Late three lifts McCook past North Platte

McCook, Neb. – North Platte suffered its first Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference loss, falling to McCook Community College 41-36 at the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center on Tuesday night.

Jada Grigsby led the Knights with nine points, while Dazjanae Greene grabbed 10 rebounds to accompany her six points in 34 minutes.

McCook jumped out to a 13-4 lead after one quarter behind nine points from Suzan Sisman. The deficit grew to 19-4 in the opening minutes of the second quarter, before a 6-0 spurt helped narrow the margin to nine at the halftime break.

North Platte erased the deficit in the third quarter, while holding McCook to just four points in the frame. A 6-0 run to open the quarter trimmed the margin to 19-16 after the layup by Samantha Riggles. Hanne Alvarez Verdaguer halted the run momentarily, but a 7-2 run evened the game as teams headed into the final quarter.

Mariah Gardner opened the final quarter with a jumper in transition to give the Knights their first lead of game. North Platte extended their lead to four inside the final four minutes, but McCook countered to knot the game up once again with 1:14 remaining.

Grigsby connected on a deep two to break the deadlock inside the final minute, but Gemma Gruettner Bacoul responded with a tightly contested three to put the home team out front for the final time. McCook earned two trips to the free throw line in the closing seconds, knocking down all four attempts to put the game away.

Knights (12-9, 2-1 NCCAC) will open the month of February on the road against Lamar Community College. Tip is set for 3 p.m. at the Wellness Center in Lamar, Colo.