Southwest girls take sixth at Cattle Trail
The Southwest Girls’ Roughriders Basketball team finished in sixth place at the 2020 Cattle Trail Invitational Basketball Tournament hosted at McCook High School and McCook Community College. The Roughriders lost the first match to Decatur Community on Tuesday, Dec. 8, but defeated Arapahoe on Friday, Dec. 11 to be in the fifth/sixthplace game against Medicine Valley, Saturday, Dec. 12. Med Valley earned the victory to drop Southwest to sixth-place overall.
Tuesday, the game started slow with only 6 total points scored in the first quarter. Decatur sunk four and Southwest put in two. Decatur turned things up in the second quarter to outscore the Roughriders 12-4. Southwest managed to outscore the Red Devils 14-9 after halftime but was shut out 20-0 in the fourth for the eventual 45-20 lost.
Sophomore Caylin Barnett earned more than half the points for the Roughriders, sinking 11 of the team’s 20. Sophomore Bailey Truksa added 5, with senior Haylee Adams and sophomore Brooklyn Clements adding 2 each.
Barnett sunk the team’s only 3-pointer and went 2-of-6 from the free line. Truksa was perfect at the line, going 3-of-3.
Barnett also led the defense with 11 defensive rebounds, plus one offensive. Sophomore Kianna Martin followed closed with nine defensive and one offensive. Barnett dished out one assist and stole two balls. Clements stole three. Barnett blocked five shots with Martin blocking one additional.
Overall, the team tallied six blocks and four deflections, grabbed 32 rebounds — six offensive and 26 defensive, handed out two assists and stole seven balls. The team was 5-of-11 at the free-throw line, 6-of-39 inside, and 1-of-7 from behind the arc.
Southwest turned things around on Friday to tally the first win of the season, winning 50-42 against Arapahoe.
Barnett again led the team with 19 points; Truksa followed closely with 17. Truska sunk the team’s one 3-pointer. Barnett went 7-of-12 from the free line with Truska going 4-of-4.
Defensively, Barnett again led the team with seven defensive rebounds, plus two offensive. Freshman Avery McConville grabbed two offensive and two defensive. Barnett handed out four assists and grabbed five steals to lead the team. Martin and Truksa matched to block three shots each.
Overall, the team tallied 11 blocks and six deflections, grabbed 21 rebounds — seven offensive and 14 defensive, handed out seven assists and stole 13 balls. The team was 19-of-34 at the free-throw line, 14-of-38 inside, and 1-of-5 from behind the arc.
In the fifth-place game, Medicine Valley earned the 45-27 victory. Southwest kept things close in the first quarter, only being outscored by 1. Med Valley then overpowered the Roughrider for a big quarter, outscoring 13-2. Med Valley outscored Southwest 9-6 in the third and 10-7 in the fourth.
Barnett followed suit from the other tournament games, dumping in 11 points. Truksa scored 8. Barnett sunk the only points from the free-throw line, going 5-of-6.
Barnett also kept up with herself, leading the defense with eight rebounds and two steals. Clements blocked one shot for the Roughriders’ only block.
Overall, the team tallied one blocks and one deflection, grabbed 19 rebounds — three offensive and 16 defensive, handed out three assists and stole six balls. The team was 5-of-8 at the free-throw line, 11-of-31 inside, and o-of-4 from behind the arc.
The Roughriders will host Alma (3-1) in a home game on Tuesday, Dec. 15 and Arapahoe on Friday, Dec. 18. The final game of the 2020 season will be at Southern Valley on Dec. 22.
