Softball team goes to 0-4 on the season

The Las Vegas trip is taking a toll on the Western Nebraska Community Cougar softball team.

The No. 10 Cougars lost three times on Friday and then dropped another heart-breaker Saturday morning, falling 2-1 to Snow College.

On Friday, the team lost 2-0 to No. 13 College of Southern Nevada, No. 20 Salt Lake Community College 9-1, and then 11-7 to North Idaho College.

The Cougars, 0-4, will have two more games Sunday as they face Palomar College and No. 5 Yavapai College to finish out the tournament.

Cougar softball team falls three times in Las Vegas Tourney

The No. 10 Western Nebraska Community College softball team dropped three games in the first day of the Las Vegas tournament.

The Cougars opened with a heartbreaking 2-0 loss to No. 13 College of southern Nevada. They then fell to N0. 20 Salt Lake Community College 9-1, before finishing the first day with an 11-7 loss to North Idaho College.

WNCC will face Snow College Saturday at 10 a.m., before wrapping up the tournament on Sunday against No. 5 Yavapai College and Palomer College.

WNCC women topple Lamar women, Cougar men see 7-game win streak snapped

The Western Nebraska Community College women’ s offense was clicking as three players each scored 18 points in lifting the Cougar women to an 87-55 win over Lamar Community College and snapping a 2-game losing skid.

The Cougar men were on the opposite end, suffering through 39 percent shooting and watching a 7-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the Runnin’ Lopes 59-57 behind 21 points from P.J. Reyes.

The women’s contest, unlike the men’s contest, featured plenty of offense after two straight contests where the Cougars scored a combined 83 points – 50 against Northeastern Junior College and 33 against Northeast Nebraska in losses.

Friday night, Amber Kistler, Stormye Everett and Shaquilah Davis each collected 18 points and Tawny Drexler poured in 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting from the free throw line to give the Cougar women their 16^th win of the season.

“We finished a lot more of our shots and eliminated more of our turnovers so we could run our offense and make shots. That is what made us better on offense then NJC [on Wedneday],” Everett said. “It helps a lot when you have more players score in double digits so they [the other team] won’t be focused more on one player.”

The win against Lamar is something the Cougars definitely needed and they controlled the tempo from the get-go, both offensively and defensively. Lamar’s Sarah Beshears scored the opening bucket of the contest and then the Cougars took over.

The Cougars went on a 14-0 run over the next eight minutes to take a 14-2 lead. Everett was the workhorse, scoring eighth straight points. WNCC kept hammering away as Kistler nailed a 3-pointer to put the Cougars up 35-21. A few minutes later, Drexler had an old-fashioned play before Lorena Medeiros nailed an NBA-range 3-pointer at the buzzer to give WNCC a 41-26 halftime lead.

WNCC kept the Runnin’ Lopes at bay in the second half, going up 49-28 after three Drexler points. Later, the Cougars led 69-40 as SeLina Ysac picked the pockets of a Lamar player and found Kistler for the bucket.

Caley Fisher also came up big in the second half, scoring eight points, including two huge 3-pointers; the second pushing the score to 72-45 and the Cougars never looked back.

The big key in the game was turnovers, where the Cougars managed just 10 miscues to Lamar’s 22. WNCC had 16 steals, led by Davis and Everett with five each.

In the men’s contest, WNCC saw their 7-game winning streak snapped, but it wasn’t without a fight. WNCC coach Brian Joyce, who no-doubtedly was dejected, said they had a change to win just falling short.

“We have made a lot of progress because we have grown as a team and we got through the tough times just by staying together and I think tonight, for whatever reason, when we had a little big of adversity, we started to do some things on our own,” WNCC men’s coach Brian Joyce said. “That is uncharacteristic of this team the second half. It is a growing opportunity. We have young guys.”

As bad as the Cougar men were shooting, they stayed in the game until the final ticks. With about five minutes left in the game, Lamar built a 55-46 lead, only to watch the Cougars claw themselves back into the contest.

Scott Bamforth started things with a offensive putback followed by a Francisco Cruz 3-pointer to slice the lead to 55-51. After two free throws by Lamar, Daniel Smith had an old-fashioned 3-point play to cut the lead to 57-54 with 2:11 to play.

Neither team scored again until there was 15.7 seconds left on the clock when Ogo Adegboye hit two free throws to put Lamar up 59-54. Cruz came back and nailed an off-balanced trey with 5.4 seconds to play.

WNCC immediately fouled and Lamar’s Antowaine Snead missed two free throws, but the Cougars couldn’t get the rebound and Lamar ran out the clock in giving the Cougars their fifth defeat on the season.

“We did a really good job to fight back and put us in a position to win,” Joyce said. “I thought if we had a chance at the end, we would make a play to send it into overtime or win the game. Unfortunately, sometimes you get ahead of yourself thinking about the play instead of getting the ball and I think that was a mental lapse on our part.

“Give Lamar a lot of credit. They [Lamar] did a really good job. We had a great crowd tonight and they were very supportive. Lamar came in here and did a really good job and they deserved to win.”

WNCC had three players in double figures, led by Cruz with 16 points including four 3-pointers. Bamforth finished with 13 points and Chris Hamblin collected 11 points.

The Cougar men will next be in action Tuesday when they host North Platte Community College in a big sub-region contest beginning at 7:30 p.m. The women, on the other hand, will travel to Eastern Wyoming College on Tuesday for a contest against the Lancers at 6 p.m.

Women’s Game
Lamar 26 29 – 55
WNCC women 41 46 – 87
LAMAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Kathryn Clouser 11, Eli Cosme-Gonzalez 2, Jami Cagle 11, Krystina George 12, Camille Rand 5, Ruchelle McCracken 5.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 18, Lorena Medeiros 3, SeLina Ysac 2, Shaquilah Davis 18, Stormye Everett 18, Janae Willis 1, Tawny Drexler 17, Caley Fisher 8, Juliana Bassetto 2.

Men’s Game
Lamar 30 29 – 59
WNCC men 27 30 – 57
LAMAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Ogo Adegboye 17, Scott Day 9, David Mecanovic 4, Jamal Edwards 2, PJ Reyes 21, Antwoine Snead 6.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Tarell Clark 7, Daniel Smith 4, Chris Hamblin 11, Scott Bamforth 13, Francisco Cruz 16, Sedrick McBounds 2, Larry Brown 4.

