WNCC fall to NJC

               STERLING, Colo. – The Western Nebraska Community College went through a cold shooting spell in dropping a sub-region contest to Northeastern Junior College 65-47.

               It was the Cougars third straight loss and dropped the Cougars to 4-2 in the sub-region while NJC went to 4-1 in the sub-region. More importantly, though, the Cougars suffered two more injuries as guards Idil Ozbayrak and Samantha Sanders both went down with injuries in the second half. Ozbayrak’s injury is more several and details on her knee injury are unknown until she sees a doctor.

               WNCC coach Dave Harnish said this was a matter that this team couldn’t shoot or rebound and he said if you can’t do that, you are not going to win games. Shooting was definitely the difference in the contest as WNCC was 2 of 12 from the 3-point line in the first half and just 1 of 8 in the second half. The team shot 30 percent from the field for the game.

               WNCC started the contest pretty strong, hanging with the Plainswomen. NJC vaulted to an 8-2 and 14-7 lead but each time WNCC fought back, cutting the lead to 14-12 the last time as Lisa Durden hit a 3-pointer and Jessica Aratani had a bucket.

               NJC came right back, going on a 14-0 run to go up 28-12 on two 3-pointers by Brooke Baker. WNCC kept fighting, though, as they cut the lead to 29-22 on two buckets by Leona Garrett before trailing 39-26 at halftime.

               The second half saw the Cougars shot just 29 percent. They did, however,, play strong defense holding NJC to just 25 shooting. The difference in the game was rebounding as the Plainswomen outrebounded the Cougars 67-33 including 32 offensive rebounds.

               WNCC was led by Samantha Sanders with nine points and Leona Garrett with eight points.

               NJC made six 3-pointers in the contest as Alicia Nichols finished with three 3-pointers and 15 points.

               WNCC will be back in action Saturday when they travel to Lamar Community College for another sub-region contest.

WNCC                  26 21 — 47
NJC                       39 26 — 65
WNCC
Samantha Sanders 9, Kelsey Doddridge 4, Leona Garrett 8, Lisa Durden 5, ChaCha Ofoegbu 7, Jessica Aratani 8, Idil Ozbayrak 8.
NJC
Beth Cooper 2, Adaugo Osuala 6, Ayana Smith 8, Lexi Lopez 3 , Ashley North 4, Karala Orona 2, Alicia Nichols 15, Brooke Baker 7, Hannah Pollert 8, Ngone Ndiaye 10.

Cougar women fall in double overtime

Submitted by JEREMY WOZNICK, Star-Herald Sports Reporter

LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team couldn’t make a seven-point, overtime lead stand up in dropping an 82-77 double-overtime setback to the Colorado Christian Junior Varsity on Tuesday night in Lakewood, Colo.

WNCC, whose roster is currently depleted by a number of injuries, dropped to 17-6 on the season with the loss.

“We basically got out-rebounded all night and didn’t shoot the ball very well again. Those have been our struggles all year long,” WNCC coach Dave Harnish said. “We were fortunate to get into overtime, and then we took a seven-point lead in the first overtime. But we made a couple costly mistakes and couldn’t hold the lead. In the second overtime we got down by 10 and just could never recover. It was just a tough night.”

The contest was a stark contrast to the first meeting between the teams back on Nov. 17. In that game, WNCC recorded a 77-43 win at Cougar Palace in Scottsbluff.

“It’s always tough when you go on the road,” Harnish said. “We have a lot of people out and we’re really down in numbers right now. That’s no excuse though. We’re basically just trying to compete night in and night out the best we can.”

The loss came just a few days after WNCC gave No. 6 Casper College all it could handle before falling to the Region IX-leading Thunderbirds by just five points.

WNCC will play another non-conference opponent on the road Saturday when the Cougars travel to Kyle, S.D., to face Oglala Lakota College. The Cougars will then jump back into sub-region play next week with important games at Northeastern Junior College on Tuesday and at Lamar Community College on Feb. 11.

“We just have to get our heads up and compete,” Harnish said. “We have some big Region IX games coming up here next week. We have to get better.”

