Sports – Page 339 – North Platte Post Archive

Broncos, Colts, Pats, Cards Clinch Playoff Berths

Posted on December 14, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Denver, New England and Indianapolis all clinched division titles with victories Sunday, while Arizona earned a playoff berth without even playing.

The Cardinals, who beat St. Louis 12-6 on Thursday night, earned their first playoff spot since the 2009 season when the Dallas-Philadelphia game Sunday night didn’t end in a tie. The Cowboys won 38-27.

The Broncos won the AFC West for the fourth straight year with a 22-10 victory at San Diego.

Tom Brady and the Patriots beat Miami 41-13 to win the AFC East for the sixth consecutive year and become the first team in NFL history with 11 division titles in 12 years.

The Colts held off the Houston Texans 17-10 to clinch the AFC South title and a third consecutive playoff appearance.

Spurs Bounce back for 99-91 Win over Nuggets

Posted on December 14, 2014

DENVER (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points and the San Antonio beat the banged-up Denver Nuggets 99-91 on Sunday night.

Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili added 15 points apiece for the Spurs, who bounced back from Friday’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers despite the absence of Tony Parker, who was out with an injured hamstring.

Arron Afflalo had a season-high 31 points to lead the Nuggets, who have lost six of their last seven games.

J.J. Hickson started in place of injured Kenneth Faried and Ty Lawson left the game with 3:02 remaining in the second quarter after a collision with Ginobili opened a cut above his left eye. The cut was bandaged and he returned early in the third quarter.

Down by 10 points heading into the fourth quarter, the Nuggets pulled to 79-74 on a baseline jumper by Afflalo with 5:42 remaining.

The teams were trading baskets until Ginobili drained a 3-pointer and Cory Joseph drove in for a reverse layup around a Nuggets turnover as San Antonio went in front 94-84 with 2 minutes left to play and Denver couldn’t get back within striking distance.

Josh Lamberson New Nebraska-Kearney Football Coach

Posted on December 14, 2014

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Central Missouri offensive coordinator Josh Lamberson has been named head football coach at Nebraska-Kearney.

The university announced Sunday night that Lamberson would be introduced at a news conference on campus Monday.

Lamberson said in a statement that Nebraska is a proud football state and he plans to build the program around in-state players who are hard-nosed and committed to success.

The 32-year-old Lamberson is a native of Wilber, Nebraska. He has been an assistant coach at Central Missouri, Southeastern Oklahoma State and Northwest Missouri State. He was at Central Missouri for five years, the last four as offensive coordinator.

Lamberson replaces Darrell Morris, who was UNK’s head coach for 15 years.

Lamberson signed a three-year contract with an annual salary of $100,000.

Sick, Sore Manning leads Broncos to AFC West Title

Posted on December 14, 2014

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Peyton Manning played through a thigh injury and flu-like symptoms and Connor Barth kicked five field goals to lead Denver to a 22-10 victory against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday that gave the Broncos their fourth straight AFC West title.

Manning came out of the game late in the second quarter. He apparently hurt his thigh while blocking linebacker Donald Butler on a run by C.J. Anderson.

He returned for the start of the third quarter and on Denver’s second possession threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas to give the Broncos a 16-3 lead.

The Broncos (11-3) won their fourth straight game.

Denver’s 12th straight division road win tied San Francisco’s NFL record set from 1987-90.

The Chargers (8-6) entered the game as the AFC’s No. 6 seed and saw their wild-card chances diminished. They’ve lost two straight.

Alex Smith, Chiefs Rout Raiders 31-13

Posted on December 14, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Smith threw for 297 yards and two scores, Kansas City shut down Derek Carr and the Oakland offense and the Chiefs beat the Raiders 31-13 on Sunday to end a three-game skid.

Knile Davis had touchdowns running and receiving, and De’Anthony Thomas returned a punt 81 yards for another score as the Chiefs (8-6) got even for a 24-20 loss to Oakland (2-12) last month.

The Chiefs led 10-6 early in the third quarter before scoring three touchdowns in 4 minutes, 42 seconds. The last was a 70-yard throw from Smith to Davis, who had taken over the majority of running back duties after Jamaal Charles took a shot to the head.

Charles appeared to pass concussion testing and returned briefly to the game.

Carr finished 27 of 56 for 222 yards, throwing a TD pass in the final minute. The Raiders’ rookie also was sacked four times and fumbled a snap that led to a Kansas City touchdown.