WNCC softball team opens season ranked No. 10 in preseason, season opener this weekend in Las Vegas

There are plenty of questions to be answered for this year’s Western Nebraska Community College softball team as they prepare for their season-opener this weekend in Las Vegas, Nev.

One thing for certain, though, the Cougar team won’t be trying to hide from anyone after the NJCAA pre-season softball polls were released today. WNCC enters the season ranked No. 10 in the nation after posting a 54-10 record a year ago and capturing the regional title, the first for the program.

“There is definitely high expectations this season,” sophomore pitcher Kelsey Garner said. “We want to do the same or even better than last year. We want to win regionals and do better at nationals. But, because we have such a young team, the season will be kind of new to everybody.”

The Cougars, with just three returners from last year’s championship team, will open the season in a 3-day tournament in Las Vegas. The tournament will feature four ranked teams, including WNCC.

The Cougars will face North Idaho College, No. 13 Southern Nevada and No. 20 Salt Lake Community College on Friday, will face Snow College on Saturday and then wrap up the tournament facing Palomar College and No. 5 Yavapai College on Sunday.

Garner, who captured Region IX Freshman and Player of the Year honors a year ago, is excited to begin the season. Garner was recently tabbed a NJCAA pre-season first team selection at pitcher.

“I am really excited to open the season in Vegas because I have never been there before and it will be good competition,” she said. “There will be lots of good teams down there that have gone to nationals before. They should be good hitting teams and good competition.”

Even Cougar coach Maria Winn-Ratliff is anxious to see what her team can accomplish in the season-opening competition.

“There are some top level teams in the tourney and we hope to go out and be able to compete with them,” Winn-Ratliff said.

Since the team returned from the holiday break, they have been progressing well, enduring two and sometime three-a-day practices. This is the earliest the team has started play. The Cougars also have been benefited with some outdoor practiced because of the recent 60 degree temperatures, which saw them get in plenty of defensive work.

“They are progressing at a rate that our staff would expect this time of year,” she said. “We are very young in numbers but have seen some very positive progression.”

Garner is even excited with the potential this team has.

“We have pretty much kept the same hard work and intensity that we have been doing since we have been back from Christmas,” she said. “If we can keep that up, we can win regionals.”

What makes this team something to watch is the amount of depth the team will possess.

“We have a lot of good position players that can play all over the place,” Garner said. “We have a lot of young players. Right now we are not sure of how the experience will be with teams. But we have quite a bit of depth. We have four players that can play third baseman and firstbase. It is like any one can play the corners and anyone can play the middle of the infield.”
Even Winn-Ratliff is impressed with the potential talent of the team.

“We have a very aggressive and explosive group that has the potential to captivate some quality regional wins,” the fifth year head coach said. “Our infield will be comprised of all new comers with very athletic outfielders. The battery [catchers] will relay in newcomers behind the plate, plus we will see quality innings in the circle as well.”

The big key for the season, though, is getting the young players the experience. WNCC only returns three players from a year ago in Garner, and outfielders Lauryn Smith and Alec Voci.

The team also has a couple of transfers that will contribute to the team this season. The transfers include pitcher Christy Degano, from Surrey, British Columbia; infielder Kelly Pearson of Denver, and utility player Chara Horsley of Loveland, Colo. Horsley arrived this semester from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and is a freshman.

The rest of the squad consists of new blood with plenty of talent. The team will be centered around the pitchers, including Garner, who is entering her second year as the No. 1 pitcher. Garner, the right-handed flamethrower from Regina, Saskatchewan, had an outstanding freshman campaign, finishing with a 32-4 record and setting school records in innings pitched (208.33), wins (32), strikeouts (259), and ERA (1.32). She also earned two NJCAA Pitcher-of-the-Week honors last season, including coming within one batter of throwing a perfect game.

Garner said pitching could be one of their strengths.

“We have four really pitchers,” she said. “Everyone can through really hard and do well in any situation.”

The other two pitchers besides sophomores Garner and Degano, include pitcher/outfielder Casey Simpson of Nokomis, Saskatchewan, and Stephanie Townsend of Roosevelt, Utah.

The rest of the team includes first baseman Brenda Hearn of Tijeros,N.M.; outfielder Adena Hagen of Birch Hills, Saskatchewan; third baseman Jaclyn Bourdon of Duck Lake, Saskatchewan; infielder/outfielder Megan Burditt of Las Alamos, N.M.; catcher Tiffany Lookabill of Spokane,

Wash.; catcher/first baseman Alyssa Hickey of Boulder, Colo.; Infielder Tonya Atencio of Morrison, Colo.; shortstop Katie Groves of Bluffdale, Utah; infielder Brittany Chacon of Broomfield, Colo.; and catcher Sofia Gomez of Riverton, Utah.

Garner said that the strengths of this team will be their defense and hitting.

“I think we can be really strong hitters and our defense is really strong,” she said. “We just have to know when to sell out on defense and know where the plays are at. We have to visual the play before we get the ball. I think there will be more long balls hit as even the smaller girls on the team can hit pretty hard. I think we will have a good hitting team.”

After this weekend’s contests, the team will have a couple weeks to fine-tune things before heading to the Cowtown Classic in Dallas Feb. 13-14. After that, the team will have a road trip to Kansas. The Cougars home-opener will be March 17 when they face Black Hills State College.

Winn-Ratliff said that she doesn’t expect the team to win all their games, especially this weekend, with such a young team. But she wants the team to continue improving to put them in a position to capture a second straight regional title.

“We want to get all our new team members to compete as cohesive unit on consistent basis to attain our goal of Region IX Champions,” she said. “Our team goal is to go out and be able to

compete on a daily basis to put us in good position for the Region IX Tournament.”

Winn-Ratliff is excited for this season, and believes this team can compete for a regional title.

“If we can stay focused and healthy we have as good of chance as any team to win regionals,” she said. “I think that every player on the team is going to be counted on throughout the season. It will take teamwork, good decisions at the plate, hard work, and dedication on defensive. Our team goal is to go out and be able to compete on a daily basis to put us in good position for the Region IX Tournament.”

