LAMAR, Colo. – The 25th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team scored 34 fourth-quarter points in capturing their 17th win of the season with a 93-60 win over Lamar Community College.
                The Cougars moved to 17-5 on the season and are 4-0 in the South Sub-region.
                WNCC will be back in action in back-to-back home dates Monday and Tuesday. The Cougars host Northeastern Junior College on Monday in a sub-region contest with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff with the men’s game to follow. The Cougars will then host Colorado State Club at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
                Saturday win on the road was one where the Cougars struggled early, falling behind 10-2 and trailed 17-12. The Cougars took the lead with an 11-0 run to lead 23-17 and led 27-19 after one period.
                The second quarter was one where both teams had mini runs but WNCC held on to take a 45-36 lead into intermission.
                The third quarter was the same as the second with the Cougars outscoring the Runnin’ Lopes 14-13. Lamar sliced the lead to 49-43, but the Cougars used a 9-0 run that was highlighted by a 3-pointer by Lidia Hernandez for a 58-43 lead and led 59-49 after three.
                The fourth quarter saw WNCC outscore Lamar 34-11 and led 72-51 after three straight triples, two from Helena Kuck and one from Adelina Urtane. WNCC never looked back after that.
                WNCC connected on 10 3-pointers in the contest as Urtane had four and Kuck and Hernandez each had two. WNCC had four players in double figures and two with double-doubles.
                Hernandez and Nataly Dunka each had double-doubles. Hernandez had 17 points with a team-leading 13 rebounds. She also had five assists. Dunka had 16 points with 11 rebounds.
                Urtane and Zozefine Sipolina each led the team with 22 points each. Sipolina was 13-of-14 from the charity stripe. WNCC was 29-of-34 as a team from the stripe. Urtane also pulled down seven rebounds.
 
WNCC (17-5)                 27 18 14 34 – 93
Lamar                                 19 17 13 11 – 60
WNCC
Lidia Hernandez 17, Helena Kuck 9, Laura Montiel 2, Laura Montiel 2, Adelina Urtane 22, Nataly Dunka 16, Katie Vierra 1, Arianna Myers 4, Zozefine Sipolina 22.
 
WNCC men fall to Lamar in a physical contest
 
               LAMAR, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team dropped a South Sub-region contest to Lamar Community College 99-91 in a contest that saw a total of 49 fouls and a Runnin’ Lopes team that was 31-of-41 from the free throw line.
                WNCC was just 16-of-27 from the charity stripe and buried just five 3-pointers.
                Despite the lop-sided free throws, the Cougars stayed tough and battled their way back from a 21-point deficit in the second half to trail 95-91 with a minute to play.
                The loss drops the Cougars to 8-13 overall and to 3-2 in the sub-region and into second place. Lamar moves to 5-2 in the sub-region and sits atop the standings just percentage points ahead of WNCC. Three teams are tied for third at 3-3.
                The Cougars will have little time to rest as they host a key sub-region contest on Monday when Northeastern Junior College comes to Cougar Palace for a women’s and men’s doubleheader beginning at 5:30 p.m. The WNCC and NJC contest was originally slated for February 7 but had to be moved to Monday because of the WTC high school basketball tournament at Cougar Palace over the weekend.
                Saturday’s afternoon contest in Lamar was one where the Cougars battled hard but only led a handful of times in the first half. WNCC led 3-0 to start the game and then led 25-21 on a Elijah Hollins bucket. Later, Withold Czerenkiewicz hits a bucket for a 29-25 lead. It was at that point where Lamar went on a 10-0 run to lead 35-29 and pushed the lead to 44-29. It was the tail-end of that Lamar run where WNCC had a chance to get back in the contest. Isaiah St. Preux was fouled shooting a 3-pointer but made just one of three free throws and the Lamar came back and buried a trey and was fouled on the shot for a 4-point play.
                The Cougars were out-scored 12-7 in the final two minutes of the half to trail 56-39.
                Lamar opened the second half on a 12-3 run to lead 68-42. WNCC made a rally as they went on a 11-2 run to make it 70-53 on back-to-back St. Preux buckets.
                Lamar went up by 16 points, 76-60 and led double-digits at 79-67 with 7:51 to play. That was when WNCC made a huge run as they cut the deficit to five points at 79-74 on a Noah Jones bucket.
                Lamar led by nine at 87-78 when The Cougars went on a 7-0 run to trail by two, 87-85, on two Hollins free throws. Lamar came right back with an 8-2 run to lead 95-87 with 2:30 to play. WNCC got a bucket by Kellon Harris and then two free throws by Hollins to make it 95-91 with a minutes to play. Lamar nailed a four free throws in the final 25 seconds for the win.
                WNCC shot 46 percent from the field while Lamar was 42 percent. The difference was 3-point shooting where Lamar made eight triples to five for WNCC. The other was free throw shooting where Lamar made 15 more charity tosses.
                Mathiang Maker had a double-double to lead the Cougars. Maker had 34 points with 14 rebounds. WNCC also got 13 points from Hollins and St. Preux, while Harris had eight points and eight rebounds.
                Lamar was led by Sean Lindsey with 26 points, including going 13-of-16 from the free throw line, while Christian Payawall had 16 points and 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.
               
