The North Platte St. Patrick’s Lady Irish earned a wildcard bid to the class C2 state basketball tournament. St. Pat’s (21-3) will be the No. 5 seed and face the No. 4 seed Ravenna (21-4) in the opening round on Thursday at 2 pm at Lincoln North Star High School.

Full State Basketball Brackets

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team defeated the Otero Junior College Rattlers 72-54 at the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

The Knights jumped out to a 10-2 lead. The Rattlers scored the next eight points to tie the game at 10.

In the first half there were six lead changes with the Knights leading 36-24 at halftime.

The Knights shot 60.7 percent from the field, while holding the Rattlers to 40.7 percent in the first half.

In the second half the Knights never relinquished the lead, shooting 52.4 percent in the second half and led by as many as 23 points, 68-45.

For the game, the Knights shot 56.8 percent from the field and went 7-13 from beyond the three-point line.

The Knights are now 21-7 and 8-7 in Region IX South Sub-Region play. Victor Lewis and Godfrey Rolle each had 13 points to lead the Knights in scoring. Samuel Kearns added 12 points. Buom Dubuol led the Knights in rebounding with seven rebounds.

The Rattlers are now 19-8 and 9-7 in South Sub-Region play. Sekou Cisse led all scorers with 14 points and Jordan Jones added 11 points. Cisse added 10 rebounds to lead the Rattlers.

The Knights will close out the regular season on Tuesday, February 28, when they host McCook Community College.

ESPN 1410 will broadcast the game. It will also be on the Internet at www.northplattepost.com. It will be livestreamed at www.npccknights.com.

Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team won a critical game against Region IX South Sub-Region foe Trinidad State Junior College Trojans on Friday night 81-76 at the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium.

The Knights started off the game by jumping out to a 10-0 lead and led by as many as 17 at 24-7. The Trojans then went on a 13-3 run to make the score 27-20. The Trojans pulled within five an 37-32, but the Knights outscored the Trojans 6-3 at the end of the half to have a 43-35 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Trojans made two consecutive three-pointers to pull within two at 43-41. The Knights stretched the lead out to eight points at 59-51 and continued to lead throughout the game. The Trojans tied the score at 64 on a couple of free throws by Malik Hart.

The Knights retook the lead and went on a 13-5 run to take the lead 77-69. The Trojans did cut the Knights lead at 79-76. Godfrey Rolle sank a couple of free throws to seal the win for the Knights.

The Knights are 20-7 on the season and 7-7 in South Sub-Region play. Rolle led the Knights in scoring with 24 points. Rolle was one of four Knights to reach double figures on the night. Mike Amius was next with 18 points. Samuel Kearns finished with 11 points and Victor Lewis added 10 points. Amius recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds.

The Trojans are 15-11 on the season and 8-7 in Region IX South Sub-Region. Brandon Newman led the Trojans with 15 points. Charles Henderson had 14 points and Rene Melendez added 10 points. Henderson had five rebounds to lead the Trojans.

The Knights are next in action tomorrow afternoon when they host another Region IX South Sub-Region opponent, the Otero Junior College Rattlers. The
Rattlers beat the Knights in La Junta, Co on a buzzer beater.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN 1401 radio and on the Internet at www.northplattepost.com. It will also be livestreamed at www.npccknights.com.

Tip-off is at 3 pm CST.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team will host a pair of Region IX South Sub-Region opponents this weekend in crucial games.

On Friday, Feb 24, the Knights will host the Trinidad State Junior College Trojans. The Trojans are 15-10 on the season and 8-6 in Region IX South Sub-Region play. Karamoko Cisse and Brandon Newman lead the Trojans in scoring at 12.8 points per game. Tykeem Anderson is third in scoring for the Trojans at 12.7 ppg and Malik Hart is averaging 10 ppg. Cisse is also leading the Trojans in rebounding at 6.5 rebounds per game. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm CST.

On Saturday, Feb 25, the Otero Junior College Rattlers will visit McDonald-Belton Gymnasium. The Knights lost on a buzzer beater at La Junta, Colo, back on Jan 20. Tip-off is set for 3 pm CST.

The Rattlers are 18-7 overall and 8-6 in South Sub-Region play. Jervae Robinson leads the Rattlers in scoring with a 14.2 ppg average. Next is Michael Sparks at 13 ppg and Jordan Jones is the other Rattler in double figures at 12.3 ppg. Charles Gavin leads the Rattlers in rebounding at 6.6 ppg.

The Knights come into the weekend at 19-7 on the season and 6-7 in Region IX South Sub-Region play. Diontae Champion leads the Knights in scoring at 16 ppg. Champion is one of five Knights averaging in double figures. The others are Samuel Kearns at 12.9 ppg, Godfrey Rolle at 12.7 ppg, Mike Amius at 11.5 ppg and Victor Lewis at 10.8 ppg. Amius leads the Knights in rebounding at 5.8 rpq.