WNCC men topple NJC 83-80, women fall in buzzer-beater 52-50

STERLING, Colo. – Scott Bamforth scored 28 points and five 3-pointers as the Cougar men survived Northeastern Junior College 83-80 in a thrilling contest that extended the Cougars win streak to seven games.

The WNCC women weren't as fortunate against the No. 12 Northeastern Junior College Plainswomen as a Sabelle Diata offensive putback at the buzzer gave the Plainswomen an exciting 52-50 win Wednesday.

Bamforth said it is great to get the win for head coach Brian Joyce, who coached at Northeastern Junior College before coming to WNCC.

"it is a big win knowing Coach Joyce here and it is a big rivalry game," Bamforth said. "knowing last year that they beat us pretty bad at our place [last year]. It was kind of fire. We were ready for this game.

The Cougars led only a couple of times in the opening half only to fall behind 44-40 at intermission. The second half was a battle as Francisco Cruz nailed a 3-pointer with 15:26 to play to give the Cougars the lead at 51-50. From there, both teams teams traded buckets left and right.

WNCC pushed the lead to 64-60 on a Bamforth 3-pointer with 10 minutes to go. Bamforth kept playing well as he drove to the bucket to put the Cougars up 71-67. Moments later, Bamforth and Cruz nailed back-to-back treys to give WNCC a 77-70 lead.

The seven point lead wasn't safe as the Plainsmen fought back, cutting the lead to 79-78 on two free throws by Anthony Harris with 2:20 play. WNCC widened the lead to threee points on a bucket with 1:19 to play.

Harris sliced the lead to a single digit, 81-80 with 29 seconds to play on two free throws. Four seconds later, Bamforth nailed two free throws to put WNCC up three.

That was when the Cougars defense stepped it up another notch, as they pressured the Plainsmen in taking a long-range three with 10 seconds to go. Cruz hailed in the rebound and was fouled. After missing both free throws, the Cougars never let NJC get a good look at the basket for the tying shot.

Bamforth said their defense stepped up b, especially in the clutch.

"We just try to stay discipline and we try to man up on defense. If we get beat, we know there will be help there. That is where trust comes in from coach and practice," he said. "Coach joyce gets on us and tries to bring that anger out of us. When we get in a game, we just play through stuff. . When we get down by a couple of pionts, we just keep fighting through and everyone keeps shooting.
WNCC had three players finish in double figures. After Bamforth's 28, Cruz ppped in 18 points and Sedrick McBounds had 10 points. Chris Hamblin led the team with 10 rebounds. The Cougars were 18 of 33 from the free throw line

The women weren't as fortunate despite battling to the end. Cougar women's coach Dave Harnish said this is a hard one to take, especially how hard the Cougar women fought, overcoming a 33-21 halftime deficit.

"I told them at halftime that I thought they made huge progress from this weekend. Even being down by 12 at halftime, I thought we played hard. We missed some easy shots inside and turned it over 14 times in the first half and we were really killing ourselves," Harnish said. "I think this is a huge game for us to understand how hard to play and to to come down here and have a chance and should have won a game. It is disappointing to lose it, but we can live with this one better over Saturday's loss where we competed as hrd ad we could and it just didn't fall our way."

WNCC's second half performance was something to witness as the Cougar women fought back to tie the came at 36-36 on a Stormye Everett bucket. Before that bucket, though, the Cougars ran off 13-0 run as they held the Plainswomen scoreless for nearly six minutes.

WNCC finally took its first lead of the game on a Janae Willis bucket, 42-41, with 6:50 to play. The lead changed hands a couple times before WNCC retook the lead on two Shaquilah Davis free throws with tw ominutes to play, 49-47.

WNCC kept battling in the final minutes playing their patented defense. NJC tied the game on two free throws by Daita 29.5 seconds to play. WNCC had an opportunity to go ahead, but a Davis shot with 22 seconds to play. After a lose ball that went over to NJC, the Plainswomen had the last shot. Diata missed the initial shot with about two seconds to play, but go the offensive putback to win the game at the buzzer.

"We struggled shooting the ball and that is our biggest problem. That is what happened last week and again tonight," Harnish said. "We are not shooting the ball well so we have to work the ball in side and make strong moves. I thought tonight we counter-acted that in our shooting. We penetrated alittle bit more and got it inside more. We did everything we needed to do in the game. A few missed free throws at the end cost us. It was just some tough breaks at the end that really hurt us."

The Cougar women easily could have given up, especially early when they trailed 15 points on a number of occasions. They didn't and Harnish can live with that.

"Last week we quite fighting and it is a disappointing game to lose but I think this will help us grow up this semester and get back to where we can play. It is encouraging of the way we played tonight and if we continue to that we can be a lot better and be a pretty good team. We just to play that way night in and night out.

Everett paced the women with 16 poitns and five rebounds, followed by Tawny Drexler with 11 points, five rebounds and eight steals. Kistler also had a good game, finishing with seven points.

Both Cougar teams will be back in action Friday when they host Lamar Community College at Cougar Palace. The women tip off at 5:30 p.m. followed by the men's game.

WNCC women (15-6) 21 29 – 50
NJC 33 19 – 52
NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
Amhy Marin 1, Candace Ewert 2, Kristy Henderson 19, Dawn Wattlwy 6, Sabelle Diata 12, Jessica Priest 12.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 7, SeLina Ysac 4, Shaquilah Davis 4, Storyme Everett 16, Janae Willis 4, Tawny Drexler 11, Caley Fisher 4.

WNCC men (17-4) 40 43 -- 83
NJC 44 36 -- 80
NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
Leon Washington 2, Michael Fraser 19, Will Bell 3, Justin Schneider 4, Dre Calloway 6, Alex Garcia 9, AJ Wilson 14, Adam Rabih 2, Nate Nelson 7,, Anthony Harris 14.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Tarell Clark 10, Daniel Smith 7, Chris Hamblin 8, Scott Bamforth 28, Francisco Cruz 18, Sedrick McBounds 10, Larry Brown 2.

Lauren Mills ready to lead University of West Alabama to conference title

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Gulf South Conference softball coaches have picked the University of West Alabama softball team fifth in the GSC East in the annual league pre-season poll, released by the conference office on Tuesday.

