WNCC men fall, Cougar women win in second day of Thanksgiving Classic

The Western Nebraska Community College and Western Wyoming Community College men’s basketball teams saved the best game for last on day two of the Thanksgiving Classic at Cougar Palace.

WNCC, who trailed for 38 minutes of the game, finally took its first lead of the night on a Jamie Eisinger bucket at 81-80. It wasn’t enough, though, as the Cougars fell to the Mustangs 87-83 in a wild and crazy finish.

In other action in the second day of the Thanksgiving Classic, the WNCC women defeated Eastern Wyoming 62-38, the EWC men handed Buckley Air Force a 95-45 loss, and the Pratt Community College women defeated Lamar Community College 90-67. Action continues today with the WNCC men taking on Buckley in a 2 p.m contest.

Tearon Hill, who finished the night with a double-double with 29 points and 11 rebounds, said his team will need to buckle down and rebound today in the final game of the Thanksgiving Classic.

“The loss really came from the first half where we didn’t play as hard as we could. We should have shifted it into second gear,” the freshman from Carrolltown, Texas, said. “We didn’t play defense as hard as we could and we didn’t box out. They were getting a lot of second chance points and we really need to buckle down on defense.

As much as the Cougars were down and out for much of the game – Western Wyoming held leads of 8, 10 and 12 points for much of the game – the Mustangs couldn’t put the Cougars away. Western Wyoming held a 77-68 lead with five minutes to play only to see Hill score seven of the next 11 points, including an old-fashioned 3-point play and a bucket from a bounce pass from Eisinger.

WNCC finally tied the game at 79, only their third tie since the score was knotted at four on Eisinger’s two free throws.

After the Cougars took the lead at 81-80 on Eisinger’s bucket, the Mustangs came right back down the court and nailed a 3-pointer. Drew Eisinger followed with a bucket to tie things again at 83. Jared Quayle, who finished with a game-high 36 points including 12 of 15 from the free throw line, came back with an old-fashioned 3-point play with 1:17 to play to put Western Wyoming up for good at 86-83.

Hill said that his team did fight back, but it was missed opportunities throughout the game that cost the Cougars the contest.

“We had to dig deep [at the end] because it is tough to lose at home, especially since the loss [Friday night],” Hill said. “A lot of the guys had a lot of time to think since yesterday and we decided that we were going to come in today and leave it all on the line.”

As much as it seemed the Cougars were getting beat on the scoreboard, they actually shot better from the field then the Mustangs. WNCC made 44 percent of their shots compared to 41 percent for Western Wyoming. The difference in the game, though, came in the 3-point shooting where Western Wyoming made 10 of 16 treys compared to just 4 of 15 for WNCC.

While the Cougar men fell for the second straight time, the Cougar women picked up their fourth straight win with a 62-48 win over Eastern Wyoming. Still, WNCC coach Dave Harnish feels his team is not playing well offensively.

“Both teams missed a lot of shots and it was another night where we go 8 of 18 from the free throw line and we missed some easy shots inside. It is typical of the year so far,” Harnish said. “We have to overcome all that and learn how to make free throws and the lay ups. I do think we execute well and we are making better strides in decision-making; we just struggle to score.”

As much as the Cougars were struggling scoring, shooting just 39 percent from the field and 44 percent from the charity stripe, it was the Cougars defense that stood tall for another night. WNCC held the Lancers to 33 percent shooting from the field and 20 percent from the 3-point arc. The Cougars also generated 27 turnovers in the contest.

WNCC also forced two 30-second shot clock violations in the first half to help open up a close ball game. At one time, WNCC held a slim 8-7 lead after Eastern Wyoming’s Skye Smith made back-to-back buckets.

After that, WNCC went on a 22-4 run to grab a 30-13 halftime lead. And, it was the defense that generated the run as WNCC forced two shot clock violations and had a number of steals and offensive putbacks for buckets.

“I think the thing we have been decent with was our defense. We have been pretty solid defensively and that is what has held us together and get some wins here,” Harnish said. “But we just have a problem to score in transition, to score in our offense, and to make the shots when we need to. The defense has been solid and that has been the positive thing to come out the first semester.”

