Cougar notes: WNCC women top Otero for 23rd win

                LAJUNTA, Colo. – The 4^th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team wrapped up the No. 1 seed from the South Sub-region with a 78-61 win over Otero College Sunday afternoon in LaJunta, Colorado.

                The Cougars have won 18 straight contests and are a perfect 14-0 against Region IX teams. WNCC is 7-0 in the South Sub-region and McCook Community College is second at 5-3.

WNCC has three regular season contests left when they travel to Northeastern Junior College on Tuesday and then face Lamar Community College on Thursday on the road. The Cougar women will close out the regular season with a Feb. 21 home contest against Northeastern Junior College.

Sunday the Cougar women led from start to finish as they put four players in double figures.

The first quarter was slow as WNCC led 6-0 and later 12-5 on a Rashaan Smith bucket. The Cougars buried their first 3-pointer to make it 15-9 on a Ale’Jah Douglas trey to end the first quarter.

The second quarter saw WNCC explode to a 23-9 lead and led 31-15 after back-to-back treys from Amani Brown and Shanti Henry. WNCC led 38-23 at halftime.

The second quarter saw the Cougars jump to a 52-27 lead before Otero put together a run where they sliced the lead to 16 points at the end of the third period 56-40.

WNCC came back in the fourth quarter with the long ball as Brown had two treys and Douglas had another for a 71-46 lead. WNCC added 3-pointers by Henry and Breanna Fowler to lead 78-55 on the way to the 78-61 win.

Martrice Brooks led the way for the Cougars with 17 points followed by Brown with 14. Henry and Douglas each had 12 points.

WNCC buried 12 3-pointers in the contest. Henry had four treys while Douglas, Brown, and Payton Fields all had two.

 

WNCC (23-1)      15 23 18 22 – 78

Otero                    9 14 17 21 – 61

WNCC

Ale’Jah Douglas 12, Amani Brown 14, Martrice Brooks 17, Shanti Henry 12, Payton Fields 8, Breanna Fowler 3, Ashley Panem 3, Mia Jaye Sarkodee-Adoo 3, Rashaan Smith 6.

WNCC men drop contest to Otero

                LAJUNTA, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College and Otero College men’s basketball team had a free throw shooting contest Sunday afternoon where the two teams combined for 93 free throw attempts and 61 fouls.

                In the end, it was the No. 25 Otero Rattlers that earned the 108-89 win. The win moves the Rattlers to 8-0 and one game away from clinching the No. 1 seed in the South sub-region and the host of the Region IX tournament. WNCC moves to 14-11 overall and 3-6 in the South sub-region. The Cougars are still in the hunt to host a first-round Region IX tournament playoff game, but they will have to win in their next games.

                WNCC next game will be Tuesday when they travel to Northeastern Junior College and then a trip to Lamar Community College on Thursday. NJC is 4-6 in the South Sub-region while Lamar is 4-5. WNCC will wrap up the regular season with a home game on Feb. 22 against North Platte Community College. North Platte is 3-5 in the conference standings.

                Sunday’s contest was one where the Rattlers opened up a 17-6 lead behind five 3-pointers. Otero nailed 15 threes for the game.

                WNCC battled back as they sliced the lead to 29-22 on a Agwa Nywesh 3-pointer and trailed by nine, 37-28 on a Turumbil Zaki bucket. Otero, however, opened the game up and led 53-38 at halftime.

                The second half saw an even game. Otero outscored WNCC 57-53, but the Cougars battled back cutting the deficit to single digits at 79-70 on a Rodney Sawyer free throw. WNCC cut the lead even further at 81-74 on a Them Koang bucket.

                Otero came back to go up 88-74 and really never looked back.

                WNCC shot 44 percent from the field and were 6-of-15 from the 3-point arc. Otero shot 48 percent from the field and were 15-of-29 from the 3-point arc.

                Free throw shooting was the key as both teams were in the double bonus with 11 minutes to play in the second half. Otero was 39-of-45 from the charity stripe while WNCC was 37-of-48.

                WNCC won the rebound battle 38-25. Koang had 11 boards in the game.