The Tigers, who are coming off a 29-29 2008 campaign, picked up one third-place vote and a trio of fourth-place votes along with a fifth-place selection. The Chargers of UAH, who claimed their eighth GSC Championship a year ago, are the 2009 GSC East favorite, followed closely by Valdosta State. West Florida and North Alabama were picked ahead of UWA, while West Georgia rounds out the East. Arkansas Tech, the defending 2008 GSC West Division Champions, has been tabbed to win the division for the second-straight year.

A trio of Tigers claimed pre-season All-GSC East honors, led by senior shortstop Courtney Gordon. Sophomores Valisha Fincher and Kelli Hartley also made the list. Gordon, from Columbus, Miss., led UWA at the dish with a .385 batting average and was one of seven Tigers selected to the 2008 All-GSC Team. Gordon was tops on the team in hits and finished fifth in the league in average. Fincher finished her rookie season with a .341 batting average from the left side of the plate and led the squad in stolen bases with 13. The Tarrant, Ala.-product delivered eight home runs on the season. Hartley paced the Red and White line up with 13 home runs, shattering the UWA freshman record for round-trippers in a rookie campaign. Started all 58 games at second base, the Northport, Ala.-native, finished second on the squad in hits with 62, 25 of those were for extra bases.

Three Tiger junior college transfers were among the GSC top newcomers list – Jessica Powell, Lauren Mills and Jessica Cervantes. Powell started her intercollegiate career at Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif. and guided SC to 36 wins as a freshman last season. A native of Orangevale, Ca, Powell was an All-State selection after batting .410 in 2008. Mills joins the UWA program after a two-year stint at Western Nebraska Community College. She continues her career at UWA after guiding WNCC to the Region IX Championship and a 54-8 final mark. Mills (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) belted 13 home runs as a sophomore while driving in 54 runs on the season. Cervantes comes to the Livingston campus by way of College of the Sequoias in California. A right hand pitcher from Visalia, Calif., Cervantes claimed the Central Valley Conference’s Pitcher of the Year award after posting 23 wins in the circle as a sophomore.

The Tigers, under second-year head coach Will Atkinson, open the 2009 season with the UWA Invitational on Feb. 13-14. Joining the Tigers in the three-team field will be Judson College and Spring Hill College.

Softball pitching clinic for Sunday has been Cancelled

Because of the tons of snow coming down and hazardous road conditions, the softball pitching clinic scheduled for Sunday night, Jan. 25, at Cougar Palace has been canceled. A make up date will be scheduled later.

WNCC men top Northeast in overtime, women fall 60-33 to Hawks

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s and women’s basketball team were on the opposite ends of outcomes Saturday afternoon in sub-region contests against Northeast Community College.

The Cougar women shot 26 percent from the field, including going 4 of 19 in the second half in suffering a 60-33 defeat to the Hawks. The win puts the Hawks in the driver’s seat in hosting the Region IX tournament in March.

The WNCC men played much better, earning a 77-70 overtime win against Northeast. The Cougar men shot 46 percent from the field in the win as three players finished in double figures, led by Francisco Cruz’s 19 points.

WNCC coach Brian Joyce was pleased with how his team executed, especially down the stretch.

“Our guys really hung in there,” Joyce said. “We didn’t shot particularly well from the 3-point line. They never lost their composure when they got behind late. We got some key stops. We just worked our way through the game and put ourselves in a position in the end.”

And, the way the team won against a scrappy Northeast team that beat Iowa Western Community College a few weeks ago, made Joyce proud of his team.

“This was a very good win. It was a sub-region game and they just beat Iowa Western, who is traditionally a very good team in the country, where they had Iowa Western down by 25 at half,” he said. “For us to come in here and get a road win like that, I am very proud of our guys.”

WNCC trailed by nine points midway through the first half, 26-15, only to battle back to knot things at 33-33 at intermission.

In the second half, the Hawks held a 53-45 lead at one time, only to watch the Cougars battle back. With seven minutes to play, WNCC’s Daniel Smith brought the team back to 57-54. Freshman Larry Brown followed with five points, including a big 3-pointer to tie the score at 59-59.

Northeast came back with a bucket, before Francisco Cruz tied hit a shot to tie the game once again at 61-16. Scott Bamforth then hit three free throws to put WNCC up 64-61 with a minute to play before a 3-pointer by Northeast tied the game at 64-64 with 30 seconds to play, forcing overtime.

In the extra period, WNCC scored the first five points, four of which from Brown, to go up 69-64. Cruz added back-to-back buckets to put the Cougars up 73-68 with a minute to play for the win.

“I think we just sustained our effort throughout the game and kept our composure,” Joyce said. “When we got the lead in overtime, we never let up and, in fact, extended it. The key was hanging in there.”

The Cougars placed three players in double figures. Cruz finished with 19 points, while grabbing eight rebounds. Bamforth finished with 15 points, while going 8 of 13 from the free throw line, followed by Brown with 11 points and eight rebounds.

WNCC also out-rebounded the Hawks 45-34 and also received 21 points from the bench compared to just seven for the Hawks. The bench scoring impressed Joyce as John Bright came off the bench to scsore eight points and grab eight rebounds. Tarell Clark also had nine points and six rebounds off the bench.

The Cougar men will go for their 17^th win of the season Wednesday night when they travel to Sterling, Colo., to face Northeastern Junior College. Joyce said they need to keep playing like thay have this semester, and that includes minimizing turnovers, to come away with a victory Wednesday.

“We need to do the same thing that we have been doing the whole year,” Joyce said. “We will have to continue to play good defense, take good shots on offense and take care of the ball. We only had 12 turnovers tonight and that was our Archilies heal the first semester. This semester we did a better job of taking care of the ball and getting the right people the ball.”

The women weren’t as fortunate in their game. WNCC held a 9-6 lead early, but after that, the wheels started to fall off. Northeast went up 19-10 and then led 34-19 after scoring at the halftime buzzer.

WNCC never could muster any sort of offense in the second half. SeLina Ysac scored the team’s first field goal of the second half. The Cougars then managed just three field goals after that – all from Bayard’s Amber Kistler, who led the team in scoring with 11 points.

The Cougars’ 14 second half points is among one of the lowest second half offensive performances. Still, it was four points short of the record of 10 points from the 1984-85 Cougar team against Otero Junior College

WNCC assistant coach Jennifer Pedersen didn’t have much to say about the game, except now the team needs to win the rest of their sub-region games. That includes beating Northeast by 28 points when the Hawks come to Cougar Palace on Feb. 20 in order for the Cougars to host the regional tournament.

