The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team captured a pair of conference wins over the weekend in southern Colorado.
                On Friday, the Cougars overcame a first-quarter deficit and earned a 77-66 win over Trinidad State College. Saturday’s contest against Otero College saw the Cougars bury 15 3-pointers and roll to a commanding 84-45 win over the Rattlers.
                The wins pushed the 24th-ranked Cougars record to 21-5 overall and more importantly to 7-0 in conference play.
                WNCC will be off until Friday when they host McCook Community College in a key conference battle. A win Friday and the Cougars will capture the South Sub-region and host the Region IX tournament which is slated for March 13-15.
                Saturday’s win over Otero saw the Cougars trail just once in the contest and that was at 3-0. After that, WNCC ran off nine straight points behind six points from Adelina Urtane and cruised to the 22-9 first quarter lead.
                WNCC continued staying strong as they pushed the lead to 24 points at 39-15 in the second quarter back-to-back 3-pointers from Urtane and Helena Kuck and then six straight points from Zozefine Sipolina. WNCC ended the half as Katie Vierra hit a triple just as time was expiring for the 47-22 halftime lead.
                The third quarter was a little closer as WNCC outscored Otero 21-17. The Cougars had a 30-point lead at 57-27 and the deficit fell below 30 points a couple times, the closest was 65-39 after a 5-0 run by Otero. WNCC got a late 3-pointer by Sipolina to end the quarter and lead 68-39.
                The fourth quarter saw the Cougars outscore Otero 16-6 and never looked back.
                WNCC shot 42 percent from the field and 44 percent from the 3-point arc, burying 15 3-pointers.
                Sipolina led the way with 28 points including six 3-pointers, Helena Kuck tallied 19 points with six treys. Also hitting for double figures were Urtane with 13 points and Nataly Dunka with 10.
                WNCC dominated the glass, out-rebounding Otero 49-36. Dunka and Lidia Hernandez led the way with eight rebounds each.
                Friday’s game with Trinidad was a battle as the Trojans held a 24-23 lead after the first quarter as they held the Cougars scoreless in the last 1:37.
                The second quarter saw WNCC outscore Trinidad 18-14. Trinidad led by as much as nine points with just over six minutes to play at 36-27. That was when WNCC turned up the heat scoring five straight to cut the deficit to 36-32. WNCC took the lead with 1:16 to play in the half on a Urtane bucket and led 41-38 at the break.
                WNCC fell behind 42-41 in the third before Sipolina hit a triple to put WNCC up 45-42. WNCC never trailed again in the third, leading 59-52 after 30 minutes of play.
                The fourth quarter saw Trinidad tie the game at 61 with 5:39 to play. WNCC retook the lead a minute later on a Urtane bucket and cruised to the 11-point victory.
                WNCC shot 41 percent from the field and buried just six 3-pointers. The Cougars won the game from the charity stripe, making 15-of-22 free throws compared to just six for Trinidad.
                WNCC had four players in double figures, led by Sipolina with 18 points followed by Dunka with 17, Urtane with 13, and Laura Montiel with 13.
 
Saturday’s Game
WNCC                22 25 21 16 – 84
Otero                   9 13 17 9 – 45
WNCC
Lidia Hernandez 2, Helena Kuck 19, Laura Montiel 7, Adelina Urtane 13, Zozefine Sipolina 28, Katie Vierra 5, Nataly Dunka 10.
 
Friday’s Game
WNCC                23 18 18 18 -- 77
Trinidad             24 14 14 14 -- 66
WNCC
Lidia Hernandez 4, Helena Kuck 6, Laura Montiel 13, Adelina Urtane 15, Zozefine Sipolina 18, Carleigh Pszanka 4, Nataly Dunka 17.
 
WNCC men fall twice over the weekend
 
                The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team dropped a pair South Sub-region contests on Friday and Saturday.
                On Friday, WNCC outscored Trinidad State College 50-43 in the second half, but it wasn’t enough as the Trojans captured the 94-89 win.
                Saturday’s contest saw Elijah Hollins score 27 points but Otero College at a 22-10 run in the last seven minutes to capture the 83-72 win.
                That moves the Cougars to 9-15 overall and 4-4 in sub-region play. WNCC will be back in action Tuesday night when they host North Platte Community College at 6:30 p.m. at Cougar Palace in a key sub-region contest.
                In fact, Tuesday’s sub-region games will go a long way in separating teams from the top or making a log jam for the lead. North Platte is 4-3 in the sub-region and 16-7 overall. Other teams that will play Tuesday that will play a factor in the standings is Northeastern Junior College at McCook Community College and then Lamar at Trinidad State.
                Lamar leads the sub-region with a 6-3 mark followed by Trinidad at 5-3. With North Platte just a game and a half out of first, Tuesday’s contest will be pivotal for both squads. A win by WNCC and four teams will have four losses and tied for second. A North Platte win will put North Platte and the winner of the Lamar/Trinidad game with three losses,
                In Saturday’s contest, WNCC was in prime shape to pick up a win. The Cougars trailed 43-27 at halftime. After halftime, WNCC went on a 11-0 run to lead 48-43. The Cougars continued hitting their shots as they went up 53-47 and lager led 57-52.
                Otero came back to take a 61-60 lead. Hollins was then intentionally fouled and hit two free throws for a 62-61 lead with just over seven minutes to play. WNCC led 68-67 on a Kellon Harris field goal with about five minutes to play. After that, the Cougars would score just five points over the next three minutes while Otero would go on a 16-5 run including 11 straight to the 11-point victory.
                Hollins led the way with 27 points with five 3-pointers. Harris and Elijah Burney also had double figures. Burney had 11 points with two 3-pointers while Harris had 10 points.
                Friday’s game with Trinidad was a battle in the first half early as both teams were trading baskets while playing tight defense. Trinidad took an 8-point lead at 22-14 with just under 11 minutes to play in the opening half. The lead ballooned to 12 points a minute later but WNCC got the deficit to four points on two Maker free throws with five minutes to play. WNCC would trail 51-39 at halftime.
                WNCC came out in the second half and went on a 10-0 run with five straight points from Harris and Hollins to make it a 51-49 game.  WNCC trailed 61-58 on a Maker dunk. Trinidad went on a 6-0 run to make the score 67-58. The Cougars 11 straight to take a 69-67 lead with 12 minutes to play. WNCC led 73-69 on a Harris inbounds steal.
                Trinidad scored eight straight for a 77-73 lead. WNCC came back with back-to-back buckets by Harris to tie the game at 77. Trinidad led 91-80 with two minutes to play when WNCC went on a 7-0 run to make it a 91-887 contest, but that was as close as they got.
                Maker led the team with a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds followed by 22 points from Harris with six rebounds. Also getting double figures was Hollins with 16 points and four 3-pointers, while Isaiah St. Preux had 11 and Burney had 10.
 
