The Omaha World-Herald Class B No. 3 Scottsbluff boys basketball team used a 14-4 run to start the second quarter in cruising past North Platte 65-55 in the first day of the East West Shoot Out on Thursday night at Scottsbluff High School.

The Bearcats (17-2) were a sluggish 44.4 percent (12-for-27) shooting in the first half, but picked it up in the second by going 11 of 22 for 50 percent. Additionally, the Bearcats shot 61 percent from the charity stripe, hitting 11 of 18 tosses.

Scottsbluff, which led 12-11 after the first frame, started to run early in the second after Rich Williams nailed a 3-pointer to spark the big run that was capped off by consecutive treys by Zach Clemens to go up 26-15 with 3:30 remaining in the half.

"The second quarter was great," Scottsbluff coach Tony Siske said. "We came out and played a lot better in that second quarter. They're a good team. We watched them on film. They're very tough, they execute extremely well, they play very good defense, and they are very physical."

Scottsbluff extended its lead in the third quarter after getting two 3-pointers from junior Matt Klein as well as a trey from Eric Moreno. Additionally, Isaiah Castellaw scored eight of his 10 points in the third to help the Bearcats to the 51-36 advantage going into the final eight minutes of play.

Siske said that North Platte made it hard to get points in the paint, but lauded his squad's ability to adjust and hit their outside shots against a physical Class-A team.

"We got [the ball] up and down a little bit more," Siske said of Scottsbluff's transition play. "When we were in the half court, it was kind of the advantage [to] them because of their size and their ability to bang on us. They prevented us to get the ball inside too easy because they were so big and can defend the post one on one. When we got out, we got some shots in transition that kind of changed the tempo of the game in our favor."

North Platte battled back in the fourth quarter, but the 19-point effort in the final stanza wasn't enough to overcome the Bearcats' sizeable lead.

Scottsbluff's Williams, who led all scorers with 20 points, attributed the win the Bearcats' ability to capitalize on the many North Platte's miscues. However, the senior didn't discount his team's explosive level of play against the Class-A foe.

"I think we played really good, [North Platte] is really physical," Williams said. "They had a lot of turnovers tonight, which got us a run in transition and that was really good for us."

Williams also said that the Bearcats have shaken off the 56-54 loss to Sidney, and are aware of what needs to be done from here on out.

"I think we're playing extremely well," Williams said. "The loss to Sidney was pretty heart breaking because that was a short time of being the No. 1 team in Class B. We just know that we need to come out every night and play like we usually do - like we did at the beginning of the season."

Scottsbluff won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding North Platte 35-34 in the contest.

North Platte was led by Trevor Schramm, who tallied a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. Jack Kenny followed with 13 points, while Kade Erickson and Drew Callaghan added nine points apiece.

Clemens and Klein pitched in 13 points apiece for the Bearcats, while Castellaw finished with 10 points and six rebounds.

Day two of the East West Shoot Out will continue today when North Platte travels to Gering (15-4), and Scottsbluff plays host to Lexington (1-18).

Scottsbluff (17-2).............................12 21 18 14 - 65

North Platte (6-10).............................11 10 15 19 - 55

SCOTTSBLUFF

Isaiah Castellaw 10, Matt Klein 13, Rich Williams 20, Eric Moreno 8, Zach Clemens 13, Jackson Hinze 1.

NORTH PLATTE

Bradey Anderson 2, Cameron Bargell 1, Kade Erickson 9, Jack Kenny 13, Jalen Irish 2, Drew Callaghan 9, Shane Mauch 2, Trevor Schramm 13, Luke Wright 4.