                WNCC had three players in double figures. Koang led the way with 26 points followed by Sawyer with 24 and Nywesh with 14. Sawyer was 14-of-15 from the free throw line, while Koang was 8-of-14.

 

WNCC (14-11)                    36 53 – 89

Otero (22-3)                       51 57 – 108

WNCC

Carter Brown 9, Biko Johnson 1, Agwa Nywesh 14, Turumbil Zaki 3, Them Koang 26, Rodney Sawyer 24, Jasiya DeOllos 6, Carl Thorpe 3, Chancelor Johnson 3.

OTERO

Dwayne Chester 12, Hunter Jack Madden 23, Rodney Mason 2, Aman Measho 2, Tommy Kamarad 15, Kenard Richardson 5, Ezra Burnett 10, Kyrie Thomas 11, Ikechi Chantilou 3, Shawn Fudge 2, Luis Miera 2, Ty Diggins 3, AC Curry 14, Jamal Adams 1, Destin Harris 3.

WNCC baseball drops doubleheader to New Mexico Military

                ROSWELL, N.M. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team dropped a doubleheader to New Mexico Military Institute on Sunday in Roswell, New Mexico.

                The Cougars found the scoring tough. In the first game, New Mexico Military scored eight runs before the Cougars got on the board to win the opener 8-2. The second game saw WNCC score five times, but they couldn’t stop New Mexico Military’s offense in falling 13-5.

                The first game saw NMMI outhit the Cougars 13-5. New Mexico Military scored twice in the second, three times in the third and three more in the sixth for an 8-0 lead.

                WNCC finally got on the scoreboard in the in the seventh with two runs. With two outs Dillon Fabricus led off with a single. Sergio Tarango and Drew Book then walked to load the bases. Dylan Howard then drove in two but that was all they could get.

                WNCC had just five singles in the contest from five different hitters.

                WNCC used four pitchers in the contest. Corbin Kirk took the loss going two innings allowing four hits, two runs, and striking out three. Eli Hernandez tossed two innings in allowing five hits and three runs. Hernandez struck out two. JJ Garza tossed one inning in allowing two hits and striking out three, while Caden Eymann finished off the game with an inning pitched with two hits, three runs and a strikeout.

                The second game was much closer. NMMI led off with four in the first for a 4-0 lead. WNCC cut the lead to one with three runs in the second. Fabricus led off the second by reaching on an error. Hernandez then followed with a single. Maxime Adam scored those two with a 3-run home run over the rightfield fence to cut the lead to 4-3.

                NMMI came back to add a single run in the bottom of the second, two in the third and one in the fourth for an 8-3 lead.

                WNCC scored a single run in the fifth Fabricus hit a grounder that scored Tarango.

                After NMMI added two in the sixth, WNCC added a single run in the seventh. Jack Jones doubled and came around to score on a Fabricus single.

                WNCC couldn’t hold NMMI from scoring in the bottom of the seventh as they scored three times to end the game on the 8-run rule in the 9-inning game.

                WNCC finished with six hits. Jones led the way with three hits with two doubles and a run scored. Fabricus had two RBIs while Adam had three RBIs with his home run.

                WNCC used four pitchers in the defeat. William Potter took the loss in going three innings in allowing seven hits, seven runs while striking out one. Also seeing time on the mound included Thibault Mercadier, Archer Blumenshein, and Aiden Schultz. Mercadier went two innings in allowing three hits, a run, and striking out two. Blumenshein went one inning in allowing two runs and striking out one, while Schultz went two-thirds of an inning in allowing three hits and three runs.

                WNCC, 1-3, will be back in action Saturday and Sunday when they travel to Great Bend, Kansas, to face Barton Community College. WNCC will then return home as they host Miles Community College Feb. 26 and 27 at Cleveland field.     

 

Game 1

WNCC                   000 000 2 – 2 5 1

NMMI                   023 003 x – 8 13 0

LP – Corbin Kirk.

 

Game 2

WNCC                   030 010 1 – 5 6 1

NMMI                   412 102 3 – 13 13 2

LP – William Potter.

2B – Jack Jones 2.

HR – Maxime Adam.