EWC coach Tom Andersen said this game is a barometer of where his team needs to be later in the year.

“There defense was obviously better then ours, forcing us into a lot of turnovers and a lot of poor shot selection,” Andersen said. “But defensively we played better tonight the we did [Friday night]. We just gave them a lot of good opportunities and they are a real athletic team and took advantage of those.

“We couldn’t get the offense going tonight and that is basically because of WNCC’s defense. They created a lot of problems for us on offense. We just have to keep getting better. The kids play hard at times. We were our worse enemy today, but you have to give a lot of credit to WNCC, they are a real good defensive team and real athletic. This is a gauge to where we want to get to.”

WNCC was paced by three players in double figures. Emma Beddome led all scorers with 13 points followed by Tawny Drewler and Chelsea Lyles with 10 points each. EWC was led by Jaqi Bell with 10 points.

The EWC men picked up its second win in the Thanksgiving Classic rolling over Buckley Air Force 95-48. In fact, the Lancers held a 61-24 lead at intermission and never looked back as they connected on nine 3-pointers.

The Lancers put five players in double figures. Scotty McRae paced the team with 13 points followed by Casey Robinson and Dane Hill with 12 points, and Edsel Vila and Matt Pritchett with 11 points.

Buckley was led by three players with 12 points in Sancoyus Justice, James Lewis and DeShawn Crawford.

In the other contest in the tournament, Pratt Community College defeated Lamar Community College 90-67. Pratt is coached by former Gering graduate and Nebraska player Brooke Schwartz. The Beavers had two players finish with double-doubles as Chadron graduate Sydney Moore had 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Elizabeth Friesen had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Second Day Box Scores

Lamar women 32 35 – 67

Pratt women 52 38 – 90

LAMAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Kathryn Clouser 7, Kristen Bell 6, Enid Sanchez 2, Christina Belone 6, Donni Smith 9, Sara Beshears 20, Alicia Smith 8, Artra Griffin 4, Alyssa Gordon 5.

PRATT COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Jenna Getz 1, Wyneisha Webb 10, Taryn Dean 7, Kelsey Slater 5, Brittany Pencis 18, Lindsee Bachichs 14, Sasha Crosby 18, Elizabeth Friesen 11, Sydney Moore 13, Ashley Scroggins 9..

Buckley men 24 21 – 45

EWC men 61 34 – 95

BUCKLEY

Sancoyus Justice 12, James Lewis 12, Shaun Williams 2, Joshua Cradoet 2, Reginald Slaton 3, DeShawn Crawford 12, Mike Washington 2.

EASTERN WYOMING COLLEGE

Chris Daniels 5, Paulius Cibulskis 12, Dane Hill 3, Edsel VVila 11, Matt Pritchett 11, Leo Morris 4, Artunas Simanavicius 6, Scotty McRae 13, Jordon Johnson 1, George Williams 8, Caleb Moore 9, Casey Robinson 12.

Eastern Wyoming women 13 25 – 38

Western Nebraska women 30 32 – 62

EASTERN WOMING COLLEGE

Kera Bretney 6, Jessica Martinez 9, Candace Mitchell 2, Sheila Reece 4, Skye Smith 7, Jaqi Bell 10.

WESTERN NEBRASKA C.C.

Cheri Palmer 6, Dana Iverson 2, Emma Beddome 13, SeLina Ysac 4, Michelle Lighthall 2, Alison Cheney 7, Tawny Drexler 10, Jena Colwell 7, Chelsea Lyles 10, Carly Glisan 2.

Western Wyoming men 43 44 – 87

Western Nebraska men 36 47 – 83

WESTERN WYOMING

Trey Stephens 3, Kyle Straatman 2, Mitch Schuler 2, Darin Weeks 10, Courtney Birch 3, Jared Quayle 36, Corey Kaminska 8, Armando Brito 12, Nick Howard 5, Maciej Ustarbowski 6.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Jamie Eisinger 4, Daniel Smith 6, Kelvin Franklin 8, Lloyd Hickinson 2, Drew Eisinger 19, Chris Hamblin 8, Doradji Wilson 7, Tearon Hill 29.