Cougar notes: WNCC women fall to North Platte in sub-region game

                NORTH PLATTE – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team only scored eight, fourth quarter points as North Platte Community College outscored the Cougars 37-24 in the second half to claim a 69-66 South Sub-region win Saturday afternoon.

                The loss drops the Cougars to 9-4 in the sub-region, two games behind leading Lamar Community College, who is 10-2 after their 56-51 win over Otero College Saturday.

                WNCC has one more conference game left and that is next Saturday at Northeastern Junior College. NJC is 5-8 in the conference after beating McCook Community College 71-58 on Saturday.

                Lamar has a home and away series with Southeast Community College next week. Lamar needs just one win to win the South Sub-region, which would make the Cougars host a first-round playoff game March 6 or 7.

                Saturday’s game was a tale of two halves. The Cougars played well in the first half as they were tied with North Platte at 6-6 and then went on a 10-0 run to lead 16-6. North Platte, however, closed out the first quarter on a 7-2 run as WNCC led 18-13.

                The second quarter saw WNCC score 24 points and led 35-24 with a 7-0 run on a 3-pointer by Juseana-Rae Delatori and buckets by Veralyn Aviles and Ella Chesta-Carty. WNCC had a 42-30 lead after a Zozefine Sipolina bucket in the closing minute. WNCC led at half 42-32.

                WNCC had a 46-34 third quarter lead after Sipolina nailed her fourth 3-pointer of the game. Things changed after that as North Platte went on an 11-2 run to trail 48-45. WNCC came back to lead 58-50 at the end of three quarters.

                The fourth quarter saw the Cougars only hit two field goals in the whole quarter. Aviles got the first one early on an old-fashioned 3-point play to lead 61-53. The Knights then went on a 10-0 run over the next 5 ½ minutes to take a 63-61 lead on an and-one with four minutes to play.

                WNCC tied the game at 63-63 with a Chesta-Carty bucket with 2:21 to play. North Platte went back in front 65-63 and WNCC misfired on some free throw attempts while North Platte hit their free throws down the stretch to claim the 69-66 win.

                WNCC shot just 43 percent from the field and made 7-of-25 3-pointers and were 9-of-17 from the charity stripe. North Platte shot 47 percent from the field and made just 3-of-13 from beyond the arc. The Knights were 12-of-23 from the free throw line.

                North Platte also had a 43-33 rebounding edge in the game.

                WNCC was led by Sipolina with 18 points including four 3-pointers, while Chesta-Carty had 12 and Aviles 10 points.

WNCC                                18 24 16 8 – 66

North Platte                     13 19 18 19 – 69

WNCC

Zozefine Sipolina 18, Ella Chesta-Carty 12, Veralyn Aviles 10, Celina Donyo 8, Aniaya Burton-Hernandez 7, Charisma Johnson 6, Juseana-Rae Delatori 3, Brynn Sybrant 2.

NORTH PLATTE

Kyenna Jackson 16, Ligia Thortvedt 16, Aliyah Herron 12, Dezirae Gonzales 10, Alexa Stevens 7, Jasmine Gilbert 5, Joie Rodriguez 3.

WNCC men fall to North Platte on the road

                NORTH PLATTE – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team allowed North Platte Community College to go on a 13-0 run to start the second half and the Knights scored 63 points in that half to claim a 98-84 South Sub-region win Saturday afternoon in North Platte.

                The loss drops the Cougars to 5-8 in the sub-region while North Platte goes to 7-5. The Cougars have one more regular season game left and that is Saturday when they travel to sub-region-leading Northeastern Junior College. NJC is 10-3 and a win against WNCC would give NJC the sub-region title and the host for the men’s regional tournament.

                WNCC will more than likely be on the road for a first-round game the weekend of March 6-7 against either the second or third seed from the south sub-region.

                Saturday’s game was one of two halves for the Cougars. WNCC played well in the first half as they had a 24-17 lead and built it to 29-17 on five straight points from Kellon Harris.

                North Platte would come storming back, going on a 11-0 run to trail the Cougar 29-28. WNCC regrouped as they went on a 7-0 run on a Harris dunk and then a Harris 3-pointer to lead 36-28. The Cougars led 42-35 at halftime.

                The second half saw North Platte score the first 13 points to grab a 48-42 lead. WNCC finally got on the scoreboard on two Toms Linis free throws and the Cougars’ first field goal didn’t come until nearly four minutes into the half on a Harris bucket.

                WNCC kept scoring with North Platte and trailed 59-50 with 12 minutes to play. North Platte went on a 7-0 run to grab a 66-50, WNCC came back to get the game within seven, 76-69, with just over five minutes to play. That was when the Knights would go on a 13-3 run to lead 89-72.

                The Cougars didn’t fold as they went on an 8-0 run that included back-to-back 3-pointers from Xavier Kirkpatrick and Isaiah St. Preux to make it 89-80. WNCC trailed 91-82 with 46 seconds to play but the Cougars would miss shots and North Platte made 7-of-8 free throws to go up 98-82 and get the win at 98-84.

                WNCC shot 43 percent from the field and made 15 3-pointers in the game led by Harris’s four while five other players had two triples. North Platte shot 49 percent and had just eight 3-pointers.

                The difference in the game was free throws. WNCC shot just 23 free throws making 15, while the Knights shot 48 free throws and making 40. North Platte also controlled the boards 41-29.

                WNCC had three players in double figures. Harris finished with 22 points followed by Viktor Lukic-Gavric with 16 and Kirkpatrick with 12.

WNCC                42 42 – 84

North Platte     35 63 – 98

WNCC

Kellon Harris 22, Viktor Lukic-Gavric 16, Xavier Kirkpatrick 12, Isaiah St. Preux 8, Toms Linis 8, Witold Czerenkiewicz 6, Dorin Nguema 5, Melchi Egbeyemi 3, Amare Jackson 3.

NORTH PLATTE
Brady Kennison 25, Winston Allen 16, Josh Osayanrhion 16, Justus Michael 13, Daniel Benjamin 9, Dennis Rocha 8, John Sims 6, Daniel Nwauzu 3, Sedrick Nari 2.