Monday, January 13, 2014

WNCC men, women host NJC Tuesday, Jan. 14



               There is a lot on the line when the Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s basketball teams host Northeastern Junior College in key sub-region games today.
               The Cougar men, who are averaging 90.2 points a game and have hit the century mark for the fourth time in five games, will entertain another ranked team. The Plainsmen are ranked 23rd in last week’s poll.
               Action tips off at 5:30 with the women’s contest with the men’s contest to follow.
               The Plainsmen enter with a 14-2 record. The two squads have identical 3-2 sub-region marks.
               WNCC coach Russ Beck said this will be a classic WNCC and NJC showdown with the potential of plenty of points scored.
               “I imagine it will be a high scoring game,” WNCC coach Russ Beck said. “he style of play of both teams is very up tempo and it will come down to whoever plays better defensively, gets more stops, and rebounds the ball.“
               NJC, after starting the season 12-0, dropped two of their last four. The Plainsmen fell to Otero 83-78 and North Platte 69-60, while defeating McCook 103-93 and then on Saturday, dropping Lamar 86-76.
               The Cougars are 3-2 in the sub-region with wins over Otero, Trinidad and McCook, while suffering losses to Laramie County and North Platte. Both teams are looking to stay among the top teams in the region with still hopes of capturing the sub-region title and hosting the regional tournament.
               “Both teams are right there in the mix [of the conference race],” Beck said. “Coach Trenkle always does a good job and he has a lot of sophomores on his team this year. They try to put up a lot of points and get after it defensively. It will be a classic NJC and Western Nebraska battle.”
               The Cougars have been playing well lately. WNCC is 5-2 since December and Beck believes his team should be ready for tomorrow’s big game.
               “I think our guys are really focused and looking forward to the game,” he said. “The two teams are very familiar with each other because we played in a lot of the same classics and we went down to their jamboree. We just need to come out focused. We sure have done a lot of growing up as a team. We still have a ways to go, but I like the direction we are heading in and the personnel.”
               WNCC is coming off an impressive win over McCook on Saturday, where three players finished with double-doubles and three players scored 25 or more points. Youssoupha Kane and Brandon Morley led the way with double-doubles in points and rebounding. Kane had 25 points and 19 rebounds, while Morley had 26 points and 16 boards. Tyler Crosbie also chipped in a double-double of 17 points and 10 assists.
               Joel Einfeldt was one of the hot hands on the night, finishing with 26 points, including five 3-pointers and going 9 of 9 from the free throw line.
               Beck said his team just needs to play well. At this point in the season, every game is crucial.
               “I just think every game at this point every game is a big game for us,” he said. “It doesn’t matter they are one of the top teams in the sub-region or they lost a few games, every game needs to be a big game mentality for us. “
               The women’s game should also be interesting as both NJC and WNCC need to keep pace in the sub-region standings. Lamar leads the conference with a 2-0 mark. After that, four teams have just one loss in sub-region play, including the Cougars. NJC is right behind with a 1-2 mark.
               NJC’s last game out was on Saturday where Lamar topped the Plainswomen 102-93. WNCC also won its last sub-region game, topping McCook on Saturday 77-47 with a stellar defensive effort.
               The Cougar women have one of the best records in the region at 14-3 followed by Western Wyoming at 16-4 and Dawson at 11-4.
               After Tuesday’s contest, the Cougar men and women will travel to Lamar Community College on Saturday. The Lamar women are leading the sub-region standings, where they have scored 100 points in four of their wins, including hitting the century mark their last two times out. Lamar defeated Colby 114-97 in the win on Jan. 8. WNCC also beat Colby twice, 68-45 and 86-29.

Men’s Region IX Standings
South Subregion
Team                                                      Conf.                      Overall
North Platte                                         6-0                          14-0
McCook                                                 4-2                          12-5
Laramie County                                   4-2                          13-6
WNCC                                                    3-2                          11-7
NE Colorado                                         3-2                          14-2
Otero                                                     3-3                          13-5
Trinidad                                                 1-4                          8-9
EWC                                                       0-5                          8-8
Lamar                                                    0-4                          3-14
North Subregion
Gillette                                                   5-0                          16-2
Sheridan                                                4-1                          16-3
Casper                                                   4-1                          11-6
Central Wyoming                                3-2                          9-8
Miles                                                      2-3                          9-9
Little Big Horn                                      1-3                          9-9
Western Wyoming                              1-4                          7-11
Northwest Wyoming                          1-4                          11-7
Dawson                                                 1-4                          8-9

Women’s Region IX Standings
South Subregion
Lamar                                                    2-0                          7-7
Otero                                                     3-1                          10-6
Trinidad                                                 2-1                          10-6
WNCC                                                    2-1                          14-3
EWC                                                       2-1                          9-7
NE Colorado                                         1-2                          7-8
McCook                                                 0-6                          2-16
North Subregion
Western Wyoming                              4-1                          15-4
Northwest Wyoming                          4-1                          13-6
Gillette                                                   4-1                          12-6
Dawson                                                 3-2                          11-4
Sheridan                                                2-3                          12-7
Casper                                                   2-3                          10-7
Miles                                                      2-3                          11-7
Central Wyoming                                1-4                          7-9
Little Big Horn                                      0-4                          7-10

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