Huskers’ Season Comes to an End in Elite Eight

Posted on December 14, 2014December 14, 2014

SEATTLE, Wash. – The 14th-seeded Nebraska volleyball team’s run through the NCAA Tournament came to an end late Saturday night in Alaska Airlines Arena, as the Huskers fell to upset-minded BYU 3-0 (21-25, 20-25, 21-25) in the Seattle Regional Final.

The Huskers finished the season 23-10 and came up one match shy of the NCAA Semifinals for the third straight season. Nebraska has been in four regional finals since its last NCAA Semifinals appearance in 2008 but has been unable to advance each time.

After upsetting No. 3 Washington on Friday to snap the Huskies’ 34-match home win streak, the Huskers couldn’t muster the same performanceon Saturday to top the Cougars.

BYU (29-4) entered the NCAA Tournament ranked 12th in the nation but was unseeded. The Cougars reeled off a second-round win over No. 11 Arizona and a Sweet 16 win over No. 6 Florida State on Friday before knocking off the Huskers on Saturday. BYU will take on No. 2 Texas in one NCAA Semifinal in Oklahoma City, Okla. next Thursday. The other semifinal pits top seed Stanford against fifth-seed Penn State.

Amber Rolfzen led the Huskers with 11 kills. Kadie Rolfzen had 10 kills and 15 digs for her fourth double-double of the NCAA Tournament. Kelsey Fien added nine kills. Senior setter Mary Pollmiller capped her Husker career with 38 assists for a career total of 5,230, which ranks fourth among current DI setters. Justine Wong-Orantes had 22 digs in a solid defensive effort.

The Husker game plan of limiting BYU’s 6-7 hitter Jennifer Hamson worked. After posting 30 kills Friday vs. Florida State, Hamson was held to nine kills and .132 hitting by the Huskers. But the rest of her teammates stepped up, led by Alexa Gray’s 11 kills and .310 hitting. Tambre Nobles had 10 kills, and Amy Boswell added eight while hitting .438.

BYU showed why its the top blocking team in the nation, tallying 12 blocks to eight for the Huskers. NU had a 70-57 advantage in digs but committed four service errors and four reception errors to allow the Cougars to gain an edge.

Nebraska opened up an 11-9 lead early on in set one, but the Cougars used a 3-0 spurt to take a 12-11 lead. The teams engaged in a sideout battle before BYU took a 20-18 lead after Hamson’s first kill and a Husker hit off the antenna. After a Husker timeout, BYU’s Ciara Parker served an ace to make it 21-18 and Hamson killed again for a 22-18 lead, causing another Husker timeout. Kadie and Amber Rolfzen struck for back-to-back kills to cut it to 22-20 before BYU took a timeout. The Huskers then committed a service error and a reception error to fall down 24-20. The Cougars ended it at 25-21 on their fifth block of the set. BYU outhit NU .333 to .214.

Nebraska went up 5-3 in the second set on stuffs from Hall and Kadie Rolfzen and then Meghan Haggerty and Amber Rolfzen. But BYU went on a 5-0 run to take an 8-5 lead. Alohi Robins-Hardy started it with a set kill and a joust win. Two Husker attacking errors and a Boswell kill gave the Cougars the three-point edge. A Cecilia Hall kill and Pollmiller ace trimmed the deficit to 10-9. NU then fell behind 14-10 before stringing together a 4-0 run by picking up its defense. Haggerty and Kadie Rolfzen combined for a block to even the set after Wong-Orantes and Annika Albrecht produced key digs. The Huskers took a 17-16 lead after BYU hit wide. But the Huskers broke down defensively, committing passing and reception errors to help BYU to a 22-18 lead. Hamson had two kills down the stretch to help BYU finish the 25-20 win.

Melanie Keil provided a spark off the bench in set three with two kills to tie it 8-8 before Hall and Fien combined for a block for a 9-8 Husker lead. The Huskers led 11-10, but BYU rallied for a 14-11 lead a kill by Hamson and kill and block by Boswell. The Cougars began to pull away, going up 19-14 on a Husker service error, attack error and Hamson kill. The Huskers continued to fight, as a Fien kill and Pollmiller ace cut it to 20-17 and forced a BYU timeout. NU thought it had cut the lead to one when Hamson’s blast went long, but it was ruled to have tipped off a Husker’s fingers and instead made the score 21-18. The Cougars went up 23-19 after the Huskers hit long and they ended the sweep with a 25-21 win.