WNCC volleyball will hold coaches clinic on April 21

Download registration form here

                Western Nebraska Community College volleyball coach Giovana Melo will be offering a volleyball coaching clinic on Saturday, April 21 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

                The clinic is open to college, high school, middle school, or club volleyball coaches. The clinic will be an opportunity to learn from some of the best coaches in junior college.

                The clinic costs $100 and includes a T-shirt. The clinic will include coaching experiences, player motivation, practice design and management, as well as drills demonstrated by current players. The clinic will be hands-on with coaches actually participating and not just watching. Coaches are advised to wear gym clothes.

                “The clinic will be conducted by WNCC volleyball coaches Giovana Melo, who has guided the Cougar volleyball to four straight top three finishes including a national title in 2010, and Fatima Balza, who played for WNCC and Penn State in winning three national titles – one while at WNCC (2007) and two at Penn State (2009 and 2010). Balza will share her story of playing for Penn State and the recipe of success Penn State had in capturing the national titles.

                For more information on the clinic, contact Melo at 308-635-6028 or at melog@wncc.net. Camp registrations can be downloaded from the WNCC athletic website at sports.wncc.edu.

WNCC's Raul Delgado verbally commits to BYU

                Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball player Raul Delgado will be taking his talents to the Division I level after verbally committing to attend Brigham Young University on Sunday.

                Delgado accepted the offer after taking a recruiting trip to Provo, Utah. He said it was an obvious choice after visiting the campus. Delgado will officially sign with BYU when the late signing period begins in April.

                “They were recruiting me out of high school and I live only 10 minutes away from BYU,” he said. “BYU is an amazing program. They went to the Sweet 16 two years ago and they have been sending people to the NBA. My friends Brandon Davies and Kyle Collinsworth play on the same team and I will be playing with them. That was a dream I always had to be playing with them.”

                BYU was Delgado’s first officially recruiting visit and he couldn’t help but not accept the offer over the weekend. Delgado also had interest from TCU, Southern Utah, Wyoming, Detroit, Texas A&M, UCLA and Colorado. He said it is a relief to get that pressure off his shoulders.

                “There was a lot of pressure on me with all the colleges calling me. It was like 15 coaches calling me every day,” he said. “To me it was a lot of distraction and a lot of stress. I knew exactly where I always wanted to go and that was BYU. I ended up going on my first official visit and I just made my decision to commit and become a Cougar of Brigham Young University.”

                Delgado is projected to step in right away after the Cougars lose two seniors in May. He said BYU runs the same type of offense as WNCC, so it should be a smooth adjustment.

                “I think I fit pretty well on the team,” he said. “I think it was one of the best options for me basketball-wise and to make a better life. I am pretty close to my family and I will be living at home and being around the communities that I played high school in. This was always my dream and it finally came true.”

                Delgado is originally from Chihauhau, Mexico, but attended high school at Springville High School in Utah. Delgado said he moved to Utah when he was 16 by himself. He said he lived in an apartment and had a family in Utah that really helped him to be successful in school academically.

                “It is always good to go back and be closer to her families,” he said. “My family from Mexico will be able to travel to Utah and watch me play. It is always comfortable to be close to home, especially when you go to college, because it is a lot of responsibility and you always need a mom, dad and family support.”

                The 6-foot-2 shooting guard is averaging 19.7 points a game and is shooting 43 percent from the 3-point are. Delgado set a new school record when he nailed 12 3-pointers in a win against Little Big Horn College. He has scored double figures in 27 straight games dating back to last season. As a freshman, Delgado buried 81 3-pointers and shoot 53 percent from beyond the arc.

                Delgado said he was watching film from when he played in high school and can’t believe the improvement he has made.

                “I watched film from when I was in high school and I didn’t have the concept of basketball as well,” he said. “I saw basketball not as a job but just to have fun. When I came here, it was more like a job. I think I have done a good job in basketball and hopefully we can take the goal that we have to take the championship.”