WNCC (8-13)                 39 52 – 91
Lamar                                 56 43 – 99
WNCC
Reece Randolph 5, Kellon Harris 8, Elijah Hollins 13, Mathiang Maker 34, Elijah Burney 5, Noah Jones 2, Isaiah St. Preux 13, Dorin Nguema 4, Withold Czerenkiewicz 2, Toms Linis 5.  
 
WNCC softball splits with Cisco on Saturday
 
                CISCO, Texas – The Western Nebraska Community College softball team moved to 2-2 on the season after splitting a doubleheader with Cisco College on Saturday in Texas.
                The Cougars dropped the first game 12-1 but came back with a big seventh inning as Alyssa Albaugh a go-ahead 2-run double to help the Cougars to the 7-6 win.
                The second game was a barn-burner as the two teams stayed with each other from the get-go. After a scoreless first inning, Cisco went up 1-0 with a run in the second.
                WNCC answered with three in the third as Lydia Tibbals led off with a double and scored on an Ellie Soper single to tie the game. WNCC loaded the bases with just one out. Adi Duke came through with a 2-out single that scored Tina Horton and Tori Travers for a 3-1 lead.
                It didn’t last long as Cisco answered with four in the bottom of the frame for a 5-3 lead. WNCC tied the game in the fourth with two runs. Albaugh and Randi Mitchell earned walks and then Albaugh scored on a passed ball. WNCC tied the game at 5-5 as Tibbals scored on a Soper single.
                Cisco went up 6-5 with a run in the fifth. Neither team scored in the sixth, setting up the dramatic seventh. JoLee Huffaker started the rally with a 2-out single. Duke followed by getting a walk. Albaugh then took the second pitch and doubled to rightfield to plate the two go-ahead runs.
                Cisco started the seventh with a lead-off double. WNCC’s defense came up big as Tibbals got the first out on a flyball in foul territory. The second out came as third baseman Travers fielded the ball, held the runner at third, and got the batter at first. The final out as Soper handled the flyball in centerfield with ease to get the win.
                WNCC finished with 10 hits to Cisco’s nine. Huffaker and Soper each had two hits in the win. Duke and Albaugh each had two RBIs.
                Stocking got the complete game win, scattering nine hits and striking out three.
                The opening game was all Cisco as the Wranglers scored four in the first and seven in the third for an 11-0 lead. Cisco led 12-0 going into the fifth. WNCC, in there final at bat, plated one run as Huffaker and Albaugh had singles. Albaugh later advanced to third on a passed ball and the scored on a grounder for the only run of the game.
                WNCC was outhit 7-3. The only hits came from Huffaker, Albaugh, and Travers.
                WNCC, 2-2 on the season, will be back in action this weekend as they face Trinity Valley Community College and Howard College on Friday and Saturday in Athens, Texas, and then taking on Paris Junior College on Sunday. WNCC will then have four straight dates from February 22 through the 25th when they host Fort Hays Tech Northwest and Miles Community College.
Game 1
WNCC                000 01 – 1 3 5
Cisco                   407 1x – 12 7 4
LP – Jenika Fuentes.
Game 2
WNCC                003 200 2 – 7 10 4
Cisco                   014 010 0 – 6 9 3
WP – Kallie Stocking.
2B – Alyssa Albaugh, Lydia Tibbals.