Cougar notes: Big second half propels WNCC men over Southeast

                LINCOLN – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team outscored Southeast Community College 47-41 in the second half to register an 89-84 South Sub-region win over the Bobcats Saturday afternoon in Lincoln.

                The win keeps the Cougars’ dream alive to host a first-round playoff game. WNCC moves to 4-7 in conference play with three conference games left. WNCC is 8-19 overall.

                WNCC will next be in action Wednesday when they host McCook Community College in the final regular season home contest.

                WNCC head coach Roybell Baez said the McCook game is important and his team needs to duplicate what they did Saturday come Wednesday.

                “In order for us to get the win against McCook on Wednesday, we’re going to need to have the same intensity we had tonight (Saturday),” Baez said. “Tonight everyone contributed in some way and we finally played a complete game.”

                The Cougars played well, only giving up a few big Southeast runs, but each time, WNCC had a run of their own to come right back. Baez said they played their best defense late when it mattered the most.

                “The played really well offensively in both halves and good defense from time to time,” he said. “But we played our best defense late and that’s how we were able to win the game.”

                The first half was a toss up between the two teams. WNCC was hot early as they led 19-10 on a Melchi Egbeyemi 3-pointer. Southeast came right back with a 17-2 run to take a 27-21 lead.

                WNCC stayed in the game as they retook the lead at 30-29 on a Amare Jackson old-fashioned 3-point play and led 42-41 late in the half on a Xavier Kirkpatrick 3-pointer. Southeast hit two free throws with 2.9 seconds left in the half for the 43-42 halftime lead.

                The second half saw WNCC take a 54-49 lead on a Noah Jones 3-pointer only to watch Southeast retake the lead 55-54. It was short lived as the Cougars went on a 12-2 run to lead 66-57 on a Jackson old-fashioned 3-point play and back-to-back 3-pointers from Isaiah St. Preux and Kirkpatrick with 12 minutes left.

                Southeast responded with a 10-0 run to retake the lead 67-66 with 8:41 to play. WNCC followed with a 6-0 run to take the lead and then had a big 10-0 run with five minutes left to lead 84-72. That lead soon vanished as Southeast fought back to climb to within two, 86-84 with 1:13 to play. WNCC missed a 3-pointer with about 35 seconds to play and Southeast called a timeout with 30 seconds to play. Southeast put up a shot that was blocked by Noah Jones and Jones got the rebound and was fouled with 14.5 seconds to play. Jones hit both free throws for the 88-84 lead. Southeast had a chance and missed a late three and Jones was fouled and made one free throw to seal the game.

                WNCC shot 42 percent from the field and buried 11 3-pointers. Kirkpatrick had four 3-pointers while Jones and Toms Linis each had two.

                WNCC had four players in double figures, led by Jones and Jackson each with 16, followed by Viktor Lukic-Gavric with 15, and Kirkpatrick with 14.

                WNCC’s final regular season home game on Wednesday will also be sophomore recognition as they recognize seven sophomores with Noah Jones, Kellon Harris, Toms Linis, Dorin Nguema, Isaiah St. Preux, Withold Czerenkiewicz, and Willie Wilson.

WNCC                42 47 – 89

Southeast        43 41 – 84

WNCC

Noah Jones 16, Amare Jackson 16, Viktor Lukic-Gavric 15, Xavier Kirkpatrick 14, Melchi Egbeyemi 9, Toms Linis 8, Isaiah St. Preux 7, Dorin Nguema 4.

SOUTHEAST

Dakarai Davis 21, Marquis Toliver 15, Arthur Videira 13, Chang Deng 7, Trey Griggs 7, Lachlin Curtin 4, Alex McCollum 4.    

Chesta-Carty nails buzzer-beater for win over Southeast

                LINCOLN -- Valentine’s Day showed some love to the Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team in a South Sub-region contest with Southeast Community College on Saturday.

                WNCC never led in the fourth quarter until Ella Chesta-Carty nailed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer giving the Cougar women the exciting 83-80 win over the Bobcats.

