The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team put together a stellar second semester, going 14-1 with their only loss coming to Trinidad State back on January 19.

                Since that defeat, the Cougar men have won 11 straight, including a big 77-76 win on February 23 over Trinidad that gave the Cougars the South Sub-region championship and the right to host the Region IX tournament.

                The tournament begins Thursday, March 14 at Cougar Palace with four games with the championship slated for March 16 with the winner advancing to the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas, March 24-30.

                WNCC head coach Billy Engel, who was an assistant for the Cougars when the Cougar men last won a regional title in 2018, said it is an honor to host the regional tournament and for the Panhandle fans to see some talented teams.

                “We are very excited at the opportunity to be able to host the Region IX Tournament,” Engel said. “It is a testament to how hard our guys have played throughout the season and how they’ve come together, grown together and learned to play together at a high level. We are also very excited to bring some high-level basketball to the community. The Scottsbluff community has been extremely supportive, and we can’t wait to play this tournament in front of our home crowd.”

                JJ Harris, a sophomore, said this team is focused on what they need to do to bring on a title.

                “It stats with God. Then, in practice, we must go 1-0 Monday through Wednesday in order to perform Thursday,” Harris said. “We know we can. Then I honestly feel like God will take care of the rest.”

                Engel said while the team hasn’t played a game in three weeks because of a forfeit win from Lamar Community College on February 27, his team is excited to get back on the court in front of the fans.

                “I think the guys are extremely excited to get back to competition after a long rest period,” Engel said. “We’ve been able to get healthy as well as mentally rested. We had a good week of practice last week and need 3 more good days this week.”

                The tournament actually started last weekend with first-round games at the site of the higher seed. WNCC and Gillette, who won the sub-regions, received a bye into the tournament.

                The first-round games saw a couple of upsets and games that went as predicted of the seedings. First round results with the winners making the quarterfinals saw Otero earn a 91-87 overtime win over North Platte; Trinidad State taking out Lamar 88-70; McCook upsetting Northeastern Junior College 78-76; Laramie County beating Western Wyoming 90-81; Casper defeating Eastern Wyoming 114-94; and Northwest Wyoming upsetting Central Wyoming 97-93.

                That sets up the quarterfinal action on Thursday with four games at Cougar Palace. Action begins at 1 p.m. when Trinidad State takes on Laramie County followed by the North winner Gillette College taking on McCook at 3 p.m. The 5 p.m. contest will pit Casper against Otero followed by WNCC taking on Northwest College at 7 p.m.

                The winners advance to the semifinals at 5 and 7 p.m. on March 15 with the championship game Saturday evening.

                WNCC’s first opponent will be Northwest College, a team they beat back on November 17 89-72 after only leading 40-39 at the half. In that game, Kayden Nation led the team with 16 points.

                But, what was also key was WNCC had five players in double figures. After Nation, Elijah Burney tallied 12 points followed by 11 each from Harris and Maurice Walker, and 10 from Nazir Griffin.

                Engel said Northwest will be a tough team, having beat some quality teams. Trappers are 14-17 on the season while the Cougars are 22-8 and received votes in the last regular season NJCAA national poll.

                “Northwest College is an extremely well-coached team,” Engel said. “They are disciplined, detailed, tough, scrappy, and have some talented players.”

                Northwest had sox players averaging in double figures. Colin Hayes leads the team at 15.4 points a game followed by Koltar Maritt at 12.7, and Isaiah Halverson at 12.2 points. Milton Rodriguez-Santana is at 11 points followed by Will Hemme and Drew Larson at 10 points a game.

                The diversity and depth of the WNCC scorers has been a big reason for the Cougars play during the second semester.

                WNCC had eight players that are averaging seven points a game and three that are averaging double digits.

                Harris leads the way at 13.2 points a game followed by Nation with 11.4 and Willie Wilson at 11.1.

                After that, Walker is averaging 8.7 points, Daniel Bula at 7.9, and Stephen Ovia, Travis Easterly, Jr., and Anthony Simo at seven points.

                Harris said he believes the team is playing well right now and they are hoping to keep it going.

                “I feel like the team is playing great,” Harris said. “It starts with our bong off the court. Everyone is for one another and I love that for us.”

                What Engel loves about this team is how they have come together during the second semester. WNCC was 8-7 after the first semester. The second semester they are 14-1 and have won some key contests, especially in comeback fashion.

                “Our keys to success have been the same all second semester,” Engel said. “Number one is to defend personnel and actions of Opponent. No. 2 is great shot selection and take care of the ball, and three, when our opponents make a mistake we need to take advantage.”

