SCOTTSBLUFF - Veralyn Aviles scored a season-high 22 points and the Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball had a big first quarter in registering the 82-72 win over Northeastern Junior College Saturday afternoon at Cougar Palace.

WNCC, 11-6 over and 1-0 in conference, had to battle against a NJC team that head coach Ryan Davis said is better than their 4-12 record.

Aviles, who connected on 14 free throws on the night, said it was a big win in coming back from the loss to Gillette on Wednesday.

“It’s definitely a big win. I mean, it’s our first conference game and its our home so it definitely got us a good feeling in starting off with a conference win,” the freshman from Brooklyn New York, said.

Aviles said the key to the win was the first quarter start where they scored 27 points and only trailed three times by two or less points. Aviles said they came into the game with the right mindset.

“We prepared really hard the two days before in practice,” she said. “We told ourselves, you know, we got to mentally go into this game because we don’t have as much players and just be prepared. So, our preparation definitely helped us stay in this game and play hard and stay defined. We all contributed. We all played a good game and we definitely stood together and talked a lot on the court and that definitely helped us take the W.”

Another big key in the win was shooting. In the team’s loss to Gillette on January 7, the Cougars made just one 3-pointer. Saturday was a different story as the Cougars buried nine 3-pointers and shot 38 percent from the arc. Zozefine Sipolina had two triples, while Aviles, Juseana-Rae Delatori, and Ella Chesta-Carty each had two 3-pointers.

“We were just talking about it after the game ended and we knocked down a lot of threes and our percentage was really high and a big part of that was our defense,” Aviles said. “We were able to defend the board and get into transition. Playing good defense definitely had the momentum to make the threes. The other game (Gillette), we didn’t play our best defense. They were killing us in transition. So, definitely being able to bounce back from that felt really good.”

WNCC did bounce back with a strong shooting effort and playing some tough defense. The key was that first quarter between two teams that matched up equally in talent and it showed. The first quarter three lead changes and two ties with neither team getting more than a five-point lead.

WNCC jumped to a 12-7 lead early only to see NJC come back to grab a 14-12 lead. WNCC responded on a bucket by Charisma Johnson and a triple from Aviles for a 17-14 lead. The Cougar women closed out the first as Aviles hit a 3-pointer as time was about to expire for a 27-19 lead.

The second quarter was back and forth with NJC making it a 32-31 game on a 7-0 run. WNCC responded as Chesta-Carty buried a 3-pointer and Aniaya Burton-Hernandez hit two field goals for a 39-31 lead. WNCC went on to lead 46-38 at halftime.

The second half saw the two teams exchange buckets. The third period had WNCC out-scoring the Plainswomen 19-15 as they held a 12-point lead after the quarter at 65-53.

The fourth quarter saw NJC slice the Cougars’ lead to just six points at 73-67. WNCC responded with a strong defensive effort in the final four minutes, holding NJC to just five points while hitting clutch free throws to get the win

WNCC shot 40 percent from the field and made 23-of-34 free throws. NJC was 43 percent from the field and were just 9-of-15 from the charity stripe.

WNCC had four players in double figures. Aviles led the way with 22 points followed by Chesta-Carty with 17, Sipolina with 13, and Johnson with 10.

NJC had a pair of players with 22 points each in Madison Sepeda and Daniela Garcia-Gasco.

WNCC will have a couple days to rest up and heal after the very physical win over NJC when they host Lamar Community College in another conference game on Wednesday beginning at 5:30 p.m. WNCC will then have a home conference game Saturday afternoon when Southeast Community College comes to Cougar Palace for a 1 p.m. start.

“Just again making sure we prepare like talking a lot during practice and definitely competing a lot in practice because, you know, practices should be harder than games,” she said. “So, once you prepare well and you get your body ready for that game, you ‘re going to be good going into the next one.

NJC (4-12) 19 19 15 19 – 72
WNCC (11-6) 27 19 19 17 – 82

NJC
Madison Sepeda 22, Daniela Garcia Gasco 22, Monique Sena 12, Yaly Ben Hersuh 8, Riley Phelps 7, Jiselle Sales 1.

