The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team achieved one of its main goals when they won the South Subregion and the right to host the Region IX Tournament, which begins Friday at Cougar Palace.
The goal now for the men’s team is to capture the school’s first Region IX title since 2002 and 2003. But, it won’t be easy road to the championship.
“We are excited to begin the second season because we know we have another chance to show the town our talent and just them exposure to come out and watch us play,” sophomore Brady Mason said. “We have given a lot of effort in the season to have the record that we do, so we are going {while knocking on wood] to take the record a little bit further.”
The Cougars last won the regional crown in 2003 but then later had to forfeit the title. That win was the team’s second straight title as they beat Northeast (Neb.) Community College in the championship in 2002. The quest for the schools’ 13th regional title and first in nearly a dozen years begins Friday when the first round kicks off at 1 p.m.
WNCC, who enters the tournament with a 24-6 record, will battle Northeast (Neb.) Community College at 8 p.m. Earlier first round contests pit Otero Junior College against Gillette College at 1 p.m., the North Subregion top seed Miles Community College against McCook at 3 p.m. and Casper against Trinidad State at 6 p.m.
First-round action continues Saturday with four more contests. The action starts with Sheridan College battling Eastern Wyoming at 1 p.m., Laramie County meeting Western Wyoming at 3 p.m., Northeastern Junior College facing Central Wyoming College at 6 p.m., and Northwest Wyoming facing North Platte at 8 p.m.
This will be the third time the Cougars have faced Northeast this season. The Cougars topped the Hawks 91-55 on Jan. 20 at Norfolk, and the bettered Northeast 85-52 on Feb. 18 at home. Mason realizes that it is hard to beat a team three times.
“We just have to play our game. It is hard to beat a team three times. We have to come out focused an d not think about the two games we beat them before. They are going to come out and play hard, so we also need to play hard and not lose focus.”
Mason said they need to take one game at a time because the team realizes it will not be an easy go, especially playing four games in five nights.
“Tournament play is always hard because you have to play consecutive games,” he said. “It will be tiring, but it is just about staying mentally tough to get through the games, and if we do that we should be able to win this region.”
The Cougars, however, are also limping into the tournament after falling by 19 points to Casper College in their regular season final game 101-82. The Cougars are using that loss, however, as motivation.
“You can always learn from your mistakes,” Mason said. “We had an opportunity to look at film to see what we did wrong and work on those things this week to get better. We are taking that loss as a learning lesson and go from there.”
The key for the Cougars is staying focused. The Cougars have played well in a lot of their games for 35 minutes, but seem to lose focus for minutes of each game. The one game that stands out is the Eastern Wyoming game on Feb. 22 when the Cougars held a 15-point lead with five minutes to go and barely defeated the Lancers 80-77, scoring just three points in the final five minutes.
“It is important to stay focused so we can play to our potential because we do have a lot of talent on the team,” Mason said. “But I have seen it that when we lose focus, that is when we fall apart. Staying focused helps us to play our game and that is what we need to do to win.”
The Cougars are also a perfect 10-0 at home against Region IX teams, something that Mason said is a positive. But, at the same time, it also puts a target on their back.
“[Being undefeated against Region IX opponents gives us confidence that we can play with every one and we have beat everyone we have played so far on our home court,” Mason said. “We are just looking at one game and we will take each game as it comes; win the first and then focus on the second.”
The winner of the regional tournament qualifies for the NJCAA national tournament in Hutchinson, Kan., March 20-24.
Ticket prices for the 5-day tournament are $25 for a 5-day tournament pass, $7 for an adult day pass, $5 for a senior citizen day pass, $4 for students with an ID, and children under six are free. All of the tournament games will be shown on the Internet through Big Time Small Town Media. Video access can also be connected through sports.wncc.net.
Friday’s First Round
Game 1 — Otero vs. Gillette, 1 p.m.
Game 2 — Miles vs. McCook, 3 p.m.
Game 3 — Casper vs. Trinidad, 6 p.m.
Game 4 — WNCC vs. Northeast Neb, 8 p.m.
Saturday’s First Round
Game 5 — Sheridan vs. Eastern Wyo, 1 p.m.
Game 6 — Laramie Co vs. Western Wyo, 3 p.m.
Game 7 — Northeastern vs. Central Wyo, 6 p.m.
Game 8 — Northwest Wyo vs. North Platte, 8 p.m.
Sunday’s Quarterfinals
Game 9 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 5
winner, 1 p.m.
Game 10 — Game 2 winner vs. Game 6
winner, 3 p.m.
Game 11 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 7
winner, 6 p.m.
Game 12 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 8
winner, 8 p.m.
Monday’s Semifinals
Game 13 — Game 9 winner vs. Game
10 winner, 6 p.m.
Game 14 — Game 11 winner vs. Game
12 winner, 8 p.m.
Tuesday’s Championship
Game 15 — Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, 7 p.m.
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