The Cowboys jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead against Harlem Thursday at the Northern B divisional meet in Malta, and then watched as the Wildcats ran away with the contest, 72-34.
    Senior Lane Judisch nailed down a trey and a two pointer while Justin Prewett added a bucket for a 7-2 advantage very early in the first period. However, after that, the Wildcats went on a 16-0 run to lead 18-7 after the quarter and coast to the win.
    Going into the third period, the Cowboys trailed by 10, 32-22, but down the stretch, Harlem outscored them 40-12 to take the first round win.
    Grubb led the team in scoring, marking down 14 points. Brent Bandow came on to hit the hoops for nine, Judisch had his five,     Justin Prewett scored two, Eric Norby the same while Josiah Moerkerke and Bryce Nelson each had a free throw.
    Conrad scored on 13 shots from the field, but the Wildcats more than doubled that, scoring on 32 shots from the floor.
    Conrad was 7-9 from the line and the Cats went 6-10.
    Coach Tyson Anderson commented, “Harlem shot an unbelievable percentage from the field and played outstanding. We also struggled with their size.”
    The loss set up an afternoon game for the Cowboys who were 14-9 on Friday with tournament host, Malta who was 10-12 and lost to Shelby earlier.
    In one of the most exciting games of the tournament, the Cowboys came on to win 51-50, living to play another day.
    The blue and white Mustangs built an 11-10 lead in the first quarter of play. But Conrad rallied back to lead 20-18 by the break.
    Down the stretch, both teams were matching shot for shot, but in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys went 10 for 10 from the line with Grubb knocking down four while Prewett, Bandow and Judisch were all two for two.
    In a balanced scoring attack, Grubb and Prewett both banged in 16 markers off the board to lead the way.