Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball coach Dave Harnish has been to 22 Region IX tournaments in guiding his Cougar women’s basketball team to nine titles. This year, Harnish is hoping to bring home a 10th title.
WNCC will begin that trek on Saturday when they open the Region IX tournament in Casper,Wyo., with a 5 p.m. contest against Central Wyoming College, a team they have defeated twice before. But, Harnish realizes this is a whole new season and records mean very little.
“I have been through this for a lot of years and you have to understand it really doesn’t matter what records are now and what you have done throughout the season,” Harnish said. “We have had a very successful season and I am very proud of what we have done. But, now, everybody is on equal grounds. The season will be over the next time you lose, and I know Central Wyoming has the same philosophy. Teams don’t go to the regional tournament without aspirations to win it. Central Wyoming has the same type of mentality. They are going to play hard and they are going to get after it. If we don’t have that desire to play like it is life or death, then we are going to struggle.”
The Cougars enter the tournament with a No. 19 national ranking and a 26-4 mark – second best in Region IX. Northeastern Junior College boasts a better record at 26-2 and a No. 17 national ranking. The Cougars topped Central Wyoming twice this season, 73-51 on the road and 72-48 just a couple weeks ago at Cougar Palace.
Still, Harnish said they can’t take anyone lightly.
“You have to be careful with any team. If you go into the regional tournament with the attitude that you are a one seed playing a four seed and it is not as important, that is when you are going to get beat. I think the first two rounds are always the toughest because you are playing teams that you should beat, and the mentality has to be that you have to go in and take care of business. As you get into the semifinals and finals, you are playing teams that are equivalent to your record and teams that are playing well. So, the first two rounds is always the toughest because it is how you go into it mentally. Just because we a one seed and they are a four seed, we still need to go in and play our tails off each day.”
The Cougar women’s side of the bracket is not a walk in the park. The Cougars have North No. 1 seed Sheridan College along with a potential match-up with Northeastern Colorado or Casper College in the semifinals. Those two schools, however, could battle in the quarterfinals on Monday.
“Brackets are what they are. You can’t control the pairings,” Harnish said. “We won our sub-region and that was our first goal. Where other teams fall, is where they fall. Any regional tournament, once you get past the first couple of days, all the teams have won a couple of games and are playing well. It doesn’t matter what the seedings are or who you are playing; the teams playing good at this time of year will be good regardless of records.”
Saturday’s first round games will pit Sheridan College against Trinidad State at 1 p.m., Otero Junior College against Little Big Horn College at 3 p.m., WNCC against Central Wyoming at 5 p.m., and Casper College against Friday’s Eastern Wyoming College and Dawson Community College winner at 7 p.m.
Saturday’s first round games will pit Sheridan College against Trinidad State at 1 p.m., Otero Junior College against Little Big Horn College at 3 p.m., WNCC against Central Wyoming at 5 p.m., and Casper College against Friday’s Eastern Wyoming College and Dawson Community College winner at 7 p.m.
Sunday’s first-round contests include Western Wyoming facing Northeast (Nebraska) Community College at 1 p.m., McCook against Gillette College at 3 p.m., Miles Community College taking on Lamar Community College at 5 p.m. and Northeastern Junior College facing Northwest Wyoming at 7 p.m.
Harnish said for his team to come away with a 10th Region IX title, they need to play strong defense considering they will be undermanned. WNCC lost Leona Garrett for the season with a knee injury. Garrett underwent surgery this week. Starting point guard Samantha Sanders has also been sidelined with an ankle injury and about 60 percent.
“We are playing kids that aren’t used to starting or been playing a lot of minutes,” he said. “We have been able to get through games and compete, but to win four out of five days will be tough. I think we have played well without both of them, but hopefully we can stay out of foul trouble and keep the core of kids healthy and on the floor. We have changed how we have to play. We have been pressing a lot more this season, but when you lose Leona and Sam, you are losing bodies and I don’t know if we will be able to press much. We might have to be a half court team and stay out of foul trouble. “
The Cougars are led by three players that are averaging double digits in scoring. Thais Pinto, a 6-foot-7 post player is averaging 10.8 points a game as well as pulling down 5.8 rebounds a game. Kyra Peterson, a freshman, has picked up her scoring as of late in averaging 10.1 points and sophomore Carolina Alves is averaging 10 points a game.
The team also has received valuable minutes from starting guard Shelby Campbell, a Hemingford graduate. Campbell is averaging seven points, three assists, and four rebounds a game.
Harnish said, however, his team needs to shoot the ball better then they have all season to come away with title. The Cougars are only shooting 44 percent from the field and just 32 percent from beyond the arc. Worse yet is the team’s free throw shooting as they are hitting on just 59 percent of their charity-stripe shots.
“We haven’t shot the ball well all year and the one thing we have stressed this week in practice is getting back and being more sound defensively,” he said. “One thing I thought we did well first semester, and we are not consistent with this semester, is playing defense. First semester I think we gave up 48 to 60 points a game and this semester we are giving up 60 points a game, a 10 to 12 point difference. We are just not solid enough defensively and that is what we worked on in practice.
“That, playing defense and rebounding, is what is going to win it for us. It will not be our shooting. We can get by, but we definitely have to defend and rebound the ball better then we have this last month.”
WNCC started the season with 17 straight wins before suffering its first setback with a 73-67 overtime loss to Casper. Since that loss, the Cougar women have dropped three more games, including a 52-50 sub-region loss to Northeast Nebraska in which they shot a season low 18 percent in the first half. They also fell to NJC in their regular season final 69-67 in a game that they let a lead slip away.
Harnish still believes that this team can put everything together and win the regional title and a berth in the NJCAA national tournament March 15-19 in Salina, Kan.
“I think every year we have a chance to win a regional championship and certainly this team can do that,” he said. “We will just have to be a little bit smarter and defend better. We are going to have to stay out of foul trouble and stay consistent in scoring and then I think we will have a good shot.”
Saturday’s Games
1 p.m. – Sheridan vs. Trinidad State
3 p.m. – Otero vs. Little Big Horn
5 p.m. – WNCC vs. Central Wyoming
7 p.m. – Casper vs. Dawson/EWC winner
Sunday’s Games
1 p.m. – Western Wyoming vs. Northeast Nebraska
3 p.m. – McCook vs. Gillette
5 p.m. – Miles C.C. vs. Lamar
7 p.m. – Northeastern Colorado vs. Northwest Wyoming
Monday’s Games
1 p.m. – Sheridan/Trinidad winner vs. Western Wyo./NE Nebraska winner
3 p.m. – Otero/Little Big Horn winner vs. McCook/Gillette winner
5 p.m. – WNCC/Central Wyoming winner vs. Miles/Lamar winner
7 p.m. – Casper/Dawson/EWC winner vs. NE Colorado/NW Wyoming winner
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