Josh Rowan
C-H sports writer
BROKEN BOW – The Haymakers looked to solidify a run at the state tournament as they were on the road to take on Broken Bow.
The Lady Makers started out a little slow to begin, but turned on the jets and eventually pulled away for one of their biggest wins of the season, defeating the Lady Indians 40-24.
Bow started out with a five-point lead leading 11-6 after one quarter. The Makers then turned on the defense, shutting down the Indians to just two points in the second, to take a 16-13 lead at halftime.
The Makers continued to pressure Broken Bow in the second half, outscoring the Indians 10-5 in the third to extend their lead to 26-18 at the end of three. The Makers finally put the nail in the coffin in the final quarter, holding Bow to single digit points, to pull away for the victory.
“The girls did a nice job of maintaining their composure for the most part in a physical and foul plagued game,” head coach Will Reutzel said. “Outscoring the opponent 34-13 in the final three quarters should win most games for a team and shows how well the girls controlled the game for the most part.”
Two Cozad players led the scoring attack Friday night, as freshman Kaylea Reyes and Carly Henry scored nine points each. Senior Carlie Pinkelman scored eight points in her final home game for Cozad, with Jessica Finnegan and Kendra Harbison contributing with six points each.
Cozad finished the regular season at 7-13 overall and finished 3-3 in SWC games this season. The girls’ attempted to continue their season as they took on Gothenburg for the third time this season in the C1-11 sub-district opener in Lexington Monday night. Story, stats and photos from the tournament will be in the Saturday issue of the Clipper-Herald.
The boys looked to end the season on a good note as they took on an athletic Bow squad, a squad that took a Lexington team to the wire and also took down a good North Platte St. Pat’s team earlier in the year.
The Haymakers looked solid at the start, but fizzled late in the game as the Indians defeated Cozad 61-53. The Haymakers began the game strong, leading Bow by one at the end of the first quarter 19-18. The scoring went back and forth for both teams in the first half, as Bow was able to tie up the game and go into the locker room even with Cozad at 31 a piece.
The third quarter has been a tough quarter for the Haymakers this season and it proved huge for Broken Bow as they took a 46-40 lead after outscoring the Haymakers 15-9 in the third.
Bow was able to keep the scoring going, as Cozad ran out of gas late in the fourth, as the Indians spoiled the Haymakers’ finale.
Cozad shot a total of 32 percent (21 of 65) for the game, while shooting 85 percent (6 of 7) from the charity stripe.
Jordan Hickenbottom capped off a tremendous senior season for the Haymakers, scoring a season-high 22 points while grabbing a season-best 14 rebound, including seven offensive boards. The senior also had two steals and two blocked shots for the Makers.
Mason Fischer complemented Hickenbottom with 12 points, while also stealing the ball twice and having two assists.
“Jordan had one the better performances I’ve seen,” head coach Scott Foster said. “ We just are not playing very good defense right now. We will be working on that before districts.”
The Haymaker boys will host McCook Saturday night before taking part in the sub-district tournament. The game is set for 7:30 p.m.

• Cozad Basketball
• Cozad Boys Basketball
• Cozad Girls Basketball
• Cozad Haymakers

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