GRANT — The Scottsbluff girls basketball team had its season come to an end Tuesday night, as McCook used a solid defense to cruise to a 59-35 victory in the first round of the Class B, District 6 Tournament at Grant.

Scottsbluff, which ended its season with a 4-21 record, trailed 24-7 after the first quarter and 31-15 at halftime. The Bison stayed well in front in the second half.

"We were not able to play at the ability to be competitive in a district game," Scottsbluff coach Mike Burda said. "We just didn't seem to come out fired up wanting it as much as McCook did."

Burda said his team turned the ball over a number of times, which helped contribute to McCook's early surge.

"They forced us into a lot of turnovers," he said. "We knew that was going to be an issue tonight. They played really good pressure defense on us, and we threw the ball away a lot."

Zoey Rada, a junior, led Scottsbluff with 15 rebounds and 13 points. Brayden Auer finished with seven points and six rebounds, and Alexis Pinedo had seven steals and five points. Morgan Yost had five rebounds.

Although Scottsbluff won only four games this season, Burda lauded his players for staying upbeat.

"They did keep their heads up throughout the season, and when you're having kind of a down season, that's hard to do," he said. "They were pretty resilient, coming back and continuing to want to learn."

Burda said he appreciates the contributions made by his seniors - Yost and Maddie Holscher, who couldn't play Tuesday because of a knee injury.

"We will definitely miss those two for what they brought to the program," Burda said. "They did a great job throughout their careers of working hard."

As for next season, Burda hopes his returning players use the offseason to sharpen their skills.

"Overall, we saw some good development out of a lot of the players, but we did learn that we need to take it up in the offseason a lot more if we want to be more competitive next season," he said.

McCook, which improved to 10-14 with Tuesday's win, advances to play top-seeded Sidney on Thursday in a B-6 semifinal showdown at Grant. In the other semifinal contest at Grant, second-seeded Alliance will meet third-seeded Gering. The championship game will be Friday at either WNCC or Grant, depending on whether McCook wins Thursday.

Scottsbluff (4-21) ........... 7 8 12 8—35

McCook (10-14) ........... 24 7 15 13—59

S: Zoey Rada 13, Brayden Auer 7, Alexis Pinedo 5, Morgan Yost 2, Kayla Pierce 2, Morgan Westphal 2, Micah Holloway 2, Toni Rosado 2.