It wasn’t a game on Friday night. It was a battle.
From the tip-off, to the final buzzer, the Cowboys fought every second for the win they earned Friday night. After defeating the Eagle Grove Eagles to open the season, the Cowboys prepared for another opener…the North Central Conference opener. Both teams started off the season 1-0, hoping to continue a winning streak, though the Cowboys remained undefeated in the end. The fans, on both sides, fueled the court with energy as the gymnasium echoed with chants and cheers. It wasn’t just a battle for the basketball squads, but even the cheerleaders entered a contest of their own as both sides of the fans topped the other with noise that felt like it shook the ground.
Feeding the most points for the Cowboys were seniors Connor State, 18, Coady Olsen, 16, and Jaxon Carpenter, 15. State, who constantly attacked the bucket for both offense and defense, supplied 13 rebounds, three assists, with the denials of two steals, and two blocks. SR Jacob Moore also added 7 points to the scoreboard, with another six points from SR Tyson Berning. Just a point above the Clear Lake Lions, the CGD Cowboys anxiously sit at first with 131 points.
“There’s always things to work on,” said Coach Jason Berning, when asked how he, as head coach, instills focus on his players to continue the drive without getting carried away with the score. He continued, “While we did a lot of good things tonight, we have a number of things offensively and defensively that we still need to get better at. That is a good thing to have as a coach because we still can get a lot better, and I expect us to get a lot better once we clean up a few things, but tonight was…it was a great night. We got off to a great start,” as he spoke, it was only fitting that the top scorer walked by, Connor State. Berning noticed State and praised his performance as he finished with a smile, “This guy…this guy, he’s a tough player in there.”
After another successful night for the Cowboys, Coach Jason Berning looks to continue to teach and help improve the Cowboys as he puts it, “There’s always room for improvement.” Up 2-0 in the season, the Cowboys will be reaching for 3-0 by the end of Friday night on December 10, in the home of the Webster City Lynx. The Cowboys and Lynx are set to begin at 7:30 PM.