“The team lacked focus and we did not execute,” Pedersen said. “We didn’t play well as a team tonight.”

One of the big reasons for the loss was turnovers, where the Cougars coughed up the ball 25 times. WNCC did have some positives, including getting 15 points from its bench players.

Both teams, who are stuck in Norfolk for at least an extra night after the bus broke down, will next be in action Wednesday when they travel to Northeastern Junior College. The women’s contest starts at 5:30 p.m. with the men’s game to follow.

Former Cougar Lyles making a name for herself at Florida Gulf Coast

From the Ft Meyers Newspaper

When Karl Smesko hired Nathan Daume as Florida Gulf Coast University's assistant women's basketball coach, one of his first jobs was to put together a list of top junior college players who the Eagles could sign.

Chelsea Lyles was at the top of Daume's list, but before he could get her commitment, Daume had to find out whether Lyles wanted to play basketball or volleyball. Then he had to wait from the fall signing period to the spring.

Things worked in FGCU's favor. Despite interest from Maryland's volleyball program, Lyles chose basketball, then the Eagles. Daume's recruiting pitch may have helped.

"I told her she could be one of the better players in our league," Daume said.

Lyles has proven him right. She ranks sixth in the Atlantic Sun Conference with 12.4 points per game, 11th in 3-point shooting (33.3 percent), is tied for 14th in blocked shots (0.69) and is 15th in rebounding (5.6) and shooting (40.9 percent).

Tonight, the Eagles (12-4, 5-3 A-Sun) will begin a crucial homestand of five games in 10 days days when they face Jacksonville (10-7, 6-2).

"We'll have one day to prepare for everyone," Lyles said. "We better be ready because I don't think we can lose much more than one game in conference."

A three-sport star at Harrison High in Colorado Springs, Colo., Lyles attended Western Nebraska Community College for two seasons. In her second season, she played volleyball as well as basketball and helped the team win the Junior College National Championship in volleyball.

"It was hard for me," Lyles said. "I didn't play volleyball my freshman year and I missed it so much. My volleyball and basketball coach said, 'You can play both' my sophomore year, but my mom said, 'What are you gonna do? You can't play both.'

"I knew my heart is with basketball. Basketball is more of a passion."

Lyles will consider playing volleyball if she goes to graduate school, but her focus is on basketball. She continues to learn Smesko's system and finds herself being coached constantly.

Such as in improving her screens? "Oh, all year," she said. "It gets frustrating but it makes me better."

Smesko said Lyles is a good leaper and emotional leader who'll be an even better scorer by improving in some areas.

"Consistently running the floor, she can get some put-backs or by cutting hard," he said.

Daume said she also can add to her scoring by improving on her 3-point shooting and becoming a better rebounder.

"There are a lot of junior college elite players," Daume said. "Some don't understand how to play when they get to Division I. But she's been as productive as a lot of junior college players who have come in."

WNCC men win 15th game of the year with workmanlike performance against Casper

The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team found another way to score Tuesday night against Casper College besides beyond the 3-point arc.

On Friday night, the Cougars canned 12 3-pointers, but on Tuesday, the Cougars connected on just two 3-pointers, but were 29 of 38 from the charity stripe while using a strong late first-half run to notch their 15^th win of the season with an impressive 83-68 win over the Thunderbirds at Cougar Palace.

The Cougars not only flexed their muscle inside, they also received a balanced scoring attack, led by Scott Bamforth and Larry Brown with 19 points each. Bamforth also was perfect from the line, going 10 of 10.

"These last couple of days we shot really well from the three area and you are not going to win four games in a row to win a regional tournament just by shooting the threes all the time," WNCC head coach Brian Joyce said. "It is a good win because we didn't shot well [from the 3-point area], but we did the other things to get it done. Joel [Davidson] does a good job and he has had success in this league and you knew his team was going to come out and battle."

WNCC definitely had a battle on its hands against a scrappy Casper squad that wouldn't give up. Early on there were 11 lead changes and six ties and the Casper men were taking it to the Cougars, holding a 20-17 lead on a 3-pointer by Langston Banks.

The T-birds continued sizzling from beyond the arc as Marshall Kelly connected on a trey to make the score 26-21 with seven left in the opening half. Joyce said that was when the Cougars decided to buckle down.

"In the first half we gave up a couple second shots and that is what kept them in the game and got them ahead early," he said. "But I think our guys finally clamped down and once we did that, we were able to get some baskets in transition."

The Cougars finally turned up the heat another notch, going on 21-4 run to finish off the first half leading 42-30. Banforth was the big scorer during that crucial run, connecting on 5 of 5 free throws. But it was his 3-pointer, the Cougars first of the night, with 3:30 to play that pushed the Cougar lead to 33-28.

Bamforth finished off the half with an off-balanced offensive tip-in that he connected on while being fouled with five-tenths of a second left in the half.

The second half, the Cougars kept excelling as Brown was the hot-hand early, pouring in seven points including the team's last 3-pointer of the contest with two minutes gone in the half for a 52-34 lead.

WNCC kept pushing the ball and expanded the lead to their largest lead of the night of 22 points at 65-43 on a Bamforth old-fashioned 3-point play with 11 minutes left in the game.

Casper, however, kept fighting, slicing the lead to 11 points, 73-62) on a Banks 3-pointer and a bucket by Brian Ridgeway with six minutes to play.

The Cougars stopped the run as Francisco Cruz, who collected 15 points on the night, but down an offensive tip-in with 3:30 to play. From there, the Cougars connected on their free throws and played strong defense to earn the win.

Joyce said his team needs to win games like these to make them stronger going down the stretch, including the Region IX tournament in March.

"I don't think our guys let up [when Casper made a late run]," he said. "It is one of those bounces between being overly aggressive while also trying to pull the ball out on offense to work for a good shot. So, when you pull the ball out, it is hard for guys to learn to be patient. We need to get in games like this to make that happen. But, I was impressed with how our guys played, especially reducing the turnovers. Tonight we only had 12 turnovers and that was big."