WNCC
Verlyn Aviles 22, Ella Chesta-Carty 17, Zozefine Sipolina 13, Charisma Johnson 10, Aniaya Burton-Hernandez 8, Juseana-Rae Delatori 8, Celina Donyo 4.

WNCC men suffer home loss to NJC in final seconds

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. - The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team played one of their best first-halves this season in allowing just 28 points to Northeastern Junior College Saturday in their conference-opening contest.

The second half was a different story as NJC hit one free throw with 3.9 seconds remaining to claim the South Sub-Region 68-67 win over the Cougars.

WNCC will have little time to worry about that defeat as they host Dawson Community College Monday evening at 6 p.m. before entertaining Lamar Community College Wednesday night in conference action.

WNCC head coach Roybell Baez said Saturday’s encounter was a typical WNCC and NJC rivalry game with both teams playing hard.

“It is a rivalry game against a good opponent and a really well-coached team,” Baez said. “NJC and WNCC have been around for a long time and, you know, it really came down to who had the ball last. We just ended up coming up short. I told the guys at halftime let’s not give the game away. We were up five at halftime and I’d be lying to you if I said we didn’t give the game away.”

The Cougars first half was one where the team needs to be proud as it was the first time all year a team scored less than 30 points in a quarter in the opening half. The previous low was back on November 25 when Eastern Wyoming College was just held to 30 points.

But, just like the EWC game, the opponent came back with at least 40 points in the second half. NJC outscored WNCC 40-34 in the second 20 minutes.

The first half, though, saw WNCC open with a 10-0 run and led 12-3 early. NJC did come within a single point early on at 16-15 and then 20-19. WNCC withstood the challenge and went on a 7-2 run to lead 27-21. WNCC led at halftime 33-28.

Tom Linis opened the second half with a triple and WNCC later went on a 6-0 run to lead 42-32. WNCC had a 45-34 lead on a Kellon Harris 3-pointer. That was when things turned as NJC went on a 10-0 run to get back to a single point, 45-44, and tied the game at 47-47.

The Cougars responded and scored the next six points for a 53-47 lead. NJC followed with a 14-2 run that saw the Plainsmen take their first lead of the night at 56-55 on a Jakobe Jones triple. NJC led 61-55 before the Cougars retook the lead with 2:05 to play on an Isaiah St. Preux 3-pointer.

NJC came back and led 66-62 with 1:21 to play. WNCC tied the game at 67-67 with 14 seconds to play on a Harris dunk. NJC came down the court and was playing for the last shot to possibly win the game. What happened is a foul was called as Quis Davis was in the paint with 3.9 seconds to play. Davis missed the front end, but made the second one for the one-point lead.

WNCC had 3.9 seconds to try to win the game but a beyond halfcourt shot was off the mark and the Plainsmen left Cougar Palace with the win.

WNCC shot 36 percent from the field and made 9-of-28 3-pointers. NJC shot 44 percent and were 4-of-21 from the 3-point arc. The difference in the game was free throw shooting where NJC was 24-of-38 while WNCC was 18-of-24.

The Cougars had three in double figures. Harris led the way with 17 points followed by 14 from St. Preux and 13 from Viktor Lukic-Gavric.

Baez said this loss hurts, but he is confident in his team to bounce back Monday against Dawson and then Wednesday and Saturday against Lamar and Southeast Community College.

“It will be a quick turnaround. We play Dawson on Monday and not time to feel sorry for ourselves,” he said. “It has been a rough season from injuries you know and other things going on and one thing that I’ve learned is that anytime you start feeling sorry for yourself, that’s when you get beat again. So, no time to feel sorry for ourselves. Back to the drawing boards and gotta be ready to go on Monday.”

NJC 28 40 – 68
WNCC 33 34 – 67

NJC
Quis Davis 20, Ethan Carter 15, Jakobe Jones 13, Alan Acevedo Dagda 5, Dodge Davis 4, Xavier Shufford 4, Colby Homer 3, Ethan Thyne 2, Chase Manzani 2.

WNCC
Kellon Harris 17, Isaiah St. Preux 14, Viktor Lukic-Gavric 13, Noah Jones 8, Toms Linis 8, Melchi Egbeyemi 4, Dorin Nguema 2, Xavier Kirkpatrick 1.