                During that key 11-game winning streak, the Cougars have won plenty of nail-biters, including an 81-80 overtime win at North Platte followed by an 89-82 win at Otero and then an 83-81 win at Northeastern Junior College.

                The NJC win was a team effort when the Cougars put five players in double figures, but it was Harris’ shot with 1.4 seconds left that gave the Cougars the win.

                WNCC then wrapped up the regular season on February 23 with a one-point win over Trinidad State on the road 77-76 that saw the Cougars put together a late 14-0 run to get the win.

                WNCC had to battle back from a 10-point and 8-point deficit with five minutes to play and went up 76-70 with about 45 seconds left. Trinidad hit a 3-pointer with 37.2 seconds left. Neither team scored on their next possession. With 11.9 seconds left, WNCC was looking for a shot to seal the game but turned the ball over. Trinidad inbounded the ball and called a timeout as soon as the ball crossed half-court with 7.5 seconds.

                On the inbounds play, Travis Easterly, Jr., got a steal and was fouled. Easterly, Jr., hit one of two free throws with 4.7 left. Trinidad came down and buried a 3-pointer with .2 seconds left and WNCC inbounded the ball and ran out the clock.

                “This team has done a very good job throughout conference play of not looking into the future but taking care of what’s right in front of them, going 1-0 today. The only thing our team is looking at right now is being prepared and ready to compete against NWC on Thursday at 7 p.m.

WNCC women ready for regionals, will face Western Wyoming Thursday afternoon

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team has one thing on their mind entering the Region IX women’s tournament in Casper, Wyoming, this week and that is to bring home a Region IX title.

That is the goal of every team, but for the Cougars, it is a goal to get back to the national tournament.

While that is the main goal for the team, there is a second goal and that that is the first on the agenda and that is to win their quarterfinal game against Western Wyoming Community College, a team that has beaten the Cougars four straight games.

WNCC will open regional tourney action Thursday at 12:30 p.m. against the Mustangs. It is a game the team is looking forward to.

“We have played them lots of times and I think we are ready,” redshirt sophomore Gal-La Font said. “We need to stick to our way of playing and not let them take us out of the game.”

                That is the key for the Cougar women to do well, play their game. Font said they have to leave everything out on the court over the three days of the tourney.

                “Giving our everything,” Font said is the key to winning. “We need putting in the effort and playing defense. We need to play our basketball.”

                Mackenzie Joseph, a true sophomore, said the key is staying together.

                “Playing as a team with everyone on the same page,” Joseph said.” We would have to play three games in three days so making sure we get enough rest and play hard each day.”

                The first round of the regional tournament was actually played on Friday, March 8 with four games to get to the tournament.

                One of those was WNCC when they hosted Trinidad State and it was one of the best games from start to finish for the Cougar women as they beat Trinidad 100-51 behind a team effort.

                Other first-round games included McCook earning a 48-43 win over Lamar Community College, Eastern Wyoming College topping Laramie County 72-66, and Gillette College taking out Northwest College 72-68.

                The winners from March 8 and the top two teams from the North and South, who earned a bye into the quarterfinals, will meet up in Casper, March 14-16.

                Quarterfinal action gets underway Thursday when WNCC faces Western Wyoming at 12:30 p.m. and Gillette taking on South top seed Northeastern Junior College at 2:30 p.m.

                Those two winners will meet in the semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m.

                The other quarterfinals will have Eastern Wyoming facing Otero at 5 p.m. and McCook taking on North top seed Casper at 7 p.m.

                Those winners will battle in the semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m.

                The two semifinal winners will meet for the Region IX championship on Saturday at 4 p.m. with the winner advancing to the NJCAA national tournament March 26-April 1 at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyoming.

                If WNCC wants to keep winning, it is imperative that they play like they did against Trinidad where they led from start to finish, leading 25-5 after the first quarter and 55-22 at halftime.

                It was a game where all the players scored and it was a balanced scoring with four in double figures and another five with seven to nine points.

                That game saw Ebere Egbirika and Faith Walker led the way with 16 points followed by Amiyah Donaldson with 14 and Laura Montiel with 10.

                So, what about Western Wyoming? The Mustangs defeated the Cougars twice this season including 73-56 on November 10 at Rock Springs, Wyoming, and then came back outscoring the Cougars 43-27 in the second half to top WNCC 75-67 on January 10 at Cougar Palace.

                WNCC enters the tournament on a 5-game winning streak and each of those five wins a different player led the team in scoring. In the 72-61 win over McCook, Donaldson led with 21 points.

                In the 68-63 win over North Platte it was Font that led the team with 15 points, while the win over Lamar (77-43) it was Joseph with a 17 point effort. In back-to-back wins over Trinidad, Walker had 19 points in the regular season meeting, while Egbirika had 16 in the playoff game.

