The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team broke open a close contest in winning 65-54 over Lamar Community College on Friday.
                Friday’s win came on sophomore recognition day and the Cougar women won their 10th straight as they went to 23-5 overall. The win moved the 20th-ranked Cougars to 9-0 in the South Sub-region with one regular season left when WNCC travels to Northeastern Junior College on Saturday.
                Laura Montiel, one of the six sophomores that was recognized, said this was a tough contest as they had to play without fellow sophomore Adelina Urtane, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice this week.
                “Today was a hard game and the team played really good together,” Montiel, who had 15 points and seven steals in the win. “We had extra motivation because it was sophomore night and because our captain Adelina tore her ACL, so we worked to win this game for her. She has been doing a great job during the season and we are going to miss her on the court, so we will give all our energy for her.”
                For Montiel and the other sophomores, they knew that this was going to be their last regular season home game and the memories they gathered while playing on the court were special. WNCC, however, will be back on the court in mid-March when they host the Region IX tournament March 13-15 after the Cougars won the South sub-region.
                “Today was a really special game because these two years at WNCC have been so special in my life,” Montiel, who is from Granada, Spain, said. “I have met great people and I’m going to miss playing for the Cougars. But I was happy because we are going to host the Region IX tournament and it’s not going to be the last game at home.”
                How the team played Friday was a learning curve what they need to do since they were playing without their captain on the floor. So, Saturday when they head to NJC, it will be a game where they learned a lot about themselves.
                “The main thing for tomorrow (Saturday) is to give all our effort. It is going to be our last conference game and we can and up undefeated (in the conference) and that is a great chance to go to Region IX tournament with good feelings,” Montiel said. “We have to do all the little things that matters like winning all the 50/50 balls, dive to the floor, and cheer for our teammates. We don’t have to many games left so we have to enjoy every minute inside and outside of the court with our teammates.”
                Friday’s home contest was special since all five sophomores that were suited up started the game. And, after winning the tipoff, Helene Kuck brought the ball up and stopped, paused, and hit a 2-pointer. After that, Lamar went in front 6-2 before WNCC tied the game at 6-6 on two Montiel buckets. The two squads were knotted at 6-6 after the first 10 minutes.
                The second quarter was back and forth as the Cougars took a 13-10 lead on a Zozefine Sipolina 3-pointer. The Cougars couldn’t buy a bucket and Lamar came back to lead by four, 22-18. Sophomore Nataly Dunka then made back-to-back buckets to lead 23-22. Lamar bounced back to lead 26-23. Dunka got the last bucket of the half when the sophomore from Brazil hit a 3-pointer and the two teams were knotted at 26-26 at intermission.
                Montiel said they didn’t play well the first half, but the second half was a different story.
                “I would say we did a really good job defensively and that is what kept us in the game the first half,” she said. “And, in the second half of the game, we moved the ball better and we got more rebounds than in the first half.”
                The second half was a huge defensive effort after the first three minutes of the third quarter. Montiel got the Cougars on the board first with a bucket and then the Runnin’ Lopes went on a 7-0 run to lead 33-28 with 6:50 to play. After that, the Cougars outscored Lamar 19-2 for nearly six minutes as Lidia Hernandez and Kuck nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to put WNCC ahead. After a Lamar bucket, the Cougars went on a 13-0 run that was started with a Montiel 3-pointer and WNCC led 47-35. The Cougars led 49-40 after three quarters.
                WNCC kept the defensive intensity on in the fourth quarter, running to a 59-43 lead while holding Lamar to just two field goals for nearly seven minutes. Lamar put together a late rally, with an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 59-54. Sipolina stopped the run with a 3-pointer and moments later, Kuck buried a triple to give WNCC the win.
                WNCC was led in scoring by Dunka with 20 points followed by Montiel with 15, and 10 points each from Sipolina and Kuck.
                WNCC had 14 steals in the contest behind seven from Montiel and four from Dunka. Lamar out-rebounded the Cougars 48-33. Hernandez led the way on the boards with 11 followed by Dunka with five.
                Montiel said she will cherish the remaining games over the next month as what her grandmother told her yesterday.
                “This year has been so special so far,” Montiel said. “Like my grandmother told me yesterday (Thursday), we deserve to have a nice final finish. We have had so many adversities this year and we fought every time. I trust in this team 100 percent and this coming games are going to be unforgettable.”
 