The Cougars , now winners of five straight including 12 of their last 14 games, will take the show on the road for a key sub-region contest against Northeast (Neb.) Community College in Norfolk Saturday afternoon. Joyce said they need to be ready.

"It shows a lot about your team when you can go on a long road trip and Norfolk is definitely a tough place to play," he said. "The sub-region games are always important to get a road win. I think our guys will be excited to go out there.

WNCC had four players finish in double figures. Bamforth and Brown each had 19 points, but Cruz chipped in 15 points and Tarell Clark added 13 points. Cruz also pulled down seven rebounds.

Casper was led by Langston Banks with 17 points followed by Ridgeway with 11 points and Jeremy Lovelady with 10 points.

Casper 30 38 – 68

WNCC (15-4) 42 41 – 83

CASPER COLLEGE

Daniel Armah 5, Brian Ridgeway 11, Langston Banks 17, James Hayden 2, Elsworth Proter 8, Jeremy Lovelady 10, Marshall Kelly 8, Curtis Malone 4, Robert Mayes 3.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Tarell Clark 13, Daniel Smith 6, Chris Hamblin 7, Scott Bamforth 19, Francisco Cruz 15, Sedrick McBounds 2, Larry Brown 19, John Bright 2.

WNCC women hold Casper to 18 2nd half points, pick up 15th win of the season

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team showed just how tough they are defensively Tuesday night in posting a 77-53 win over Casper College at Cougar Palace.

WNCC, who is among the top five best defensive teams in the nation, held Casper to just 18 second half points in overcoming a 35-30 halftime deficit to notch their 15^th win of the season.

The Cougars, in getting the win, got back on the winning trail after falling to Otero Junior College on Saturday 65-51. Tuesday night, it was definitely all defense for the Cougars in the second half and that stern second-half defense resulted in the Cougars out-scoring the Thunderbirds 47-18 to get the win.

Early on, Casper had the Cougars number, holding a 7-point, 30-23 lead in the first half. WNCC sliced the first-half deficit to 32-30 on back-to-back SeLina Ysac buckets, but a 3-point play by Josie Stewart gave Casper the halftime advantage.

It didn’t take the Cougars long to establish themselves In the final 20 minutes. Juliana Bassetto and Stormye Everett started things scoring the first eight points of the game and the Cougars rolled to a 42-35 lead.

Casper didn’t score there first points until the 15 minute mark as Megan Wilson hit two free throws. Casper’s first field goal came with 12:40 left in the game on a Ewa Urbanowska bucket. Casper was within three, 44-41, but that was when the Cougars defense heated up once again, going on a 16-1 run, highlighted by Lorena Medeiros and Eerett with four points each to push the Cougar lead to 60-43.

WNCC had their biggest lead of the contest on a Amber Kistler 3-pointer to make the score 65-40. Kistler had six more points, including taking a full-court pass from Medeiros, which Kistler snagged like an NFL receiver for a layup.

One of the big reasons for the Cougars win Tuesday was shooting, especially in the second half where the Cougars were 51 percent and the T-birds were 20 percent. WNCC out-rebounded Casper 51-40 with Medeiros getting eight boards, and Ysac and Everett collecting six a piece.

WNCC had four players hit the double figure column compared to Casper’s one. Everett led the way with 16 points followed by Shaquilah Davis with 14, Kistler with 12 and Tawny Drexler with 11. Casper was led by Dana Seth with 13 points.

WNCC, 15-4, will next be in action Saturday afternoon when they travel to Northeast (Neb.) Community College for a East Sub-region contest. The winner of the east sub-region, which includes WNCC, Northeast Nebraska and McCook, will host the Region IX tournament in March. Tip-off for the Northeast contest is slated for 1 p.m.

Casper (17-5) 35 18 – 53
WNCC (15-4) 30 47 – 77
CASPER
Emily Elliott 6, Samira Van Grinavan 6, Dana Seth 13, Yianna Nadeau 7, Megan Wilson 7, Kerstin Minshow 3, Josie Stewart 3, Ewa Urbanowska 8.
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 12, Lorena Medeiros 4, SeLina Ysac 6, Shaquilah Davis 14, Stormye Everett 18, Janae Willis 2, Tawny Drexler 11, Caley Fisher 4, Juliana Bassetto 6.

WNCC women fall to Otero, host Casper College Tuesday

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team is hoping Saturday’s loss to Otero Junior College is a wake-up call entering Tuesday’s home contest against Casper College.

The Cougar women, who opened the second semester with a 74-41 win against Lamar Community College on Friday, watched the Otero team get the better of them on Saturday, falling 65-51. Tuesday night, the Cougar women will be looking to get back on the winning track with a 5:30 p.m. tip off.

The Cougar men, 14-4 and winners of 11 of their last 13, will face off against Casper at 7:30 p.m. It is also Runza Seat Cushion night as well.

Women’s basketball coach Dave Harnish said the Casper game is important for the Cougars in a couple reasons, as they hope to gain some momentum heading into an even bigger sub-region contest against Northeast (Neb.) Community College on Saturday on the road.

“It is a big week for us,” he said. “Casper used to be the important game and now Saturday’s game at Norfolk is big because it is a sub-region game and the winner can host the regional tournament. So, it is important for us to play well [Tuesday] night and carry that momentum and some confidence going into this weekend.”

Tuesday’s contest definitely won’t be easy against a 17-4 Casper team that is averaging 79.2 points a game. Last week, the T-birds disposed of Northwest Wyoming 73-46 and then topped Central Wyoming 99-67. Against Central Wyoming, Emily Elliott netted 18 points and Megan House, a Southeast Goshen graduate, poured in 16 points.

Harnish said his team will have to play well on both ends of the court in order for them to capture their 15^th win of the season.

“The importance of this game has changed a little bit. I would say they were our biggest rivals over the last 15 years or so and both teams always play well when we were in the Central Sub-region,” Harnish said. “The difference this year is they have a new coach and in terms of what they do will be different. We know their strength is three-point shooting and that is something we will have to do and that is to eliminate the threes.

“But, we have only played two games [this semester] and it is more important for us to do some things better than we did last weekend, including playing better defensively and executing out there offensively. Really, it is what we do and not worry so much about Casper.”

In Saturday’s setback to Otero, WNCC had control of the game until late when the team went in a scoring laurel.

