Cloud County Athletics
CONCORDIA - Cutting a 21-point deficit down to just three points with 3:35 remaining in the third quarter, the Cloud County Community College women's basketball team would be limited to just 12 points the rest of the way in a 69-55 home defeat to No. 23 nationally ranked Butler Community College inside Arley Bryant Gymnasium in Concordia on Saturday.
A third-straight defeat for the T-Birds drops CCCC to 9-4 overall and 4-3 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the Grizzlies bounce back from just their second loss of the season this past Wednesday to improve to 10-2 overall and 6-2 in the KJCCC.
Falling into an early 7-1 hole just over three minutes into the game, Cloud County would not see their first field goal in the game come until the 5:40 mark of the opening quarter as sophomore Alize Ruiz would convert on a layup to score all three of CCCC's points through the first five minutes of action. Butler would take advantage of the early lead to take control of the tempo and utilize the charity stripe by connecting on each of their eight free throw attempts in the quarter. The T-Birds meanwhile would see eight first-quarter turnovers lead to seven BCC points in what would amount to a 15-7 deficit heading to the second quarter.
Scoring five quick points to pull within three, Cloud County would begin to find some offensive rhythm in the early stages of the second period to keep the Butler lead from extending. Following a made Tereia Steward triple, the Grizzlies would respond with a three of their own that would start a 10-2 run to give BCC their first double-digit lead of the contest. A pair of Josephine Igherighe free throws would get the score back within nine for CCCC momentarily before being offset by another 10-2 Butler run to end the first half and give the Grizzlies a 36-18 advantage.
With possession to start the third quarter, Butler would waste no time getting a layup and foul to convert a three-point play and take their largest lead of the game at 39-18 with 9:36 left in the quarter. Cloud County would respond by getting eight straight points from Ruiz to build some momentum as shots would finally start falling for the T-Birds. After seeing the lead pushed back out to 17 at 43-26 with four minutes gone by in the second half, CCCC would manage to make another run by scoring each of the next 14 points including four made triples from sophomore Lilly Smith to close within three at 43-40. Having the home crowd start to get into the game, the T-Birds would see Butler get another three-point play to help start an 8-0 run that would end on a Ruiz free throw in the final seconds and put things at a 51-41 margin heading to the fourth.
Utilizing another three-point play to open the final 10 minutes of action, Butler would manage to score the first nine points of the fourth quarter while holding Cloud County scoreless for over four minutes of game time. A quick four-point spurt from the T-Birds would give CCCC some hope with just over four minutes left in the game, but the Grizzlies would take advantage of their lead to start eating away the clock and limit Cloud County's chances of mounting a comeback. Despite the efforts from the T-Birds, CCCC would be able to get no closer than 12 the rest of the way with BCC managing to hold off Cloud County and win by 14.
With neither team shooting particularly well from the field (27.9 percent for Butler, 31.0 percent for Cloud County), the game would more or less come down to free throws as the Grizzlies would connect on 30-of-34 (88.2 percent) of their attempts from the charity stripe after entering the day with a free throw percentage under 60 percent. CCCC meanwhile would shoot just 20 free throws, hitting on 13 (65.0 percent) to see the 17-point margin at the line for BCC more than offset the final margin of victory. Other key factors in the game for Butler would include a 30-13 advantage in points off turnovers along with a 13-5 advantage in second-chance points.
Three of Cloud County's five starters would work their way into double-figures and be led by a game-high 15 points from Smith while Ruiz would score 13 points and grab seven rebounds. Recording her second double-double of the year would be Igherighe with 10 points and 11 rebounds as the trio would account for 38 of the 55 T-Bird points in the game. Butler would utilize a balanced effort that saw four different players reach double figures and eight players account for their scoring output.
What's next?
A grueling stretch that featured games against three straight opponents that were either receiving votes or ranked in this week's NJCAA Division I Top-25 Poll comes to a close on Monday when Cloud County travels to Dodge City to take on the Conquistadors in a 5:30 p.m. contest. DCCC is 11-2 overall and atop the KJCCC at 6-1 following a 69-55 home win over Hutchinson on Saturday and will is currently ranked 21st.