COZAD- Cozad and Chase County split the games on opening night (Thursday) as the Haymakers played host to the Longhorns to start the season. The girls game finished with a 58-34 Longhorn victory, while the Cozad boys started off the season strong with a close 49-42 victory.
In the girls game, it was a close first half, but Chase County was able to pull away in the second. It was a defensive first quarter, with Chase County leading 12-6 after one, but then both teams scored 17 points in the second quarter, resulting in a 29-23 Longhorn halftime lead. In that second quarter, junior Bryn McNair scored all 17 of her team’s points. In the second half, the Longhorns locked down on defense, holding the Haymakers to 11 total points in the half. They would pull away with another 10 point quarter from McNair in the third, and ended up holding on to the 58-34 victory. McNair led the Longhorns in scoring with 37 points while junior Megan Dyer led the Haymakers with 11 points.
In the boys game, it was a close four quarter battle. Cozad came out hot in the first half with fantastic defense. After a 10-9 first quarter lead for the Longhorns, the Haymakers would outscore Chase County 15-7 in the second for a 24-17 halftime lead. Senior Jacob Weatherly scored 11 points in the first half for Cozad, and senior Nathan Engel had two big and one plays in the second quarter to give his team some life. Cozad came out firing in the second half, going on a 12-3 run, and jumping out to a 36-20 lead. It felt like all was lost for the Longhorns, until Senior Keenan Cole scored eight points late in the third, and sophomore Easton Fries hit a buzzer beating three at the end of the quarter to make it a five point game. After that 12-3 Cozad run early in the third, the Longhorns would go on a 14-0 run to cut the lead to 36-34 early in the fourth. 11 combined points by Engel and freshman Noah Shoemaker would rejuvenate the Cozad offense, and help them pull away to close out the 49-42 Haymaker victory. Weatherly led the Haymakers in scoring with 13 points, while Engel added 12 of his own. Cole finished as the team leader for the Longhorns with 17.
Cozad will host Pleasanton on December 7th in their next game, while Chase County will open up their home stretch on December 3rd against McCook.
