Sports – Page 278 – North Platte Post Archive

Trade, Injury Talk Takes Toll on Rockies’ Troy Tulowitzki

Posted on February 23, 2015

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Everywhere Troy Tulowitzki goes, he hears two questions: Can he stay healthy? And will he be traded?

The four-time All-Star shortstop reported early to Colorado Rockies camp on Monday with a steely resolve. He acknowledges the trade talk affected him in the offseason because his name seemingly was mentioned “every single day, and pretty hard.”

Tulowitzki is ahead of schedule as he again comes off surgery. This time it was on his hip. He’s also been sidelined with wrist, groin and rib injuries. It’s why he’s missed 222 games over the past three seasons.

Still owed at least $118 million on a contract that runs through 2020, Tulowitzki’s future is uncertain with a Rockies team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2009.

Boldt Earns Big Ten Honor

Posted on February 23, 2015

Lincoln – Nebraska outfielder Ryan Boldt was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday following a stellar performance during a 3-1 series victory over the BYU Cougars last week in Peoria, Ariz.

A sophomore from Red Wing, Minn., Boldt hit .625 (10-for-16) in the series, with at least two hits in every game, including a pair of three-hit performances. Boldt slugged .750 in the series and had an on-base percentage of .684, while two of his three walks were intentional.

On the season, Boldt is hitting .520 (13-for-25) with eight runs scored, while walking five times to just two strikeouts.

Monday’s award marks the third time Boldt has earned a weekly award from the conference office, as he was twice named Big Ten Freshman of the Week last season.

NPCC Basketball Teams to Host McCook on Military Night

Posted on February 23, 2015

The North Platte Community College Lady Knights and Knights basketball teams will host the McCook Community College Indians on Tuesday, February 24 at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on the South Campus of North Platte Community College.

The night is designated “Military Night.” To honor those who served our country, all veterans and active duty and their families will be admitted free into the games. There will be a color guard from the 1074 Transportation Company of the Nebraska National Guard at the men’s game.

The women’s game is a Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference game. The Lady Indians defeated the Lady Knights in McCook on January 28 by a score of 69-59.

The Lady Knights are 13-13 on the season and 2-3 in conference play. They are led in scoring by sophomore April Stull from Sweeny, Texas. Stull is averaging 15.7 points per game. Stull has 735 career points which places her in seventh place on the Lady Knights all-time scoring list. Aliyah Brown, a sophomore from Omaha Burke High School is second on the team in scoring with a 10.5 points per game scoring average.

This will be the last regular season game for sophomores Kirra Hill-Carter, Aliyah Brown, Clara Vinton, Alleyah Evans, Ester Micheva and April Stull. They will be recognized prior to the game, along with parents of all members of the Lady Knights basketball team.

The Lady Indians are 16-13 overall and 3-2 in conference play. They are led in scoring by freshman Chante Church with an average of 20.7 points per game. Lucia Archuletta and Brooksie McWilliams are the other Lady Indians averaging in double figures with 12 points per game and 10.4 points per game respectively. Church in the first meeting of the two teams lit up the scoreboard with 30 points.

The men’s game will also be a NCCAC game, as well as a National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX game. The Knights will be looking to go a perfect 6-0 in the conference. The game will also determine the pairings for the upcoming Region IX tournament. North Platte is in a virtual tie for second with Laramie County Community College. Northeastern Junior College clinched the number one seed with the win over the Knights on Saturday night.

The Knights are 21-8 on the season, 10-5 in the south sub-region. The Knights are led in scoring by Cameron Williams from Omaha South High School with a 21 points per game average. Williams is 17^th in the nation in scoring and is tied for 12^th on the Knights all-time scoring list with Mike Schroer, who played from 1989- 91 with 1048 career points.

The other Knight to average in double figures is sophomore Marco Pascolo from Udine, Italy, at 11 points per game.

This will be the last regular season game for sophomores Cameron Williams, Luke Pittle, Xavier Hall, Riley Rice, Zach Mann, and Marco Pascolo.

The Indians who are 16-13 on the season are led in scoring by Clint Thomas with an 18.2 points per game average. Former Papillion-LaVista and former North Platte High School standout Trey Moore is averaging 13.8 points per game. Three other Indians are averaging in double figures. Hakim Davis, 12.4 points per game, Dominic Cain, 12.4 points per game, and Karim El-Amin, 10.4 points per game.

The games may be heard on ESPN Radio 1410 or online at www.northplattepost.com. They may also be viewed online at www.coachesaid.com.

