“We executed pretty well in the half-court and we switched up defensively a little bit which I think helped us a little. We got a couple of rebounds, got a couple of stops, got a couple of steals and scored a few buckets in transition,” Cloud County coach Brett Erkenbrack said of the decisive run.
Cloud County (17-13) will move on to play second-seeded Barton Community College (25-5) on its home floor at 5:30 Wednesday night.
Barton, one of the top four seeds, received a first-round bye.
In the other games played on Saturday, eighth-seeded Independence Community College defeated ninth-seeded Cowley College, 68-54; fifth-seeded Coffeyville Community College downed 12th-seeded Pratt Community College, 80-69; and 11th-seeded Garden City Community College upset sixth-seeded Seward County Community College, 60-59.
Top-seeded Dodge City Community College (28-2) hosts Independence. Coffeyville (19-12) plays at fourth-seeded Hutchinson Community College (23-7) and Garden City is at third-seeded Butler Community College (23-6).
Trailing 57-50 early in the fourth quarter, Northwest Tech closed the gap to 57-54 on the three by Sanchez.
The three-point play by Igherighe and four straight points by Maimouna Sissoko pushed Cloud County’s lead to 64-54.
The Mavericks made three of four free throws in just 16 seconds to make it 64-57.
Alize Ruiz tossed in seven straight points, and Cloud County led 71-57.
Igherighe was fouled with 2:27 remaining, and Northwest Tech’s Tyjhanae Penny was whistled for a technical foul.
After Igherighe connected on all four free throws, the T-Birds got the ball and Lilly Smith hit a three to extend the lead to 78-57 with 2:09 on the clock.
“That one possession, we hit four free throws in a row with the technical and then Lilly hit three after the inbounds, and that was kind of the ball game,” Erkenbrack said. “That was a great stretch for us.”
Cloud County went on to lead by as many as 21 points on its way to advancing in the tournament.
“Northwest Tech is an extremely talented team and they were as hot as anybody in the state the last couple of weeks of the season,” Erkenbrack said.
Cloud County had Igherighe, a freshman guard, and sophomore guard Te Araroa Sopoaga each score a career-high 25 points in the game.
Igherighe was 6 of 12 from the field and 12 of 12 from the free throw line.
Sopoaga hit 10 of 15 field goal attempts and three of seven free throws and also had six rebounds and six assists.
“I thought Josie (Igherighe) did a really nice job in the second half of being aggressive and getting the ball to the rim. And Te (Sopoaga) did a good job throughout the game of utilizing the high ball screen and getting herself to the basket,” Erkenbrack said.
Smith and Ruiz scored 12 points each for Cloud County.
Northwest Tech, which finished up 12-18, jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the game.
Sopoaga, driving to the basket five times, scored 10 points during a 10-0 Cloud County spurt that made it 13-11.
It was 13-12 when Sarah Lawless followed up a missed shot as time expired in the first quarter to give the T-Birds a 15-12 cushion.
Cloud County upped the lead to seven points in the second period.
The Mavericks battled back to within a point, 29-28, going into halftime.
There were four lead changes in the third quarter.
Cloud County was up 53-48 heading into the final 10 minutes.
A three by Sopoaga 35 seconds into the fourth quarter gave the T-Birds a 56-48 cushion.
Northwest pulled within three points before the big run by Cloud County.
“We really did a good job of competing and putting the game away,” Erkenbrack said.
Sokhna Toure led four Northwest Tech players in double figures with 20 points. Sy Crowley scored 16 points. Sanchez finished with 13 points and Mariam Sanogo added 12.
Cloud County will play a Barton team it lost twice to during the regular season.
“We are going to have to make a few adjustments offensively,” Erkenbrack said. “I think it will be a good game. I believe we have an opportunity to go down there and win. We just have to play well.”