                WNCC trailed by four points with 46.1 seconds to play. That was when the Cougars scored four points in 15 seconds off a bucket by Chesta-Carty and then a steal and bucket by Juseana-Rae Delatori to tie the game with 31.4 seconds.

                The Cougars defense stepped up and got a shot clock violation with 1.8 seconds remaining after a replay review setting up the final attempt. WNCC coach Ryan Davis called a timeout to set up a play and to move the ball to halfcourt. Veralyn Aviles inbounded the ball to Chesta-Carty, who took the pass, turned toward the basket, and went up for the 3-point shot that swished through the net for the win, sending the Cougar women and men in a mad celebration.

                Davis said he has watched that play a number of times and his players executed the play perfectly.

                “I’ve watched the play eight or nine times already; we did a great job executing it to get Ella an open look and all five on the court did their part,” he said. “I love that Ella didn’t have any hesitation, she had time for a dribble but if she had she may have lost her shooting window. Great instincts by her.”

                It was a game where Southeast led for much of the contest and one where the team just grinded it out to get the win, trailing by six or seven points at few times in the game.

                “This was a big win for our confidence,” he said. “We needed a grind it out game on the road; it builds character.”

                The first quarter saw each team trade buckets and WNCC led 7-6 early. After that, Southeast would get the lead and led 19-17 after one.

                The second quarter saw Southeast build a 27-21 lead. WNCC scored seven straight to take a 28-27 lead with just over three minutes to play on a Zozefine Sipolina 3-pointer. The lead didn’t last long as Southeast went on an 8-0 run to lead 35-28 lead.

                A big momentum switch game in the last minute of the quarter when the Cougars closed out the half on a 6-0 run that saw Charisma Johnson get a bucket and Celina Donyo get back-to-back buckets as Southeast had just a 35-34 lead at halftime.

                The third quarter saw WNCC get to within one several times, but never the lead. Southeast had a 54-48 lead with over two minutes to play in the quarter. WNCC went on an 8-0 run that included a big old-fashioned play from Brynn Sybrant for a 56-54 lead. Southeast closed out the third on a 5-0 run for a 59-56 lead.

                The fourth quarter saw Southeast lead for all but the final 30 seconds of the quarter. Southeast had an 69-64 lead when WNCC got to within two, 69-67, with 5:53 to play. It stayed close until with under a minute when the Cougars defense and offense won the game.

                WNCC shot 45 percent from the field and made 4-of-10 3-pointers. Sipolina had three triples and Chesta-Carty had the winning 3-pointer.

                The Cougars had three players finish in double figures, led by Chesta-Carty with 23 points. Johnson finished with 18 points followed by Sipolina with 17.

                The win moves the Cougars 18-9 on the season, but more importantly to 8-3 in conference play, just a game behind conference leading Lamar Community College.

                WNCC will be back in action Wednesday for the regular season last home game when they host McCook Community College at 5:30 p.m. Davis said this is a special game in many ways. First, it will be sophomore recognition and the Cougar women have just one sophomore to recognize in Zozefine Sipolina.

                “It is Zo’s sophomore night and she’s had a great career here at WNCC,” Davis said. “When I got the job she was the first player I signed so she’s special to me in that way.”        The other thing is it is a game against McCook, who beat the Cougars in McCook on January 28, 58-56.

                “McCook is a revenge game, we lost to them by two at their place,” Davis said. “It’s a big game because we are sitting in second and a win would keep us right in the hunt for winning the south. We need to be aggressive and play with a chip on our shoulder. Attacking without hesitation is a big key for this team on offense.”

WNCC                17 17 23 27 – 83

Southeast        19 16 24 21 – 80

WNCC

Ella Chesta-Carty 23, Charisma Johnson 18, Zozefine Sipolina 17, Juseana-Rae Delatori 8, Celina Donyo 8, Brynn Sybrant 5, Aniaya Burton-Hernandez 2, Veralyn Aviles 2.

SOUTHEAST

Jada Smith 20, Makayla Lemelle 18, Aleziah Anderson 12, Tatym Dempcy 8, Jasmine McKenzie 8, Kyra Wooden 5, Aleviah Anderson 4, Carys Dawson 3, Jada Jackson 2.