Women’s game is set to tip-off at 5:30 p.m. and the men’s game is set to tip-off at 7:30 p.m. CST.

Kentucky Unanimous No. 1 in AP Poll for 4th Straight Week

Posted on February 23, 2015

Kentucky is the unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 for the fourth straight week.

The Wildcats (27-0) received all 65 first-place votes from a 65-member media panel Monday after routing Tennessee and Auburn last week.

Virginia remained No. 2, followed by Gonzaga, Duke, Wisconsin, Villanova and Arizona. It’s the first time the top seven have remained the same for six straight weeks since 1992-93.

Northern Iowa moved into the top 10 for the first time in school history, sliding in behind No. 8 Kansas and No. 9 Notre Dame.

San Diego State returned to the poll at No. 24, and No. 25 Providence was ranked for the first time since the final poll of 2003-04.

Ohio State and Oklahoma State dropped out.

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 22, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:

	Record	Pts	Prv
1. Kentucky (65)	27-0	1,625	1
2. Virginia	25-1	1,526	2
3. Gonzaga	28-1	1,471	3
4. Duke	24-3	1,448	4
5. Wisconsin	25-2	1,390	5
6. Villanova	25-2	1,306	6
7. Arizona	24-3	1,228	7
8. Kansas	22-5	1,111	8
9. Notre Dame	24-4	1,109	10
10. N. Iowa	26-2	1,032	11
11. Wichita St.	25-3	930	13
12. Iowa St.	20-6	887	14
13. Utah	21-5	876	9
14. Maryland	22-5	695	16
15. North Carolina	19-8	655	15
16. Oklahoma	19-8	622	17
17. Louisville	21-6	613	12
18. Arkansas	22-5	564	18
19. Baylor	20-7	473	20
20. West Virginia	21-6	453	23
21. SMU	22-5	357	21
22. VCU	21-6	182	25
23. Butler	19-8	165	19
24. San Diego St.	22-6	117	—
25. Providence	19-8	72	—

Others receiving votes: Georgetown 58, Michigan St. 56, Murray St. 42, Oklahoma St. 25, Ohio St. 12, Valparaiso 10, Texas A&M 8, Rhode Island 3, Stephen F. Austin 2, Oregon 1, Texas 1.

This Week in Nebraska Athletics

Posted on February 23, 2015

Monday, Feb. 23 Men’s Golf at Puerto Rico Classic Rio Grande, P.R. 7 a.m.

Monday, Feb. 23 Women’s Golf at Westbrook Spring Invitational Peoria, Ariz. 9:30 a.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 24 Men’s Golf at Puerto Rico Classic Rio Grande, P.R. 7 a.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 24 Women’s Basketball Minnesota (BTN) Pinnacle Bank Arena 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 25 Women’s Tennis St. John’s Lincoln Racquet Club 11 a.m.

Thursday, Feb. 26 Men’s Basketball at Ohio State (ESPN) Columbus, Ohio 6 p.m.

Feb. 27-March 1 Swimming & Diving at Last Chance Meet TBA TBA

Friday, Feb. 27 Track & Field at Big Ten Indoor Championships Geneva, Ohio 9 a.m.

Friday, Feb. 27 Bowling at Central Missouri Women’s Invite Kansas City, Kan. 11 a.m.

Friday, Feb. 27 Women’s Tennis Denver Lincoln Racquet Club 4 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 27 Baseball at Loyola Marymount Los Angeles, Calif. 8:05 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 28 Rifle at GARC Championships Oxford, Miss. 8 a.m.

Saturday, Feb. 28 Bowling at Central Missouri Women’s Invite Kansas City, Kan. 8:30 a.m.

Saturday, Feb. 28 Men’s Tennis South Dakota State Lincoln, Neb. 9 a.m.

Saturday, Feb. 28 Track & Field at Big Ten Indoor Championships Geneva, Ohio 9 a.m.

Saturday, Feb. 28 Softball vs. North Texas (Tulsa Tournament) Tulsa, Okla. 10 a.m.

Saturday, Feb. 28 Softball at Tulsa (Tulsa Tournament) Tulsa, Okla. 12:15 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 28 Women’s Tennis Denver vs. Wichita State Nebraska Tennis Center 1 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 28 Men’s Tennis Creighton Lincoln, Neb. 6 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 28 Baseball at Loyola Marymount Los Angeles, Calif. 8:05 p.m.

