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The
Cougars will hit the court at 9 a.m. at the Salina Bicentennial Arena for the
NJCAA Division I national basketball tournament against ASA College in the
single elimination tournament. WNCC will be making their 10th trip
to the national tournament and first since 2008. ASA College, who started
athletics in 2008, will be making its first trip to nationals.
The two teams are very similar
in talent even though on paper the records don’t show it. WNCC comes in with an
official 20-14 record but not if you take away the 13 forfeits, they are 33-1.
ASA College enters with a 24-3 record.
As
much as the two teams are equal, the Cougar women have never lost sight of
winning a regional crown and earning a trip to natinals despite the
first-semester forfeitures and the injuries they have gone through. It is that
dedication that WNCC coach Dave Harnish praises his team about.
“The
whole story of the year was how this is a special group. I told them in the
first meeting of the year that we were going to win a Region IX championship
this year. That was our goal from the very first day,” Harnish, who is in his
25th year at WNCC, said at the sendoff on Friday. “It has been a
long process and this is one of the best groups I have had on and off the
court. We definitely have put a lot of work into it. We put a lot of time in
the weight room and they maximized everything they did. It is hard to win 33
games and keep that consistency. It takes 15 players, it takes the motivation
to get better and this group did this. This is the most resilient group that I
have had.
“We
forgot about that adversity that we had first semester. People kept bringing it
up and these girls could have easily quit or see the record differently. They
went through all that and they kept competing and playing and made all the hard
work pay off. The championship was certainly not given to us.”
That
is why this team is entering the national tournament with plenty of heart. The
players are excited to make the trip and want to keep showing not only the
Wyo-Braska community but the nation what they have.
Torrington’s
Mikayla Brower, who has started at guard the entire second semester, said the
plan is to play hard and with hopes of winning several games at nationals.
“We
are really excited for nationals especially after winning regionals and showing
people what we can do after what we dealt with at the beginning of the season,”
she said. “We just go and compete and we sure are hoping to do well. That is
the plan at least.”
To
accomplish that, however, the Cougars just need to worry about their game.
“We
have to do all the little things right for us to be successful,” Bridgeport’s
Ashley Stevens said. “We have to play good defense and that is what helped us
to win the regional tournament. We have to box out and make sure we know where
our man is at all times.”
As
much as anything, this team is not just satisfied with a regional title. After
the Cougars beat Gillette 62-54 on March 7 for the regional championship, there
wasn’t a whole lot of celebrating by the team. Shalisa Moffit, freshman guard
from Colorado Springs, Colo., said it felt good to win, especially after what
they team went through first semester. Moffit said they easily could have quit
but didn’t.
“It
was super exciting to win,” she said.
“Like coach said, after the whole thing with Jess happened, we could
have quit and not play our best. But we stuck through it and it felt really
good that we could win.”
There
were several factors to the team earning a berth in the national tournament
from hard-nosed defensive play to precision 3point shooting, but more
importantly, it was a bond on the team that featured no one star, but different
ones that stepped up on offensive and defense.
“We
just need to do what we have been doing all season,” Moffit said. “Our defense
is the one big thing that wins games. We are intense and we work harder than
any other team, so hopefully that will show at nationals and we will win.”
The
Cougars defense has been key all season. WNCC is giving up just 43.5 points a
game while scoring 76.1. ASA isn’t far behind, giving up just 53.9 points and
scoring at a clip of 71.3. The difference between two teams lies with 3-point
shooting. WNCC is making 38 percent of their 3-point shots compared to the
Avengers 28.3 percent.
Brower,
who is leading the nation in 3-point shooting at 54.3 percent, said the Cougars’
depth at shooting has been key.
“Having
all the shooters that we have is key because if someone is guarded tightly,
then it will open up someone else game to shot,” Brower said. “If someone else
is on, you always have another person to go to. it is nice knowing you have
multiple people that could be on in a game.”
Brower
and Moffit, who are the team’s leading 3-point shooters, said they have worked
hard to improve their shooting.
“it
is just the extra time we put in the gym at night,” Brower said. “We just come
in and take it upon ourselves to shoot by ourselves and get that extra practice
in.”
And,
Moffit said, it isn’t just the guards that can shoot as Stevens and Jessica
Aratani who play the forward and post position can step out and shoot the long
ball.
“That
is what we are known for as the shooting team,” she said. “Everybody can shoot
including Ashley and Jessica. That is a big advantage that that the whole team
can shoot. “
WNCC
will however see stiff competition at nationals. ASA, the Cougars opening
opponent has a tall team with three players above six –foot.
The
Avengers are led by 6-foot-1 Sashana Bucknor who is averaging a double-double
of 11.7 rebounds and 12.8 points a game. Bucknor is also making 4o percent of
her 3-point shots.
ASA
also has four other players that are averaging near or over double figures.
Tiffany Jones, a 6-3 center, is averaging 11.8 points a game followed by 5-6
Shaquita smith at 11.3. they also have 5-6 Kelcey Castro averaging 8.9 points a
game and 6-9 Jade Wharton at 8.7 points a game.
The
Avengers have won their last 14 games, including dropping Monroe Community
College 49-33 in the regional championship game. They then earned a spot at
nationals with a 66-54 win over Harford in the district playoffs.
ASA
only losses came first semester, where they lost to the Army junior varsity
55-52. They then fell on back-to-back nights on Dec. 28 and 29 to Darton
College 77-63 and then to Chattahoochee technical 75-66.
The
Cougars come in with the same type of depth, with five players averaging eight
points or more. Gritt Ryder, the sophomore transfer from the University of
Alaska Anchorage, leads the way averaging 13.7 points and 5.6 rebounds a game.
Stevens is right behind averaging 8.5 points and 7 rebounds a game.
The
Cougars also have Morrill graduate Aratani averaging 8.4 points and 4.9
rebounds, Brower had eight points a game, and Moffit at 8.3 points. Laurin
Rivera and Kelsey Doddridge are also capable of popping in double-figure scores
on any night, averaging 6.3 points a game.
The
Cougars only defeat was to McCook in late February. That loss might have
refocused the team as they enter nationals on a six game winning streak.
At
nationals, if the Cougars win their first game, they will face No. 3 seed Hutchinson
Community College on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
The tournament this year is a single elimination with no consolation bracket.
Stevens thinks they are ready to play.
“I
think we are ready to go and play,” she said. “ We hope to represent
Scottsbluff well We want to play well so we can show the nation what our little
college is like.”
Team comparison
WNCC Stat ASA
20-14 Record 24-3
14th Seed 19th
76.1 Pts For 71.3
43.5 Pts Ag. 53.9
46.1 FG% 37.4
38.0 3FG% 28.3
66.2 Ft% 62.5
40.1 Reb. 52.2
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