North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team was defeated by the Otero Junior College Rattlers, 94-82, on Saturday afternoon at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium in Region IX South Sub-Region play.

After a three-pointer by Aaron Ridley for the Knights, the Rattlers went on a 16-5 run to take control of the game.

The Rattlers shot 58.1 percent from the field in the first half and went 7 for 14 from behind the three-point line in the first half to take a halftime lead of 50-37. The Knights shot 36.8 percent from the field and made five of 14 three pointers.

In the second half, the Knights shooting improved. They shot 51.9 percent and went 8 for 16 from the three-point range. The Rattlers continued their sharp shooting, hitting 50 percent from the field in the second half. The Rattlers shot 54.2 percent for the game.

The Knights are 9-11 on the season and 5-7 in South Sub-Region play. T.J. Stanford came off the bench and scored 20 points to lead the Knights. Three other Knights scored in double figures. Godfrey Rolle finished with 18 points, Trajan Harris added 15 points and Atem Ajang had 10 points. Stanford, Rolle, and Jakub Karwowski each had four rebounds for the Knights.

The Rattlers improve to 20-3 on the year and 9-2 in the South Sub-Region. They are currently in second place in the sub-region behind Western Nebraska Community College. The Rattlers had four players in double figures. Jarvae Robinson and Jonathan Scott each had 17 points. Chudier Bile and Josh McNair both had 13 points. Scott and Sekou Cisse each had five rebounds.

The Knights are in action next on Friday, Feb 9 when they play Central Community College in Columbus in a Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference game.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team were defeated by the Otero Junior College Lady Rattlers, Saturday afternoon, 61-48, at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium.

The Lady Knights started out the game on a 4-0 run for the largest lead by either team in the first quarter. There were seven lead changes in the first quarter and the Lady Knights held a 14-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Knights opened up the second quarter by scoring the first four points to make the score 18-13. The Lady Rattlers went on a 15-2 run to grab their biggest lead of the first half at 28-20. The Lady Knights cut the Lady Rattlers lead to 28-25 at the half by going on a 5-0 run.

In the first half, the Lady Knights shot 9-31 from the field for a 29 percentage compared to the Lady Rattlers, who shot 10-23, including six three pointer for a 43.5 shooting percentage.

In the third quarter, the Lady Rattlers outscored the Lady Knights 15-14. The Lady Rattlers did lead by 10 on a couple of occasions but the Lady Knights rallied to only trail by four at the quarter 43-39.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Rattlers allowed only nine points and scored 18 points to open up the game and seal the win.

The Lady Knights are 2-16 on the season. Naria Hall led the Lady Knights with 18 points. Allison Tichy was the only other Lady Knight to score in double figures with 11 points. Hall also had nine rebounds to lead the Lady Knights.

The Lady Rattlers, 9-13 on the season, were led in scoring by Alyssa Lovato with 14 points. Berklee Lerohl and Alba Vera-Ponte each had 12 points and Kalani Poloa had 10 points. Vera-Ponte and Grace O’neill each had seven rebounds to lead the Lady Rattlers.

The Lady Knights are next in action on Thursday, Feb 8 when they travel to play York College Junior Varsity. Tip-off is at 4 pm.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights suffered a one-point loss to the Lamar Community College Runnin’Lopes 80-79 at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium on Friday Night in a Region IX South Sub-Region contest.

With the score tied at 78-78, the Runnin’ Lopes Richard Caldwell hit a jumper to put the Runnin’ Lopes up by two at 80-78. On the next possession for the Knights, Sophomore Goy Lew was fouled and sent to the free throw line to attempt to tie the game. Lew made the first shot to cut the lead to 80-79. On the second shot, the Knights put Jakub Karwowski and Buom Duboul in rebounding position. Goy missed the game-tying free throw but Karwowski attempted a tip-up shot but it fell short to give the Runnin’ Lopes the win.

The Knights led at halftime 38-36.

In the second half, the Knights and Runnin’ Lopes were tied at 66. The Knights were held scoreless, while the Runnin’Lopes rattled off nine points to lead 75-66. The Knights chipped away at the lead, which led to the final second events.

The Knights are 9-10 overall and 5-6 in South Sub-Region play. Godfrey Rolle scored 28 points to lead the Knights. Lew finished with 15 points. Karwowski and Aaron Ridley added 13 points each. Karwowski had five rebounds to lead the Knights.

The Runnin’ Lopes improve to 14-9 on the season and 5-5 in South Sub-Region play. Caldwell led all scorers with 29 points. Aaris Bonds added 15 points. Lance Longo had 11 points and Ron Boone added 10 points. Boone had six rebounds to lead the Runnin’ Lopes.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights were defeated by the Lamar Community College Lady Lopes 78-73 on Friday Night at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium.

The first two minutes of the game was a scoring exchange between the Lady Knights Naria Hall and the Lady Lopes Armani Robbins. Both players scored their teams first few points with the Lady Lopes leading 6-5 in the first two minutes. The Lady Lopes went on to lead 19-11 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Lady Knights opened up the quarter outscoring the Lady Lopes 15-9 to pull within two points at 28-26. The Lady Lopes caught fire and went on an 11-1 run to jump out to their biggest lead of the game at 39-27. The Lady Knights and the Lady Lopes each scored 20 points in the second quarter and the Lady Lopes held a 39-31 lead at the half.

The Lady Knights opened up the second half with a 9-4 run to close the Lady Lopes lead to three at 43-40. With the score at 51-47, Robbins went to the line 10 times and connected on eight of them. The Knights outscored the Lady Lopes 24-22 to trail 61-55 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Lopes increased their lead to 10 at 68-58, but the Lady Knights chipped away at the lead and trailed by one point on a couple of occasions.

The Lady Knights are now 2-15 on the season. Three of the Lady Knights scored in double figures led by Hall, who finished with 25 points. Hannah Johnson added 17 points and Nahatabaa Nacona had 12 points. Allison Tichy led the Lady Knights with 11 rebounds.

The Lady Lopes are 12-10 on the season. Robbins led the Lady Lopes in scoring with 23 points. Hanna Diaz finished with 11 points and Kiara Budd added 10 points. Robbins had 11 rebounds to lead the Lady Lopes.