All-Tournament Team
Nicole Walch, Florida State
Krista Vansant, Washington
Kadie Rolfzen, Nebraska
Mary Pollmiller, Nebraska
Amy Boswell, BYU
Alexa Gray, BYU
Jennifer Hamson, BYU (Most Outstanding Player)

Oshie gives Blues 3-2 win over Avalanche in OT

Posted on December 14, 2014

DENVER (AP) — T.J. Oshie scored from the slot at 1:03 of overtime and the St. Louis Blues beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on Saturday night.

Kevin Shattenkirk had a goal and an assist and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo also scored for the Blues, who have won four straight and gave Paul Stastny a win in his return to Denver.

Stastny was back for the first time since signing a four-year deal with St. Louis in the offseason. He spent his first eight seasons in Colorado and left ranked eighth in franchise history with 458 points.

Erik Johnson had both Colorado goals and Gabriel Landeskog had two assists for the slumping Avalanche, which has lost five of six. Rookie goalie Calvin Pickard finished with 39 saves.

NPCC Knights Fall Short to Dodge City

Posted on December 13, 2014

The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team fell short against the Dodge City Community College Conquistadors 80-79 at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on Saturday night.

Dodge City avenged a loss 70-68 on their home court to the Knights on November 18. In that game Marco Pascolo hit a three pointer with 1.4 seconds to win it for the Knights.

In the first half Saturday the Conquistadors jumped out to a 22-16 lead. The Knights then went on a 19-6 run to take their largest lead of the first half 35-28. The Knights held a 38-35 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Knights led by 6 with just under 14 minutes to play 52-46. The Conquistadors went on a 20-5 run to take a nine-point lead 66-57.

The Knights were down by four late, 80-76. Cameron Williams attempted a three pointer with time running out. He was fouled in the act of shooting and went to the line for three shots. Williams made all three shots to pull the Knights within one.

Williams led all scorers with a career high 46 points. Williams’ 46 points were four points shy of the school scoring record set by David Lafferty in 1970 against Eastern Wyoming College.

Williams has scored more than 30 points in his last four games, scoring a total of 130 points in the four games moving him into 36th place on the Knights’ all-time scoring list with 739 points.

CJ Polk was the only other Knight in double figures. Polk finished with 11 points. Marco Pascolo pulled down 11 rebounds, 9 on the defensive side.

The Conquistadors were balanced in their scoring with 5 of the 9 that played scoring in double figures. James Newton led the Conquistadors with 17 points, followed by Ameer Jackson with 16 points. Payton Pervier scored 15, George Brock scored 13, and EJ Eaves finished with 10 points.

The Knights fall to 10-3 on the season. Dodge City improves to 10-4.

The Knights are off until after the semester break. They return to action on January 6 when they travel to Goodland, Kansas to play Northwest Kansas Technical College. The game may be heard on ESPN Radio 1410 or www.northplattepost.com. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. CST.

North Platte returns home to play Western Nebraska Community College on January 9 in a National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX south sub-region game. The game may be seen on www.coachesaid.com . Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m. CST.

Nebraska Holds Off Cincinnati 56-55 in 2 OT

Posted on December 13, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Benny Parker’s pull-up jumper gave Nebraska the lead with 1:03 left, and the Cornhuskers survived a scrambling finish to defeat Cincinnati 56-55 in double overtime Saturday night.

The Cornhuskers (6-3) bounced back from a stinging loss to transitioning Division I team Incarnate Word with a rough-and-tumble victory against a Cincinnati team that was playing its first true road game.

Terran Petteway and Shavon Shields scored 13 points apiece to lead Nebraska. Troy Caupain had 13 points, six assists and a career-high five steals for the Bearcats (6-2).

Nebraska somehow won after making only four field goals after the 11:54 mark in the second half and committing a season-high 22 turnovers.

Parker’s winning shot came after Shields had launched an air ball that teammate Tai Webster rebounded. Webster got the ball to Parker, who gave the Huskers a one-point lead.

Cincinnati’s Octavius Ellis missed two free throws with 53.3 seconds left.

Howard, Harden lead Rockets over Nuggets, 108-96

Posted on December 13, 2014

HOUSTON (AP) — Dwight Howard had 26 points and 13 rebounds in his return from injury, James Harden had a triple-double, and the Houston Rockets overcame an early deficit for a 108-96 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night.

Howard, who missed the previous 11 games with a strained right knee, also reached a milestone, eclipsing 10,000 rebounds in his career.

Harden had 24 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds for his third career triple-double. He almost didn’t get it, grabbing his 10th rebound with less than a second left in the game.

Ty Lawson had 19 points and 12 assists, and Darrell Arthur had a season-high 20 points for the Nuggets.