HOISINGTON — It was a tale of two halves for the Otis-Bison High School boys’ basketball team on Thursday evening at the Hoisington Activity Center.
A third-quarter run put the Cougars in the driver’s seat on the way to a 50-35 triumph over Russell in the consolation bracket of the Hoisington Cardinal Winter Jam.
“We had a few words said, just motivation basically, telling them to do the small things right,” Cougars head coach Bryant Briggs said of what he mentioned to his team at halftime. “We came out in the second half and did the little things right. It paid off for us in the end.”
He did make a little change on defense.
“We went to a 2-3 zone just to stop their big guys,” Briggs said. “My two big guys got in foul trouble early, so I had to do something to get them some rebounds. They hurt us in the first half when our two guys were out.”
Leading 21-20 at intermission, Otis-Bison went on a 12-0 run in the third quarter
Senior point guard Dylan Wissman, who led the Cougars (4-8) with a game-high 20 points, scored on a driving layup. Justus Bartonek followed it up with a pull-up jumper.
Tyler Maier, who was in foul trouble early on, put in a shot off the glass in the paint before Wissman scored another layup and made the first of two free throws.
“He plays well,” Briggs said of Wissman. “He’s our leader offensively and defensively. He does things right, and he knows how to get to the bucket and score.”
Jordan Hoffman completed a three-point play to cap the run.
Maier finished with 10 points for Otis-Bison.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Hoisington Cardinal Winter Jam

BOYS

Thursday

At Hoisington
Hoisington Activity Center

Otis-Bison 50, Russell 35
OTIS-BISON (4-8)
    Brandon Keller 0 0-0 0, Justus Bartonek 2 1-3 6, Hayden Maier 1 3-5 5, Dylan Wissman 6 6-10 20, Jordan Hoffman 2 0-1 5, Kade Hagans 1 0-0 2, Tyler Maier 5 0-2 10, Colin Regan 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 11-20 50.
RUSSELL
    Brandon Bachar 3 0-0 6, Taylor Pennington 0 0-0 0, Tayton Pennington 0 0-0 0, Clayton Moubry 1 0-0 2, Tucker Kaufman 0 0-0 0, Kiefer Craig 1 0-0 2, Austin Donovan 2 2-4 6, Eric Rourke 4 1-2 9, Keltonn Morris 4 0-1 8, Michael Pfannenstiel 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 3-7 35.
Otis-Bison    12    9   19   10  —  50
Russell        10   10    7    8   —  35
    Three-point goals — Otis-Bison 3 (Wissman 2, Bartonek); Russell (none). Total fouls — Russell 20, Otis-Bison 8. Fouled out — Russell (Kaufman).