Lamar                 8 18 14 14 – 54
WNCC                8 18 23 16 – 65
LAMAR
Morgan Evans 8, Amaya Williams 14, Natalie Silva 7, Ana Zesati 10, Maleah Charlie 5, Leah Delgarito 8, Addy Offutt 2.
WNCC
Helena Kuck 10, Laura Montiel 15, Carliegh Pszanka 1, Nataly Dunka 20, Lidia Hernandez 9, Zozefine Sipolina 10.
 
WNCC men top Lamar, in position to win sub-region
 
                Coming into Friday night’s South Sub-region, the Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team knew what was on the line and to have any hopes to win the South Sub-region they have to win both games this weekend.
                Friday night, they took the first step against Lamar Community College at Cougar Palace in sophomore recognition night, with a huge 108-102 win over Lamar Community College. WNCC only surrendered the lead just once, at 22-21 with about 12 minutes left in the first half to get the win.
                The win moves the Cougars to 12-15 overall but, more importantly, to 7-4 on the South Sub-region. WNCC, North Platte, and Trinidad State are all tied with 7-4 records. WNCC travels to face Northeastern Junior College Saturday afternoon while Trinidad State faces North Platte.
                IF WNCC wins on Saturday, they will win the South Sub-region and secure a first-round bye in the regional tournament that will be played March 13-15 in Gillette, Wyoming. A loss on Saturday and then the winner of the North Platte/Trinidad State game will win the sub-region. A loss would also make it a 3-way tied for second, which then would guarantee the Cougars a home first-round play-in game next weekend.
                For this Cougar team, they are one that can score points. WNCC is averaging 90.2 points a contest and in Friday’s win, WNCC had three players finish with 20 or more points. Sophomores Elijah Burney and Elijah Hollins led the way. Hollins had 26 points with five 3-pointers while Burney had a season-high 23 points with four triples. Kellon Harris, a red-shirt freshman, had a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds. The other sophomore that was recognized before the game along with Hollins and Burney was Mathiang Maker, who scored all his 18 points in the second half.
                WNCC head coach Roybell Baez loved how his team kept battling without not giving up the lead except for that one time in the first half.
                “I knew it was going to be that type of game and those guys were not going to go away,” Baez said on the radio post-game show. “I was sitting on the bench and told the fellas that we have to keep playing because we had a 10-point lead with about 50 seconds left. But, then again, they are a good team, I knew that comeback was possible and that if they won tonight, they win the sub-region title. At halftime, I told the fellas that you have the lead but you should have been up by 15. In the last three minutes of the first half we were out there shrinking the lead off. When you play teams like that who are scrappy and they don’t give up, and luckily we shot the lights out tonight with 50 percent from the field and 45 percent from the 3-point arc, that is crazy. I will take that.”
                Friday’s contest was one where the cartoon character the Roadrunner would have enjoyed because it was fast-paced and both teams shot well. WNCC was 51 percent from the field and 45 percent from behind the arc, making 14 3-pointers. Lamar was 48 percent from the field and buried 11 triples. Lamar was just 30 percent from 3-point arc.
                With that kind of pace, the winning team needs to stay focused and Lamar had two long runs and that was it. The other runs that the Runnin’ Lopes had were just a couple back-to-back buckets here and there. Otherwise, WNCC was answering, for the most part, Lamars buckets.
                The two big runs for Lamar came late in the first half when WNCC was up 50-37 and watched Lamar go on an 8-0 run to make it a 50-45 first-half lead. WNCC led at half, 52-45.
                The second long run came mid-way in the second half when WNCC built an 83-67 lead with 10 minutes to play. Lamar came back with a 10-0 run to make it a 6-point lead at 83-77. WNCC stopped the run with a Burney 3-pointer and then went on a key 6-0 run that saw Hollins, Maker, and Harris all hit buckets within a minute to lead 94-83.
                WNCC had a 104-96 lead late and watched Lamar battle back, slicing the deficit down to six points at 106-100 with under 50 seconds to play. WNCC picked up the defense and got key free throws down the stretch along with key rebounds for the win.
 
Lamar                 45 57 – 102
WNCC                52 56 – 108
LAMAR
Zach Brown 13, Chance White 26, Sean Lindsay 24, Christian Payawal 6, T-Shawn Bois 11, David Hill, Jr. 10, Jalen Obrian 12.
WNCC
Kellon Harris 25, Elijah Hollins 26, Mathiang Maker 18, Elijah Burney 23, Toms Linis 2, Noah Jones 3, Reece Randolph 4, Isaiah St. Preux 3, Dorin Niguema 2, Witold Czerenkiewicz 2.