WNCC men come back to down McCook

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team received 37 points from Teddy Allen and the Cougars outscored McCook Community College 62-44 in the second half to pick up the come-from-behind 99-90 Region IX South sub-region win Tuesday night at Cougar Palace.

The win moves the Cougars to 11-6 on the season and evens their South sub-region record at 1-1. The Cougars will look for win number two in the sub-region when they travel to North Platte Community College Saturday evening.

The win was huge in how the Cougars bounced back to get the win trailing 46-37 at halftime and 71-62 with just over 10 minutes to play.

Assistant coach Billy Engel said the players battled hard and it took some adversity to wake up the Cougars.

“We had a lot of distractions and a lot of stuff going on at halftime, and these guys did a really good job of coming together in just hooping and playing ball,” Engel said. “They did a good job of ignoring the distractions and just getting a win tonight.”

WNCC was not looking sharp late in the first half and early in the second half. WNCC head coach Cory Fehringer got two technicals in the second half and McCook’s Juan Costello hit four free throws to give the Indians a 58-47 lead.

WNCC started to ignite after those technicals and Engel said the team came together.

“We did [come together after the technicals]. It is sad to see Coach Cory leave that way, but this team came together for him,” Engel said. “Teddy went crazy and hit a couple shots. We are glad to get that win for Coach Cory.”

Kenny Strawbridge started the rally hitting two treys after the technical to cut the lead to 58-53. McCook kept answering every bucket the Cougars made with ones of their own and led 71-62 at one time. That was when Allen went wild, hitting four straight 3-pointers and then knocking home two free throws with 5:37 to play to bring WNCC to within 83-80.

Allen then hit another trey with 3:50 to play to knot the contest at 87. It was the first tie since Jarred Rosser had a dunk to tie the game at 33-33 late in the first half.

WNCC took the lead 50 seconds later when Strawbridge nailed a trey with 3:05 to play to give the Cougars a 90-87 lead. McCook answered with a trey of their own by Costello. WNCC came back to take the lead for good on a Tayler Johnson 3-pointer and picked up the win as Allen hits a bucket and then converted four free throws for the win.

WNCC had five players in double figures. Allen led all scorers with 37 points with five treys and going 10 of 11 from the free throw line.

Kalen Williams tallied 19 points while dishing out four assists, while Strawbridge had 14 points on four treys. Rosser also tallied 12 points with five rebounds, while Johnson had 10 points.

Both team shot the ball well. WNCC was 57 percent from the field and 55 percent from the 3-point line (12 of 22). McCook was 56 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc (12 of 27).

McCook (7-8)                     46 44 – 90

WNCC (11-6)                      37 62 – 99

WNCC

Jarred Rosser 12, Tayler Johnson 10, Jordan Smith 5, Kalen Williams 19, Kenny Strawbridge 14, Elie Cadet 2, Teddy Allen 37.

MCCOOK

Denzel Cummins 2, Raheim Sullivan 20, Bryton Bissanithe 2, LaTre Darthard 23, Rahkiem Petterson 11, Boaz Quintan 4, Tyrik Singh 12, Justin Costello 16.

No. 7 WNCC women roll past McCook

 The 7^th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team put together four strong quarters to easily capture their 15^th straight victory with a dominating 105-53 win over McCook Community College Tuesday evening at Cougar Palace.

WNCC put three players in double figures while burying 12 treys in rolling to their 17^th win of the season. The win moves the Cougars to 2-0 in the South sub-region.

WNCC will be back in action Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. when the Cougars host Iowa Western Community College.

The Cougars were led by Tishara Morehouse with 28 points followed by R’Manie Pulling with 21 points.

Pulling, who buried three 3-pointers in the contest, said the team was focused from the beginning in getting the win.

“We played really good today,” the sophomore from Denver said. “We just executed and played good defense. We shared the ball.”

WNCC dominance started in the first quarter. WNCC held a slim 7-4 lead and then went on a 18-2 run to lead 25-6 after one quarter.

Pulling said they were ready to play against a McCook team that entered with a 10-3 record.

“Coach Gibney let us know how important it was to be locked in from the beginning so that is what me and my teammates did,” Pulling said. “We came into the game locked in and that is how we set the town.”

Defense played a huge part in the win as well. WNCC won three of the four quarters. The only quarter WNCC didn’t win was the second when McCook outscored them 21-19. Still, WNCC held a commanding 44-27 lead at halftime.

“Our defense was one of the biggest impacts on the game today,” Pulling said.

While WNCC held a 17-point halftime lead, the Cougars quickly put the game out of reach in the third quarter, outscoring the Indians 36-13. The Cougars opened the third on a 9-0 run behind a trey from Morehouse and back-to-back buckets by Pulling and Taylor Joplin. WNCC doubled the score at the end of the third, leading 80-40.

The fourth quarter saw the Cougars outscore McCook 25-13.

WNCC shot 51 percent for the game, including burying 38 percent of its 3-point shots (9-of-24). McCook was 33 percent from the field and just 14 percent from beyond the arc (2-of-14).

WNCC won the rebounding battle 49 to 21. Lidsey Mahoukou led the way with eight boards followed by Morehouse with six and Georgia Berry with five.

Morehouse and Zarrea Coleman each dished out four assists in the contest.

Besides Morehouse and Pulling with double digits, Yuliyana Valcheva finished with 17 points with two treys. Mahoukou finished with eight points while Joplin had seven.

McCook was led by Carla Torrubia Cano with 13 points followed by Makenna Bodette with nine. Gering graduate Kelly Snelling finished the game with two points.

Pulling said this was a big win for her team and they need to keep improving as they get ready for Iowa Western on Saturday as well as building on their No. 7 ranking.

“It means a lot to us because a lot of the teams, from year-to-year, lose a lot of people,” she said. “But the freshmen came in and they are helping us sophomores do what is best. They are helping the sophomores get to where we want to go and being seventh in the country is now amazing.”

McCook (10-4)                   6 21 13 13 – 53

WNCC (17-1)                      25 19 36 25 – 105

WNCC

Tishara Morehouse 28, Yuliyana Valcheva 17, Zarrea Coleman 4, Georgia Berry 6, Desmonea Antwine 5, Dakota Duplessis 4, R’Manie Pulling 21, Maddy Campbell 5, Taylor Joplin 7, Lidsey Mahoukou 8.

MCCOOK

Kelly Snelling 2, Paula Rosello-Mateu 7, Sydney Sandford 2, Niamh Kelshaw 3, Amiya Dartest 2, Jadelyn Whiting 7, Carla Torrubia Cano 13, Nicola Cross 6, Jessika Espinoza 2, MaKenna Bodette 9..