All three teams are battling to make the top four seeds in the South Sub-Region. The top four seeds will host a first round game of the Region IX tournament on March 4. Currently, Laramie County is seeded first with a 12-3 record, Lamar Community College and Western Nebraska Community College, each have a 10-5 record. Otero and Trinidad have two game left in the South Sub-Region. Each play the Knights and McCook Community College.

The Knights also have to play McCook on Tuesday Feb 28, besides these two games.

Both game will be broadcast on ESPN 1410 radio and on the Internet at www.northplattepost.com. They will also be livestreamed on www.npccknights.com.

Sterling, Colo – The North Platte Community College Knights softball team won a pair of games in a doubleheader against the Northeastern Junior College Plainswomen on Wednesday afternoon.

In the first game, the Knights defeated the Plainswomen 8-7. Sophomore Samantha Foster picked up the win for the Knights.

In the final game of the day, the Knights completed the sweep with a 12-9 win. Erin Renwick got the win in game two.

“Our defense and offense are getting more consistent each game we play. Knights Head Coach Janelle Higgins said, “Our pitchers threw well and had help all the way around the field. We left less runners on base today which helped us secure two wins.”

The Knights had three home runs on the day. One each from Foster, Samantha Gill, and Alyiah Franco. Sarah Beaton added a triple.

The Knights are now 6-8 on the season and will be in action Saturday, Feb 25 when they travel to Council Bluffs, Iowa, to face the Iowa Western Community College Lady Reivers in a doubleheader. Game times are at noon and 2 pm.
On Sunday, Feb 26, they will travel to Norfolk, to play the Northeast Community College Lady Hawks.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights ended the regular season on sophomore night, losing to the McCook Community College Lady Indians 82-57.

It was the final regular season game for six Lady Knight sophomores: Aljahnay Duncan, Mai’Zhrae Zeno, Caroline Delatour, Thomesha Wilson, Mickenzie Brennan and Jessica Lovitt.

The game was the final regular season game for Lady Knights Head Coach Richard Thurin, who is retiring at the end of the season. Thurin has coached the Lady Knights for 16 seasons.

The game started out with the Lady Indians taking the early lead at 8-2. The Lady Knights did pull within one at 15-14, but the Lady Indians went on a 6-0 run to take their largest lead of the first quarter at 21-14. At the end of the first quarter, the Lady Indians led 21-16.

In the second quarter, the game remained close, with the Lady Indians leading throughout the quarter. The Lady Knights did pull again within one at 30-29, but the Lady Indians scored the final four points of the half to take a 34-29 lead going into the break.

The Lady Indians opened up their lead in the third quarter after going on an 11-4 run to take a 12 point lead at 45-33. The Lady Indians continued to increase their lead by finishing out the quarter outscoring the Lady Knights 18-16 to take a 63-49 lead at the end of three.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Indians increased on their lead outscoring the Lady Knights 19-8 to get the win.

The Lady Indians are 14-14 on the season. They were led in scoring by Kaylea Wason with 17 points. Atunuwa Eva was next with 14 points. A’leah Davis added 13 points and Colby Cox had 12 points. Erica Peet grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Lady Indians.

The Lady Knights fall to 9-18 on the season. Lovitt led all scorers with 18 points. Wilson added 12 points. Brennan and Zeno each finished with 10 points. Wilson recorded a double-double by grabbing 12 rebounds.

The Lady Knights now must wait for the outcome of the game between Central and Southeast on Saturday to see who their next opponent will be in the Region IX Division II tournament and where the game will be. If Southeast wins, they will be the number one seed and will host the winner of the Lady Knights and Central. If Central defeats Southeast, all three teams will finish at 2-2 and a tie-breaker will come into play.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights softball team just completed a four day eight game road trip, finishing 2-6 on the weekend.

On Thursday, Feb 16, the Knights traveled to play the Trinidad State Junior College Trojans in Trinidad, Colo. The Trojans swept the Knights 14-4 and 15-7.

On Friday, the Knights went to Borger, Texas and lost to Dodge City Community College 2-1. They rebounded and defeated host Frank Phillips College 10-4.

On Saturday, the Knights split a doubleheader with Frank Phillips, winning the first game 8-3, and losing the second game 5-8.

The Knights completed their road trip with a stop in Garden City, Kan., to play the Garden City Community College Broncbusters. The Broncbusters swept the Knights 11-6 and 8-0.

The Knights are 4-8 on the season and will play next at Northeastern Junior College in a double header on Wednesday, Feb 22. The games were originally scheduled for Feb 28. Game times are at 3 pm and 5 pm CST.

Check www.npccknights.com for box scores and seasonal statistics.