Friday’s Game
WNCC                                39 50 – 89
Trinidad                             51 43 – 94
WNCC
Kellon Harris 22, Elijah Hollins 16, Mathiang Maker 24, Elijah Burney 10, Reece Randolph 4, Isaiah St. Preux 11, Dorin Nguema 2.
 
Saturday’s Game
WNCC                                37 35 – 72
Otero                                   43 40 – 83
WNCC
Reece Randolph 2, Kellon Harris 10, Isaiah St. Preux 8, Elijah Hollins 27, Mathiang Maker 9, Elijah Burney 11, Dorin Nguema 2, Toms Linis 3
 
WNCC softball team wraps up Texas trip with six games
 
                The Western Nebraska Community College softball team went to Texas to play six games against some top competition. While they went 0-6 on the road trip, they had some competitive contests.
                WNCC opened the trip against the 13th-ranked Trinity Valley Community College. On Friday, the Cougars fell to the Cardinals 9-1 and 8-0. On Saturday, WNCC faced TVCC once again and lost 8-0 and 6-3.
                Then, on Sunday, the Cougars faced 16th-ranked Paris Junior College and dropped a couple competitive games falling in game one 9-2 and then losing a heartbreaker where starting pitcher Kayli Cooper went the distance, striking out seven, before Paris won 3-0.
                Sunday’s contests against Paris were a mixed bag. In the first game, Paris scored once in the first before the Cougars tied the game with a run in the top of the second when Viktoria Sarkanyova and Tori Travers each singled. Travers would later score on a Alyssa Albaugh hit to tie the game.
                Paris came back with two in the second and one in the third to lead 4-1. WNCC added another run in the fifth. Mykah Klumpp singled and scored on a Sierra Hilgner single. Paris added five more runs in the sixth for the 9-2 win.
                WNCC had seven hits in the contest, led by JoLee Huffaker getting two. Tina Horton had the only extra base hit with a double.
                The second game against Paris was a defensive contest by both teams. Paris scored first with a run in the first and later added two in the sixth for the 3-0 lead. Hilgner had the only extra base hit with a double in the first inning. The other hit came from Elli Soper with a single.
                In the 4-game series with Trinity Valley, the Cougars started off game one on Friday hot as they held Trinity Valley scoreless for the first three innings. The Cardinals then added two in the fourth and six in the sixth for the 8-0 win.
                WNCC had just two hits, both singles from Lydia Tibbals and Jenika Fuentes.
                Game 2 on Friday was just one bad inning where Trinity Valley scored nine runs in the third. WNCC got a run back in the fourth when Huffaker singles and then scores on a Horton single.
                Saturday’s games with Trinity Valley started as the Cardinals won the first game 8-0. The second game was much better as it was a battle against the 13th-ranked team. WNCC came out strong in the first inning, scoring three times. It all started when Soper walked followed by Hilgner getting a bunt down and reaching on an error. Later Adi Duke got a single and Hilgner and Duke each scored on a Lydia Tibbals singles. Tibbals also came in to score on an error to make it 3-0.
                Trinity Valley came back with a run in the bottom of the first and then tied the game with two in the fourth. The Cardinals then scored one in the fifth and two in the sixth to get the 6-3 win.
                WNCC had seven hits in the contest, led by Tibbals with two hits and two RBIs.
                WNCC will be back in action with four home dates beginning Saturday when they host Ft Hayes Technical Northwest on Saturday and Sunday followed by home games with Miles Community College on Monday and Tuesday.
                
Sunday’s Games
Game One
WNCC                010 010 0 – 2 7 4
Paris                    121 005 x – 9 11 2
LP – Jenika Fuentes.
2B – Tina Horton
 
Game Two
WNCC                000 000 0 – 0 2 0
Paris                    100 002 x – 3 7 0
LP – Kayli Cooper.
2B – Sierra Hilgner.
 
Saturday’s Games
Game One
WNCC                000 00 – 0 2 3
T. Valley              104 3x – 8 5 0
LP – Jenika Fuentes.
 
Game Two
WNCC                300 000 0 – 3 7 0
T. Valley              100 212 x – 6 10 1
LP – Kayli Cooper.
 
Friday’s game
Game One
WNCC                000 000 – 0 2 3
T. Valley              000 206 – 8 7 0
LP – Kayli Cooper.
 
Game Two
WNCC                000 10 – 1 5 3
T. Valley              009 0x – 9 10 0
LP – Kallie Stocking.
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