The CGD Cowboys hosted the Forest City Indians last Thursday night. After making history by being the first Cowboy team to clinch first in the NCC Conference for 60 years, the Cowboys continue to impress as they have smashed their way through to the semi-final.
The Cowboys broke through the first quarter with aggression both offensively and defensively. Denying chances from the Indians, the Cowboys capitalized with heavy pressure. With many chances for the Indians to add points to the scoreboard, the Indians just couldn’t score more than seven points in the first quarter. With 1:05 left, Jacob Moore did what Jacob Moore does: launched the ball up and right through the hoop to secure three points for the Cowboys. Then just 30 seconds later, Moore repeated himself by scoring back-to-back three pointers. The first quarter came to an end with the Cowboys on top 18-7. The second quarter saw similar performances from the CGD history makers as they continued to dominate Forest City. Only allowing four points from the Indians, the Cowboys scored 12 as they went up 30-11 before half-time.
To open the second half, the Cowboys saw more success as they poured 26 points over the Indians, who only scored eight. Jacob Moore sank back-to-back three pointers again, as Jaxon Carpenter successfully scored on back-to-back breakways–both during the final minutes of the third quarter. The Cowboys were up 56-19 as the final quarter approached. They only needed eight more minutes to stay in the game and claim victory over the Indians, though some might say the game was already won. With the game reaching its end, the Cowboys secured another victory as they paved their way forward to the semi-final after a 64-28 win over the Indians.
Coach Berning explained the win over the Indians, saying, “A week off and several days practice benefited us in a lot of ways,” Berning acknowledged. He continued. “Offensively, we attacked their zone defense to get good shots and we knocked them down. Defensively is where we really controlled the game, however. We were aggressive from the beginning of the game and we took them out of everything they wanted to do. Our defense has led our team the entire season and will continue to do so as we go farther in the postseason.”
Berning and the Cowboys sought for another crucial victory on Tuesday, as they faced Garner-Hayfield-Ventura at Clear Lake High School where the winner would advance to the final at Fort Dodge Senior High School to qualify for state. Check the Monitor’s website for the coverage of this game as well as the paper next week.
STATS vs. Forest City RBD AST STL BLK PTS Jaxon Carpenter 5 4 7 0 8 Coady Olson 1 1 0 0 14 Aidan Harrington 3 1 0 0 6 Cael Chase 0 1 0 0 0 Connor State 4 2 1 0 12 Tyson Berning 2 0 0 0 0 Thane Jackson 1 0 0 0 0 Nevan Foss 8 0 1 0 5 Zeke Rosales 3 0 0 0 0 Landon Olson 1 2 0 0 0 Preston Gardner 0 0 0 0 0 Jacob Moore 4 0 0 0 18 Nick Carpenter 0 0 0 0 0 Janosch Rosner 0 0 0 0 0 Carson Nesheim 0 0 0 0 1
