Plainsmen tune up for subdistricts against Bridgeport

With subdistricts starting this week, Plainsmen Head Coach Shawn Cole wanted to see a strong effort against Bridgeport in the regular season finale Friday. 

Cole said before the game, they talked about using the game to get ready for this week’s subdistricts. 

“We don’t want to step backwards. Step forward, move forward, and get ready for subdistricts,” he said he told the team. “And I thought that we did that.”

He voiced that optimism even though the Plainsmen fell to Bridgeport 81-51.

Despite the loss, Cole said he saw some good things from his team.

“We had some good chunks of the game where we played really good,” he said following the game. 

That’s what he was looking for going into subdistricts. 

The Plainsmen earned the top seed in this week’s D1-12 subdistrict, finishing ahead of Morrill in wildcard points. 

That also earned them the right to host the subdistrict. 

Cole said it will be a real advantage to play the subdistric at home. 

The Plainsmen opened the tournament against fourthseeded Garden County Tuesday night. 

Morrill faced Leyton on the other side of the bracket. Cole fully expects to face Morrill in the sub final, barring any upsets. 

He feels confident his team can get Morrill as well. 

If they play with the kind of intensity they showed against Bridgeport, he said they stand a strong chance to win the subdistrict, 

While the Plainsmen suffered a 30-point loss to Bridgeport, they executed their game plan and badgered Bridgeport all night with their pressure in what proved to be a physical game. 

Bridgeport came out shooting lights out, which forced the Plainsmen to play catch up much of the game. 

Of all of the film Cole said he watched on Bridgeport, not once did they come out and shoot like they did Friday against the Plainsmen.

Their first 12 points came on 3-pointers for a 12-2 lead out of the gate. 

But by the end of the first eight minutes, the Plainsmen had trimmed the lead back to six, 18-12. 

The Plainsmen got it back to two, 20-18 but could only add four more points in the quarter. At the other end, Bridgeport continued to drop the ball in the hoop,  building a 38-23 halftime lead. 

It didn’t help the Plainsmen’s floor captain Tristan Hite sat much of the second quarter after collecting three fouls. 

With Hite on the bench, Hunter Garner picked up the scoring duties, scoring nine of the Plainsmen’s 11 second-quarter points. 

Bridgeport went inside against the Plainsmen in the second half, opening up 61-38 lead after three enroute to the 81-51 final score.

Hite played sparingly after getting his fourth foul early in the third and fouling out early in the fourth. 

Garner finished the night with 25 points, including five 3-pointers. 

Hayden Foster and Casey Hanson each added 10 as the trio accounted for 45 of the Plainsmen’s 51 points. 

Subdistrict final

The Plainsmen faced fourth-seeded Garden County in the first game Tuesday. 

Second-seeded Morrill faced third-seeded Leyton in the other game of the four-team bracket. 

The winners of those two games will face off Thursday at PCS, with game time set for 6 p.m. MT.