                The team says they are playing well and are locked into what they need to do.

                “We are playing decent right now,” Joseph said. “Defensively, we are getting better but we need to stay on it.”

                Font said the team is getting back to where they need to be when they strung together 10 straight wins in November and December, including topping Casper College 75-69 and then beating nationally-ranked College of Southern Idaho 82-77. 
                “We are doing good and getting back to our identity. Practices are going well,” Font said. “We are very locked in and excited to win.”

WNCC baseball team comes up short against South Mountain

                PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Western Nebraska Community College baseball team was in a battle against South Mountain Community College on Tuesday in a 9-inning game and just game up short in falling to South Mountain 5-3.

                It was a game where the Cougars did everything they needed on the mound, defense, and offense, but South Mountain just did a little bit more.

                WNCC got the hitting parade going quickly with two hits in the first inning, but they couldn’t get a run in. In the second, the Cougars loaded the bases on two walks and a single. Then, with two outs, Dylan Harris earned a walk to scored Ryan Platt and the 1-0 lead.

                South Mountain came with a run in the second to tie the game and then another run in the fourth for a 2-1 lead. WNCC knotted the score with a run in the fifth when Tucker Deal had a single and scored on a Kensei Oikawa groundout.

                South Mountain added two in the sixth and one in the seventh for a 5-2 lead. WNCC scored once in the eighth when Oikawa was hit by a pitch followed by a Shintaro Inoue single. Oikawa scored on a Platt sacrifice fly to make it 5-3.

                WNCC finished the game with six hits, all singles from six different players.

                WNCC got two strong pitching performances has Nick Tremblay suffered the loss in going six strong innings in scattering nine hits and allowing just four runs while striking out three. Rocco Harmon tossed the final two innings in allowing two hits, one run, and striking out three.

                WNCC will face South Mountain in another game on Wednesday.

WNCC                 010 010 010 – 3 6 1
S. Mountain       010 102 10x – 5 11 2

LP – Nick Tremblay.

WNCC softball team drops doubleheader to Northern Oklahoma-Enid

                ENID, Okla. – The Western Nebraska Community College softball competed well but came up short in a doubleheader against Northern Oklahoma College – Enid Tuesday in Oklahoma.

                The first game saw a deadlocked contest until the sixth when Northern Oklahoma scored five times for the 9-5 win. The second game saw WNCC score first but game up seven runs in the middle frames to fall 10-3.

                WNCC is scheduled to be back in action this weekend when they host Trinidad State College at Volunteer Field on Saturday and Sunday, weather pending.

                The first game was a battle between the two teams. WNCC scored first on back-to-back walks. Madi VanRiper than singled to load the bases and Baylee Krueger walked to score the first run.

                Northern Oklahoma came back to score single runs in the second and third and two in the fourth for a 4-1 lead.

                WNCC came back with two in the fifth and a single run in the sixth to tie the game at four. The fifth saw Katelyn Czerpak score on a sacrifice and then Jenika had a solo home run to make it 4-3. The sixth saw Krueger start things with a single and scored on a 2-out single by Randi Mitchell to tie the game.

                The Jets came back with five in the bottom of the frame to go up 9-4. WNCC scored one in the seventh when Czerpak walked and Sierra Hilgner singled. Czerpak scored on a Fuentes grounder but that was all they could get.

                WNCC had six hits in the contest, all singles, Czerpak scored twice and had a stolen base with two walks.

                Bella Pacheco went six strong innings in scattering 12 hits and giving up four earned runs while striking out one.

                WNCC started off strong in game two as Hilgner walked followed by a double by VanRiper. Both came in to score on a Krueger double for the 2-0 lead.

                The Jets came back with a run in the first and four in the second for a 5-2 lead. Northern Oklahoma led 9-2 before WNCC scored in the top of the sixth Krueger walked and scored on a Mitchell double to make it 9-3.

                WNCC finished with six hits in game two with four coming from doubles. Czerpak led the team with two hits and a stolen base. Krueger had a double with two RBIs.

                Fuentes went three innings in scattering eight hits and giving up four earned runs with a strikeout. Pacheco also tossed three innings in allowing four hits and two runs with a strikeout.

Game 1
WNCC                 100 021 1 – 5 6 3
N. Oklahoma    011 205 x – 9 12 1
LP – Bella Pacheco.
HR – Jenika Fuentes.

Game 2
WNCC                 200 001 0 – 3 6 2
N. Oklahoma    140 311 x – 10 12 0
LP – Jenika Fuentes.
2B – Baylee Krueger, Jenika Fuentes, Madi VanRiper, Randi Mitchell.