Saturday nights match up in boy’s basketball between Alliance and McCook was almost the complete opposite of last year’s battle. In that contest which was play almost a year ago, the squads combined for 168 points with McCook getting the win. The Bison also got the victory Saturday in Alliance, besting the Bulldogs 64 to 57. Alliance led by 2 heading into the fourth before the guests put together one last surge in getting the W. With the loss, the Dogs fall to 9 and 11 on the year. Senior Espen Lanik was the leading scorer for AHS with 30 points with junior Braeden Clarke ending with 8. Alliance won the JV affair, downing the Bison 69 to 54 in a game played at Alliance Middle School.
Both clubs were coming off tough losses from Friday so action started slowly. Eight first period tallies by Lanik led the Alliance offense. Lanik would score the Dog’s first 8 points on a pair of free throws and 2 three pointers. At the midway point of the first, Lanik’s second 3 put the Dogs up 8 to 7. The quarter closed with 4 tallies by McCook and a bucket by Alliance’s Jaden Guerra. With one period in the books, the guests were ahead 11 to 10.
Alliance was the aggressor in the second. The hosts put 21 points in the book while holding the visitors to just 11. A Lanik free throw plus a trey by the lefty made the contest a 16 to 14 match up. AHS continued its fine play later in the period. Buckets by Guerra and Clarke along with a free throw by Dog Creighton Fritzler gave Alliance a one point lead. Following a 3 by McCook and a Bison free throw, Alliance started to put together a big spree. It began with a Lanik 2. Down 1, the Bulldogs finish the half with scores from Devin Graham, Clarke, and Lanik. A three pointer at the buzzer by Lanik ended play with the Dogs out in front 31 to 22.
Period #3 was a see saw contest with both teams enjoying the lead. A big spurt by the guests at the halfway point gave the Bison a 6 point lead. AHS responded with a late push and led 43 to 41 heading to the fourth. Three 3 pointers by McCook helped the guests surge ahead. Alliance would get hoops by Clarke and Lanik to stay close. Down 6, the quarter came to a conclusion with Alliance scoring 8 in a row. Tallies from Clarke, Lanik, Fritzler, and Trevor Zurn gave the Dogs a 2 advantage with 8 minutes remaining.
Threes by Lanik and the Bison is how the fourth started. Seven consecutive tallies by the guests ensued that put the Dogs down by 2. A deuce by Lanik then knotted the game at 48. McCook came back with an old fashion three point play at the 3 minute mark while a score by Fritzler made it a one point contest. Down the stretch, a pair treys by the visitors was too much to overcome. Alliance got a couple of free throws by Guerra to pull within 3 but its was close as the hosts would get. Down eight, a three ball to Lanik made the book read McCook 60 Alliance 55 with 2 minutes left. AHS got 2 buckets by Zurn in the closing minutes but a pair of Bison free throws and an Alliance turnover finish the game. Final McCook 64 Alliance 57
MC 11 11 19 23 64
ALL 10 21 12 14 57
Scoring for Alliance Lanik 30 Clarke 8 Graham 4 Zurn 4 Guerra 6 Fritzler 5.
Alliance goes to Hyannis on Thursday.