MCCOOK- The Holdrege Dusters hit the road to take on Southwest Conference rival McCook and came away with a split after the girls won, 47-42, while boys fell, 53-46.
The first half of the girls contest was tightly contested, with the Dusters ending the half with a 20-19 lead over the Bison thanks to a 13 point first quarter and a seven point second for both sides.
In the second half, the Dusters came alive from beyond the arc, with Keeley Vaughn leading the way by knocking down four trifectas in the second half alone, as Holdrege put up 15 in the third quarter, ending with a 35-28 lead.
The fourth would get physical and would see the Bison crawl back into contention, actually outsourcing the Dusters in the fourth by two, but Holdrege’s physical play would outlast the rally of McCook and the Dusters would hold on for their first victory over the Bison since February 2022, 47-42.
Keeley Vaughn led the Dusters by knocking down five three pointers, finishing her night with 15 points for Holdrege. While Avery Hurlbert also got back to her scoring ways by putting up 14. Kenna Fulmer (7), Gabby Rooks (4), Emily Stutzman (4) and Amelia Ptacnik (3) also added to the tally.
McCook was led by Broolyn Gillen who ended with 17. Paige Bortner (9), Cali Crawford (8), Malia Hilker (6) and Briley Morgan (2) rounded out the night for the Bison.
The boys contest was also a battle to the end as the Dusters were unable to hold on to a 24-21 halftime lead and fell to McCook, 53-46.
Holdrege held the lead at the end of the first two quarters before the Bison came out of the half on a mission, out-scoring the Dusters 18-13 in the third quarter.
From there, the Dusters would never retake the lead, tallying nine points to the Bison’s 14 in the fourth as they fell to McCook for the ninth-straight time dating back to 2017.
The Bison were led by Josiah Wilkinson who ended with 15, while Jon Patel added 12 of his own. Miles Pollman (9), Mitchell Cole (8), Kaiden Porter (5), Tripp Raile (3) and Bryson Gullion (1) rounded out the night for McCook.
Holdrege was led by Garret Johnson with 17 and Kegan Steinke added 10 as the double-digit scorers for the Dusters. Baron Medina (7), Coy Swanson (5), Wyatt Pfeifer (5) and Landon Hartzog (2) contributed to the final for Holdrege as well.
The Dusters are back at home to take on Lexington on Tuesday. McCook is now off until Dec. 28 against Nebraska City.