“I thought we played and executed real well against Lamar and, for the most part, I thought we played well against Otero,” Harnish said. “We were up one with about seven minutes left in the game and then we hit a laurel and had a couple of defensive mistakes. I thought overall we played well. We just seemed to run out of gas and that is expected after a month off.”

WNCC trailed 30-29 at halftime with Tawny Drexler scoring all of her nine points in the first half. The Cougars then scored just 22 points in the second half. The big difference in the contest was fouls and free-throw shooting. WNCC was just 11 of 24 from the charity stripe while Otero was 15 of 23.

Shaquilah Davis paced the Cougars with 13 points followed by Drexler with nine and Stormye Everett with eight.

Harnish said having those two games under their belts should help them in this week’s contests.

“We have only been back seven or eight days and it is tough to get our legs back,” he said. “Any time you play at home you get a little bit more rest. It is always important to play well at home and the kids always enjoy playing on the home court and in front of their own fans. That is what it is all about, having the home court advantage and hopefully we will have a good crowd and hope the enthusiasm is there both on the court and in the crowd.”

While the women’s team will be looking get back on the winning track, the men’s team is hoping to stay on the winning side after topping a good Lamar Community College team 89-75 on Friday for their 15^th win of the season against a Casper team that has struggled at times, but have plenty of talent.

It is also important for the Cougar men to play well heading into this weekend’s road sub-region contest against Northeast Nebraska Saturday afternoon.

WNCC (14-4) 29 22 – 51

Otero (14-4) 30 35 – 65

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Lorena Medeiros 5, SeLina Ysac 3, Shaquilah Davis 13, Stormye Everett 8, Janae Willis 3, Tawny Drexler 9, Caley Fisher 3, Juliana Bassetto 7.

Bamforth nets 30 points, Cougar men pick up 14th win with 89-75 win over Lamar

LAMAR, Colo. – Western Nebraska Community College’s Scott Bamforth scored 30 points, including seven 3-pointers as the Cougars posted their 14^th win of the season with an impressive 89-75 win over Lamar Community College Friday evening.

WNCC head coach Brian Joyce said was pleased with the win.

“We played with good poise and we controlled the tempo of the game,” he said. “They [Lamar] cut the lead to six points with three minutes to play and we responded to open the lead again.”

WNCC connected on 12 3-pointers on the night, seven from Bamforth. Larry Brown connected on three 3-pointers for his 19 points, while Francisco Cruz had 15 points, including two 3-pointers.

“We did a good job of playing both halves,” Joyce said. “We took care of the ball and we did a good job defensively. When they came back, it was because they were making easier shots and we were giving up second shots.”

Another key in the contest was rebounding, where six players recorded five or more rebounds. Brown led all players with seven boards, followed by Cruz, Daniel Smith, Tarell Clark and Sedrick McBounds with six rebounds each. Chris Hamblin also pulled down five boards.

WNCC, 14-4, will next be in action Tuesday when they host Casper College at Cougar Palace at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night will also be Runza Seat Cushion night.

WNCC (14-4) 45 44 – 89
Lamar (13-7) 28 47 – 75
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Scott Bamforth 30, Larry Brown 19, FranciscCruz 15, Chris Hamblin 6, Daniel Smith 5, Tarell Clark 4, Sedrick McBounds 8.

WNCC women pick up 14th win by pounding Lamar 74-41

The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team placed four players in double figures as they cruised to their 14^th win of the season with a 74-41 win against Lamar Community College Friday night on the road.

Stormye Everett of Aurora, Colo., paced the team with 16 points followed by Bayard’s Amber Kistler with 14 points and two 3-pointers. Shaquilah Davis of Colorado Springs, Colo., and SeLina Ysac of Scottsbluff also pitched in with 13 and 12 points each.

The Cougars, despite being out-rebounded by 20-plus boards, controlled the contest from the get-go, taking a 38-20 lead into halftime.

“We played well. I think we executed our offense well. We changed it up. We pressed all night and everyone that went in executed well,” WNCC assistant coach Jennifer Pedersen said. “It was a pretty fast-paced game. We didn’t shoot very well the first half and there were a lot of rebounds. We full-court pressed so the guards had some opportunities for easy lay ups.”

As much as the team received a balanced offensive output, the fourth bes defensive team in the nation also put up another stern defensive effort. The Cougars entered giving up just 51 points a game and stymied the Lamar offense for just 41 points.

“Defensively we were reallly strong as a team and we need to keep that up,” Pedersen said.

The other thing that impressed Pedersen with the win was the fact that everyone played well, including Scottsbluff’s Ashley Burns, who joined the team at semester. Burns played the final five minutes and recorded three rebounds in her first time on the court for the Cougars.

The other thing that helped the Cougars shine offensively was the fact that they were 100 percent healthy.

“It is nice to have every one healthy,” Pedersen said. “I honestly need to knock on wood that this is the first game we played that we didn’t have an injury in 16 games. It was nice to be able to utilize the entire bench tonight for a change.”

The Cougars will look for their 15^th win of the season Saturday night when they battle Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colo. Otero enters the contest with a 13-4 record. WNCC defeated the Rattlers in December 72-49.

“We definitely need to rebound a lot better [tonight],” Pedersen said. “ We can’t get out-rebounded to Otero at their place. We also just need to finish our shots. We had some easy shots below the bucket that we missed, and we need to make those bunny shots.”

WNCC (14-3) 38 36 – 74
Lamar C.C. (10-10) 20 21 – 41
WESTERN NEBRASKA
Amber Kistler 14, Lorena Medeiros 2, SeLina Ysac 12, Shaquilah Davis 13, Stormye Everett 16, Tawny Drexler 3, Caley Fisher 5, Juliana Bassetto 9.

Cruz scores 33, WNCC men cruise by LCCC 92-55

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team ran out to a 16-0 lead and Francisco Cruz lit up the scoreboards for 33 points as the Cougars registered their 13^th win of the season with a commanding 92-55 win over Laramie County Community College Tuesday night at Cougar Palace.

Cruz, who scored a career high 38 points at Abraham Lincoln High School in Denver, was nearly unstoppable on the night. But, it wasn’t just Cruz’ lights out shooting that was stellar, it was the Cougars’ first-half defense, holding the Golden Eagles to 23 points. Cruz, in fact, equaled LCCC’s first-half output with 23 of his 33 points.

