Web posted
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Cowley men regroup, advance to final
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Photo by David Wolman
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By DAVID WOLMAN
Traveler Sports Editor
sports@arkcity.net
WICHITA -- When Chris Rhymes went down onto the court early in the first half with a torn ACL, a hush fell over Koch Arena.
Rhymes lay on the court for several minutes before being carried to the locker room by team trainers. Concern sunk into the minds of many, as Cowley had not only lost one of its leaders, but its leading scorer for the remainder of the postseason.
Instead of letting the loss of Rhymes become their downfall, the Tigers, ranked ninth nationally, regrouped and focused on the task at hand.
After trailing by double digits in the first half, the Tigers outscored Coffeyville 47-31 in the second half and fended off defending Region VI tournament champion 74-63 to advance to today's 8 p.m. championship.
Cowley will face Seward County, a 69-54 winner over Cloud County, in the championship. A win tonight qualifies Cowley for the NJCAA Division II national tournament in Hutchinson. Cowley has not qualified for the national tournament since the 1956-57 season.
Coffeyville finished the season 24-9.
Rhymes' injury occurred when he drove the lane following a Preston Brown miss with 12:56 remaining in the first half.
Cowley will now have to find ways to make up for Rhymes' 15.9 points per game. He recorded four points before exiting Monday's game.
"He's our go-to man sometimes," Cowley coach Steve Eck said. "He had 33 points against them the first time and 25 against them the second time. I thought the other guys did a good job of pulling together and getting after it."
But a couple of lulls then fell over the Tigers.
Coffeyville jumped out to a 16-8 lead on a J.J. Seymore three-pointer. After a Cowley timeout, Eric McKinney finished off an alley-oop dunk on a nice feed by Montrell McDonald -- the first of eight straight points by the Tigers to pull even with Coffeyville at 16.
McDonald nearly finished with a double-double, recording 17 points and nine rebounds. McKinney finished with 12 points. Jack Crowder added 10.
But the pendulum quickly swung back into Coffeyville's favor, as the Red Ravens gained a 28-18 lead on a Devron Washington layup with 3:18 remaining in the first half. Terrance Hill started the run with two jump shots.
Hill (17 points) and Seymore (22 points) became a two-headed monster for the Red Ravens, combining for 39 of the team's 63 points.
Preston Brown hit a three-pointer with 4.6 seconds remaining to bring Cowley to within 32-27 at halftime.
It certainly could've been worse, especially considering the loss of Rhymes.
"I thought that we were very fortunate in the first half to be down by only five points," Eck said. "I thought we could've been down by 20, but it was only five."
Eck reinforced that message to his team at halftime.
"Like I always tell them, 'I like you. You're a good bunch of guys. Let's go out and play and have fun, ' "Eck said. "I just told them, 'You have to dig in. We just got to dig in.' Coffeyville is very formidable and they know how to do it. We weren't very tough the first half. We were a lot tougher in the second half."
Cowley turned to its inside game more in the second half.
Brown put back a missed jumper by Reggie Cook and hit a free throw to finish off the three-point play to bring the Tigers to within two points. After McDonald recorded a steal on the ensuing possession, Brown found him cutting down the lane for a layup and Cowley's first lead, 36-34, since the 14:56 mark of the first half.
Brown keyed Cowley's 13-2 run to open the second half, scoring eight of his 16 points during that spurt. He capped off the run with a three-pointer to give the Tigers a 41-34 lead.
"Preston's tough," Eck said. "He's very underrated. He can shoot from the outside. He can play inside."
After shooting 44.8 percent in the first half, the Tigers shot a blistering 58.6 percent in the second half.
Seymore cut Cowley's lead to 64-60 after a pair of free throws, but the Tigers finished the game on a 10-3 run.
Box score:
Coffeyville -- Seymore 8-21 3-9 22; Hill 8-18 0-0 17; Blake 3-8 3-3 9; Daniel 1-5 5-8 7; Washington 2-3 2-2 6; Payne 0-4 1-2 1; Johnson 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 22-62 15-20 74.
Cowley -- McDonald 7-13 3-5 17; Brown 6-11 2-3 16; McKinney 6-9 0-0 12; Crowder 4-8 2-4 10; Hammerschmidt 3-5 2-2 8; Cook 2-8 2-2 7; Rhymes 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 30-58 11-16 74.
Halftime -- Coffeyville 32, Cowley 27. Three's -- Coffeyville 4-19 (Seymore 3, Hill); Cowley 3-11 (Brown 2, Cook). Rebounds -- Coffeyville 34 (Blake 8); Cowley 37 (McDonald 9). Assists -- Coffeyville: 8 (Seymore 4); Cowley: 13 (Brown 3). Technicals: none.
ABove: Cowley College basketball players Preston Brown, left, and Marcus Butler cheer during the final seconds of Monday evening's Region VI Tournament semifinal at Koch Arena. Cowley defeated Coffeyville 74-63 to advance to tonight's championship.
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