Southwest boys continue search for first win

The Southwest Boys’ Roughriders Basketball team was unable to grab a win at the 2020 Cattle Trail Invitational Basketball Tournament hosted at McCook High School and McCook Community College. The Roughriders lost the first match to Dundy County-Stratton Tuesday, Dec. 8, lost to WaunetaPalisade Friday, Dec. 11, and to Decatur Community on Saturday, Dec. 12.

Tuesday, Dundy CountyStratton took a dominating lead early, outscoring the Roughriders 21-5 in the first, 25-3 in the second, 15-4 in the third and 1-0 in the fourth for the eventual 62-12 win.

Points were evenly distributed between sophomore Kaiden Ruggles, three; sophomore Cole Barnett, three; sophomore Hunter Cunningham, three; senior Justin Brush, two; and freshman Nathan Rippe, one.

Barnett scored the only 3-pointer for the Roughriders. Rippe, Ruggles and Cunningham each went 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.

Brush grabbed three defensive rebounds. Ruggles matched, grabbing three rebounds total, two defensive and one offensive. Freshman Hunter Blume and Brush each stole two balls. Ruggles blocked one shot.

Overall, the team tallied one block and three deflections, grabbed 12 rebounds — one offensive and 11 defensive — handed out three assists and stole seven balls. The team was 3-of-6 at the free-throw line, 3-of-13 inside, and 1-of-5 from behind the arc.

Friday, Southwest took an early lead against Wauneta-Palisade, 11-5, in the first quarter. But the Broncos flipped the script in the second, outscoring the Roughriders 22-7. WaunetaPalisade again outscored Southwest in the third, 19-12. Southwest made an attempt at a comeback to outscore the Broncos 13-8 in the fourth, unfortunately, the effort wasn’t enough to get the task done as the Broncos won 54^-43.

Cunningham dominated for Southwest, scoring 18 points. The next closest score was Ruggles with nine.

Cunningham sunk four 3-pointers and went 2-of-4 from the free line. Ruggles led at the line, going 3-of-5.

Ruggles grabbed eight defensive rebounds, while Brush grabbed six defensive and two offensive. Ruggles, Rippe and Blume each dished out three assists. Brush and Rippe stole one ball each; Ruggles stole one ball as well as blocked five shot.

Overall, the team tallied seven blocks and one deflection, grabbed 33 rebounds — seven offensive and 26 defensive, handed out nine assists and stole three balls. The team was 8-of-17 at the free-throw line, 10-of-24 inside, and 5-of-7 from behind the arc.

In the final game of the tournament, the closest for the Roughriders, Decatur Community earned the 47-42 win. Decatur started on top early, outscoring 13-8 in the first. Southwest was able to win the second quarter 18-13, but Decatur didn’t let up in the second half, winning 8-5 in the third and 13-11 in the fourth.

Brush took his turn at the top of the leader boards with 15 points. Ruggles following with 11. Cunningham was the only perfect shot from the free line, going 4-of-4.

Brush led with seven total rebounds — including five offensive and two defensive. Sophomore Kaden Day followed with six defensive rebounds. Blume dished out five assists and stole three balls. Cunningham also stole three. Ruggles blocked two shots.

Overall, the team tallied three blocks and one deflection, grabbed 26 rebounds — six offensive and 20 defensive, handed out 11 assists and stole nine balls. The team was 10-of-19 at the freethrow line, 16-of-36 inside, and o-of-3 from behind the arc.

The Roughriders will host Arapahoe on Friday, Dec. 18, and the final game of the 2020 season will be at Southern Valley on Dec. 22.