“The most impressive thing is that he was 14 of 17 from the field and the guys were unselfish in giving him the ball, and he didn’t turn the ball over,” WNCC coach Brian Joyce said. “That was one of the issues for first semester is that he turned the ball over too much. He is so unselfish that sometimes he doesn’t want to score, but we need him to do that. He did a really good job tonight and our guys did a nice job of giving him the ball.”

But, it wasn’t all Cruz on the evening. The entire team came ready to play and definitely showed it early. Cruz started things with a bucket and then Scott Bamforth nailed a 3-pointer. Later, Cruz connected on a trey and then John Bright took a pass from Daniel Smith to put the Cougars up 16-0.

The Golden Eagles finally got on the scoreboard with 16:02 left in the half as Romaric Lasme scored. LCCC did slice the lead to 10 points, 25-15 with about 10 minutes to play, but the Cougars scored the next 16 points, including nine points from Cruz and a thundering dunk by Tarell Clark to put WNCC up 41-15. The Cougars went on to lead 50-23 as Bright nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“I thought our guys came out with good energy and good passion in the game and I think that led to some easy baskets by playing solid defense early,” Joyce said. “Our guys played over the break and it is obvious. They came back more mature. I think that grind of the first semester where we played 16 games in 37 days was really difficult on our guys. I think they are excited to be back playing again. The focus was really good.”

What Joyce was really impressed with, though, was the defensive effort his team showcased, putting together a complete game.

“I think this was our best defensive game in terms of sustaining the effort throughout,” he said. “ We played good defense in either the first or second half last semester, and this is the best two halves that we played defensively.”

The Cougars never let the Golden Eagles get on a run of making back-to-back buckets until late. At that point, the Cougars already had their biggest lead of the game of 42 points, 83-41, off a Saul Torres drive that resulted in an old-fashioned 3-point play.

Four Cougars finished with double digits. Cruz, who not only had 33 points, he was also pulled down nine rebounds and had three steals and three assists.

Also hitting the double figure column were Bamfroth with 12 points and two 3-pointers, Bright with 11 points, and Clark with 10 points, including three dunks.

The Cougars also out-shot the Golden Eagles, connecting on 61 percent of their shots, while the Cougar defense held LCCC to just 38 percent.

LCCC had three players score in double figures. Kaipo Sabas had 14 points, including two 3-pointers, followed by Lasme and Travis Bostick with 11 points eash.

WNCC, 13-4, will next be on the road Friday night when they take on a streaking Lamar Community College team that upended Region IX-leading North Platte Community College over the weekend. Joyce hopes his team is ready for the challenge.

“You learn a lot about yourselves when you play on the road,” he said. “You expect to win at home, and playing down at Lamar, which I have done many times in this region, is a tough place to play. Hopefully our guys will step up and be ready for a challenge.”

LCCC (5-10) 23 32 – 55

WNCC (13-4) 50 42 – 92

LARAMIE COUNTY

Travis Bostick 11, Mike Johnson 9, Kaipo Sabas 14, Dionte’ Clayborn 1, Tyler Kimzey 2, Romaric Lasme 11, Stan Jones 7.

WESTERN NEBRASKA

Tarell Clark 10, Saul Torres 7, Daniel Smith 7, Chris Hamblin 2, Scott Bamforth 12, Francisco Cruz 33, Larry Brown 8, John Bright 11, Ali Djim 2.

WNCC Coguar men set to take the court Tuesday after month break

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team will be hoping there is no rust after a month away from the basketball court.

They will see just how polished they are when they entertain Laramie County Community College Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Cougar Palace. It will also be Youth Basketball Night, where youngsters will get free admission if they wear their favorite basketball jersey.

“We are ready to go and we are working hard in practice,” freshman Saul Torres said. “After we came back from break, we have been having good practices with good intensity. We are ready to go get another win.”

WNCC, who has been practicing since last Tuesday, definitely have a little bit more to play for against LCCC considering the Golden Eagles upended the Cougars back in December 70-66 at Cheyenne. In that contest, WNCC held a 9-point lead midway through the second half and watched the Golden Eagles battle back to get the win. For most of the Cougars, they remember that sour taste in their mouth.

“I don’t think we are worried about any let downs,” Torres said. “LCCC beat us in their house about a month ago, so we are ready to come back and beat them this time and play better. That loss is on some of our minds but we just have to work through it and do a better job.

“We just have to play good defense and be effective on the offensive side. We need to take good, smart shots and get it to the guys that are scoring the most points.”

The last time the Cougars stepped on the court for competition was back on Dec. 12 and 13 when they hosted the WNCC Holiday Classic. In that tournament, they upended Little Big Horn 122-70 and then the Tri-state All-stars 112-64.

The Cougars enter with an impressive record, finishing the first semester 12-4 and winners of nine of their last 11 games.

“We are on a good roll and moving forward with the season,” Torres said. “We just want to get the best out of this season.”

While WNCC hasn’t played a game since mid-December, LCCC has been involved in two games, both games the Golden Eagles lost. LCCC dropped sub-region contests last weekend to Casper College 65-63, and to Western Wyoming Community College 66-61.

LCCC enters Tuesday’s encounter with the Cougars with a 5-10 record, but the Golden Eagles have plenty fire power. The team is led by Travis Bostick and Dionte’ Clayborne, who are each averaging nearly 15 points a game.

The Cougars, on the other hand, have five players averaging in double figures, led by freshman Scott Bamforth and Francisco Cruz at 17.8 and 14.8 points a game. Also hitting the double figure side are freshmen Larry Brown at 12.1, freshman Tarell Clark at 11, and sophomore Daniel Smith at 10.4.

Torres said the team’s depth is playing a big factor in their success this year.

“The strength of this team is the depth of the bench and the unselfishness of our players,” he said. “We are very unselfish and we take good shots with the right people. Having five players in double figures is good for the team and shows our unselfishness.”

After Tuesday’s contest, the Cougars will be on the road for a Friday contest at Lamar, who handed North Platte Community College its second loss of the season on Saturday. Then, they will entertain Casper College on Jan. 20. Torres said this is the important part of the season.

“The second semester we will have better games and better teams to play,” he said. “It is huge that we perform at a high level and start moving forward to the region tournament and hopefully after that the national tournament.”