CCCC tumbles 56-55 to Trojans

Unable to get off a potential game winning shot in the final seconds, the Cloud County Community College Thunderbirds fell 56-55 to Colby Community College in a Jayhawk Conference home game Wednesday night in Bryant Gymnasium.
Colby, which trailed by six points, 45-39, battled back to take a 56-55 lead when Nyrobi Pillers hit two free throws with 10 seconds to play in the game.
Cloud County would call a timeout and advance the ball into the front court.
Kelsie Kelly, attempting to drive to the basket, was fouled by Pillers with three seconds on the clock.
It was just the fourth team foul on Colby in the period, and the Thunderbirds retained possession.
The T-Birds, following another timeout, would struggle to get the ball in bounds, and time ran out without them being able to get a shot off.
“We are getting better, and had some good days of practice leading up to tonight's game, but we are still struggling to put together 40 minutes, which hurt us tonight,” Cloud County coach Brett Erkenbrack said, “At times we did some good things, and our defense played well, but our offense struggled and a lot of that was due to the defense of Colby.”
Cloud County falls to 6-6 overall and 1-2 in conference play with the loss.
The T-Birds led by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, and were up 45-39 starting the fourth.
Colby, now 10-1 overall and 1-1 in conference play, opened the final period with a 12-0 run, and led 52-45 when Alize Ruiz completed a three-point play with 5:08 remaining in the game.
Cloud County scored the next 10 points, and led 55-52 on a basket by LaKya Leslie with 1:41 on the clock.
Following a turnover by the Trojans, the T-Birds had a chance to add to the lead but turned the ball back over.
Aerihna Afoa made two free shots for Colby to close the gap to 55-54.
Jacy Dalinghaus missed a shot for Cloud County, and the Trojans got the rebound.
Afoa was fouled with 12 seconds left. She missed both free throws, but Pillars pulled down the offensive rebound and was fouled.
Pillers then made both free throws to give Colby the 56-55 lead.
“Colby made a couple more plays than us and were able to get an offensive rebound in the final seconds that led to the game-winning free throws, and ultimately we did not play well enough to get a win tonight,” Erkenbrack said.
Leslie led three Cloud County players in double figures with 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Dalinghaus finished with 13 points and four assists.
Kelly added 10 points.
Estrella Avalos scored 16 points for Colby. Ruiz chipped in 10 points.
Neither team would lead by more than three points in the first quarter, and Cloud County was up 16-14 heading into the second.
Cloud County went up by as many as seven points, 24-17, in the second stanza.
The T-Birds led 29-24 at halftime.
A 9-2 spurt to open the second half gave Cloud County its biggest lead at 38-26.
Colby would get as close as three points, 40-37.
Cloud County took the 45-39 advantage into the final 10 minutes but couldn't hold off the Trojans.
The T-Birds will play their final home game prior to semester break at Dodge City Community College Saturday night.