                WNCC is one of the hottest teams in Region IX right know, sporting an 18-3 record. The Cougars are currently ranked 19^th in the country, which is the first time they have been ranked in the regular season poll since March 2005. Delgado said it means a lot to be of a team that is restoring Cougar magic.

                “It is always good to be on a team that is this good with this much talent,” he said. “This team is more unified than last years and we see each other as a brother. We are trying to realize our goals of winning regionals and going to Hutchinson.”

WNCC softball ranked 19th in pre-season softball poll

                 The Western Nebraska Community College softball team has a little bit more incentive for the season after the NJCAA released the pre-season polls on Friday.

                The Cougars, who finished last season with a 51-15 record and won its second straight Region IX title, enter the season ranked No. 19 in the nation. The ranking is an honor for a WNCC program that has enjoyed plenty of success lately, but WNCC head coach Maria Winn-Ratliff said the team needs to play to that nationally recognized level on the field.

                “It is always nice to get nationally recognized, but we have to go out and play our best every day,” she said. “We want to be number one, so it looks to me like we have to go out and prove that we are better than 18 other teams.”

                Yavapai College, the defending national champs, open the season as the pre-season team to beat. The rest of the top five include Salt Lake Community College, Tallahassee Community College, Blinn College, and Indian River State College.

                The Cougars, who have been practicing for three weeks, will open the season Feb. 17-18 at the Midland College tournament. They will face two ranked teams in the first month of the season when they take on No. 6 Howard College in the Midland Classic followed by No. 13 Iowa Western Community College at the Cloud County Classic the first weekend in March.

                Winn-Ratliff said this year’s schedule is one of the toughest in school history, which should benefit the team in a run for a third straight national tournament appearance.

                “I think this seasons schedule is the toughest that we have played since I have been at WNCC,” she said. “It is hard when you get to the national tourney and your strength of schedule plays a part in the bracket. So, I decided if we are lucky enough to get back to Saint George [Utah], I want to make sure we have played the toughest schedule possible.”

                Winn-Ratliff said the team really hasn’t talked about the ranking since they are approaching the season one game at a time.

                “Honestly, I haven’t talked to them about it,” she said. “We stress within our program to work hard every day and control our attitude and effort.”

                She said while every team’s goal is a trip to the national tournament in St. George, Utah, it will take a complete team effort to realize those goals.

                “Our goal like every year is to be successful in the conference and give ourselves the opportunity to have a good seed in the tourney,” she said. “It is all about getting hot at the right time and playing well on one weekend. Like every year it is going to take solid pitching and defense as well as timely hitting.”

                The Cougars return five players from last year’s regional championship team in catcher Jocelyn Stubbs, outfielder Sarah Hawryluk, pitcher/outfielder Aria Agle, first baseman Bree Bitton, pitcher Amanda Jones, and utility player Mariah Faifer.

                The Cougars will be bolstered by a freshman class of 12 that will fill plenty of holes vacated from last year’s graduating class. Winn-Ratliff said the team has been taking advantage of the recent warm January weather.

                “The weather has helped out a lot and given us an opportunity to get outside more than usual. So we have been able to scrimmage and get more game-like practices,” she said. “The young ladies have been working hard day in and day out. Anytime that you can simulate game-like drills and so forth it obviously helps. We still work on fundamentals every day and in the gym more than we would like, but we want to take advantage of any opportunities that we can to get better by going outside.”

                The Cougars first home contest is slated for March 7 when they host North Platte Community College followed by a conference home doubleheader March 9 against Trinidad State Junior College.

NJCAA Pre-season Softball Poll

1, Yavapai College

2, Salt Lake Community College

3, Tallahassee Community College

4, Blinn College

5, Indian River State College

6, Howard College

7, Chipola Colege

8, Temple College

9, Pima Community College

10, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College

11, Chattanooga State Community College

12, Navarro College

13, Iowa Western Community College

14, Wallace State C.C.-Hanceville

15, Florida State College at Jacksonville

16, Odessa College

17, College of Southern Idaho

18, Darton College

19, Western Nebraska C.C.

20, Lake Land College