Sunday, March 1 Bowling at Central Missouri Women’s Invite Kansas City, Kan. 8:30 a.m.

Sunday, March 1 Softball vs. Northern Iowa (Tulsa Tournament) Tulsa, Okla. 9 a.m.

Sunday, March 1 Softball vs. Creighton (Tulsa Tournament) Tulsa, Okla. 11 a.m.

Sunday, March 1 Women’s Tennis Wichita State Nebraska Tennis Center 1 p.m.

Sunday, March 1 Soccer South Dakota State Hawks Championship Center 2 p.m.

Sunday, March 1 Women’s Gymnastics Master’s Classic (Illinois, San Jose St.) Devaney Center 2 p.m.

Sunday, March 1 Baseball at Loyola Marymount Los Angeles, Calif. 2:05 p.m.

Sunday, March 1 Women’s Basketball Ohio State (BTN) (Senior Day) Pinnacle Bank Arena 4 p.m.

MacKinnon’s Hat Trick lifts Avs to 5-4 Win over Lightning

Posted on February 22, 2015

DENVER (AP) — Teenage center Nathan MacKinnon had the first hat trick of his young career, Matt Duchene also scored and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-4 on Sunday.

Alex Tanguay had a goal and Semyon Varlamov made 28 saves for the Avalanche, who have won four of five. Ryan O’Reilly added two assists for Colorado

MacKinnon, at 19 years and 5 months, became the youngest player in Avalanche history to score three goals in a game. It was Colorado’s first hat trick since Duchene did it Nov. 4, 2011, at Dallas, a span of 258 games.

Tyler Johnson had a goal and two assists for Tampa Bay, and Nikita Kucherov added a goal and an assist. Ondrej Palat and Brett Connolly also scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 13 saves.

Westbrook leads Thunder past Nuggets Without Durant

Posted on February 22, 2015

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Russell Westbrook had 21 points and a career-high 17 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 119-94 on Sunday night without Kevin Durant.

Durant was out after a procedure on Sunday to replace a screw that was causing soreness in his surgically repaired right foot. The reigning NBA MVP is expected to return this season.

Westbrook, playing with two new starters, put on a show. He had 10 assists in the second quarter and 12 in the first half.

Enes Kanter had 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder, who have won six straight and eight of nine. Serge Ibaka added 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Ty Lawson scored 17 points and Danilo Gallinari added 16 for Denver, which has lost seven of eight.

Nebraska Coach Bans His Players from Locker Room after Loss

Posted on February 22, 2015

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska coach Tim Miles is so steamed about his team’s 28-point loss to Iowa that he’s locking his players out of their locker room.

The Cornhuskers’ 74-46 loss Sunday was their fifth straight and seventh in eight games. They’re 13-14 overall and 5-8 and in 10th place in Big Ten after finishing fourth and making it to the NCAA tournament last year.

Miles also said players would not speak to the media until further notice, adding, “If there’s anyone who’s going to represent us right now, it’s me.”

Nebraska’s $19 million training facility opened in 2011 and features a deluxe locker room with heated towel racks and I-pod plug-ins in the showers.

Asked where the players will shower after practices, Miles said, “Good luck. They’re creative young people.”

Nuggets Waive Robinson, Claver

Posted on February 22, 2015

DENVER (AP) — The Denver Nuggets waived Thomas Robinson and Victor Claver, two of the players they acquired in a deal with Portland at the trade deadline.

General manager Tim Connelly announced the moves Sunday.

Robinson, Claver and Will Barton, along with a 2016 lottery-protected first-round pick, were obtained from the Trail Blazers on Thursday for Arron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee.

The 6-foot-9 Claver was drafted by Portland with the 22nd pick in 2009. He played 80 games over three seasons with the Blazers.

Robinson, a 6-9 forward out of Kansas, was originally drafted by Sacramento with the fifth-overall pick in 2012. He was dealt to Houston and then to Portland. He has played 172 games, averaging 4.6 points and 4.4 rebounds.

NFL Prospects Attempt to Move Past Forgettable Moments

Posted on February 22, 2015

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — NFL prospects come to Indianapolis each February to focus on their futures.

It’s their past embarrassments that always seem to get attention at the league’s annual scouting combine.

Here, no question is off limits — dropping the football on the 1-yard line before a score, sitting out a season because of an academic scandal, even aiming too high on an opposing player and getting ejected in a conference championship game.

And here, the possible draft picks will get their chance to explain what happened.