CCHS rallies to beat Burns - Central Oregonian

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Lon Austin

Playing in front of the home crowd Tuesday night, the Crook County Cowboys escaped with a 61-59 victory over the Burns Highlanders.

“We were resilient,” said Crook County head coach Jeff Lowenbach following the game. “We battled the whole game and kept ourselves close enough to make a play or two at the end and win the game.”

With the win, the Cowboys avenged their lone loss of the season — a 57-50 loss to the Highlanders last Saturday in the championship round of the Burns Invitational Basketball Tournament.

After battling back and forth the entire contest, Burns appeared to take control in the fourth quarter. When Jeff Garner hit a jump shot, with just over two minutes left in the contest, the Highlanders had a 56-50 lead.

Nonetheless, the Cowboys battled back and when Preston Washechek hit a driving layup with 33 seconds remaining, Crook County had a 58-57 lead. Then, Troy Benton hit one of two free throws and the Cowboys had a two-point lead.

 On their next possession, the Highlanders threw up a wild shot. Garner was fouled on the rebound and calmly made both of his free throws, tying the game at 59.

On the ensuing possession, Benton drove the ball into the middle of the key and with 2.8 seconds left in the contest, hit a floating jump shot to give the Cowboys the lead.

The Highlanders’ Austin Feist threw up a desperation 35-foot running jump shot at the buzzer, but the ball bounced harmlessly off the backboard.

“These two teams are so evenly matched that it could go either way,” said Burns head coach Ted Aubin. “I just feel like Crook County got the bounces today.”

Lowenbach agreed.

“We were better than we were on Saturday,” he said. “But give all credit to Burns. They were better too. They are a tough 3A team. It went back and forth, but we ended up making a few more plays down the stretch than they did.”

The Cowboys were plagued with foul problems in the first half. Both Washechek and Benton spent much of the half sitting on the bench after each were called for two early fouls.

However, the Crook County bench played well, and the Cowboys were able to stay in the game.

“If you are going to mention anything, mention the contributions we got from off the bench,” Lowenbach said.

Not only did the Cowboys stay close, but when Dillon Dees made a dunk shot with 6:51 left in the half, the Cowboys had an 18-13 lead. When Marcus Greaves converted on a three-point play midway through the second quarter, the Cowboys held a 23-17 lead.

The Cowboys led 32-27 at halftime, and extended the lead to 34-27 when they scored the opening bucket of the third period.

However, Greaves, and Washechek each picked up their third foul a short time later and went to the bench.

The Highlanders took advantage and battled back into contention, finally taking a 45-43 lead on a Feist jumper.

Then came what could have been the biggest play of the game. Benton was fouled at midcourt, but instead of the Cowboys having the ball out of bounds, he was called for a technical foul on the play. The Highlanders took advantage of the situation as Feist made both free throws giving Burns a 47-43 lead at the end of the period.

Although Greaves eventually fouled out and both Washechek and Benton finished the contest with four fouls, all three came up big in the fourth quarter.

Greaves led all scorers in the contest with 18 points. Despite playing limited minutes, Washechek finished with nine while Benton wound up with five points.

Both Dees and Jacob Mahurin also had solid games for the Cowboys. Dees finished with 13 points, including a pair of dunks and had a team-high six rebounds. Meanwhile Mahurin hit three, three-point shots and finished with 11 points.

Feist and Austin Martin each finished with 16 points for the Highlanders while Garner added 15 and Cam Hueckman pitched in with 10.

Crook County, which is now 4-1 on the season, is back in action tonight when they host Douglas (0-6) in a 7 p.m. contest. The Cowboys are home again on Saturday when they take on the Gladstone Gladiators in a 1 p.m. game.

December 11

at Crook County

Burns (59) — Austin Martin 16, Austin Feist 16, Garner 15, Hueckman 10, Crafts 2, Sutcliffe, Williams, Patterson, Houck. Totals 18 17-23 59.

Crook County (61) — Marcus Greaves 18, Dees 13, Mahurin 11, Washecheck 9, Benton 5, Sutfin 3, Lee 2, Dean, Rutz, Cooper. Totals 22 13-17 61.

Burns              13   14   20   12   —   59

Crook County   12   20   11   18   —   61

Three-point goals — Burns: Garner 3, Feist, Hueckman; Crook County: Mahurin 3, Dees.