HARRISON, Ark. – The basketball season came to a close Thursday for the North Platte Community College women, who lost a consolation game to South Suburban (Ill.) 82-60 in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II championships from Pioneer Pavillion at North Arkansas College.

“This was definitely not the outcome we wanted but what we accomplished the last month of the season was outstanding,” North Platte Coach Jeff Thurman said. “Our student-athletes have nothing to hang their heads about.”

The Lady Bulldogs surged to a 12-point lead in the first quarter, but as the North Plate games have been over the past several weeks — the Knights fought back.

Down 22-10 with 1:32 left in the first quarter, North Platte fought back making three free throws in the next 55 seconds. A Trinity Langley (Potter, Neb.) bucket off a Madisyn Francis (Houston, Texas) assist with 32 second left in the half made it a seven-point game. After the Lady Bulldogs hit a basket, Francis came back to hit a bucket with two seconds left to pull the Knights to 24-17 at the end of the first quarter.

After neither team scored in the first two minutes of the second quarter, Francis hit a 3-pointer at the 8:57 mark to make it a 24-20 game. South Suburban muscled up and went on a 19-6 run over the next seven minutes to lead 39-26. The two teams traded baskets over their next possession, but Nahatabaa Nacona, (Chinle, Ariz.) went to the line and hit a free throw with 5 seconds left, missed a second free throw, but got her own rebound and sunk a 3-pointer at the buzzer to pull the Knights back within nine points at the half 41-32.

“We played with great effort and huge hearts today,” Thurman said. “I am extremely proud of each one of them.”

Just 56 seconds into the second half, Emily Joseph (St. Petersburg, Fla.) hit a 3-pointer to make it a six-point game at 41-35, but the Lady Bulldogs were able to put some distance on the Knights making a couple shots from distance, to stretch the lead to 47-35 and kept extending the lead – 15 points at the 6:07 mark, but once again, the Knights fought back.

A Joseph 3-pointer with 3:07 left in the third period cut the Lady Bulldog lead to 55-47 but that’s as close as the Knights got for the remainder of the game. South Suburban made it a 60-49 game at the end of the third period and held a 22-11 advantage in the final 10 minutes

It’s fitting that the two sophomores who led North Platte on the unlikely post-season run – Francis and Nacona led the Knights with 20 points 19 respectively, and they both went down fighting, with each player fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Joseph scored 13 points. Dehje Belmore, freshman, (Denver, Colo.) came off the bench to score six points. Langley led the Knights with nine rebounds (four on the offensive end).

North Platte shot 38.2 percent from the field, made seven of 23 shots from beyond the 3-point line, and 11 of 16 from the free-throw line.

Brianna Joiner led the Lady Bulldogs with 16 points. Yasmarella Thompson scored 15 off the bench. South Suburban also got double-digit games from Zakah Blake with 12 points and 11-point games from Diamond Stallworth and Danish Magette.

The Lady Bulldogs shot 42.5 percent for the game, made seven of 26 shots from the 3-point line (26.9 percent) and were 15 of 24 from the foul line (62.5 percent.) South Suburban out-rebounded North Platte 37-31 and scored 33 points in the paint compared to the 14 for North Platte.

The Lady Bulldogs scored 30 points off 23 North Platte turnovers. SSC turned the ball over 12 times.

South Suburban improves to 26-6 and will continue in the consolation round Friday at 1 p.m. for a chance in the seventh place game Saturday at noon.

North Platte finishes the season at 8-24.

“This year’s squad has set the bar high for next year and the years to follow,” Thurman said. “I’m honored to have coached this team this year.”

Harrison, AR – For just the third time in program history, the Women’s basketball program was going to take part in the national tournament. They drew the #16 seed after winning District F and would face off against #1 Illinois Central Cougars (31-1) to start the tournament.

The Knights knew they would have a tough battle but they were more then ready to meet the challenge.

From the tip however it was all Cougars. They would jump to a quick 5-0 lead after three minutes of play prompting a time out from head coach Jeff Thurman.

After the time out the teams would trade buckets and make it a 7-2 game. From there the next three minutes was both teams testing each other. Neither scoring the ball, both teams playing challenging defense. The Cougars would break out of the trend and behind a furious fast break attack would take the large lead 24-9 after the first quarter.

The Second quarter is where the Knights defense would really start to show its teeth. They would clamp down on the transition defense and would hound the cougars all quarter. All this would happen while the Knights started to show some energy on offense as well.

The Cougars would outscore the Knights in the second by only 2 points and would have the 42-25 lead at halftime.

After halftime, the Cougars from Illinois Central would show why they are the #1 team in the nation.

I would take them just over a minute to push their lead over the 20 point margin, something they were not able to do in the first half. With 8:38 left in the 3rd Illinois would have their first 20 point lead.

The Cougars would not stop the pressure and put a clamp on any offense North Platte tried to start. at the 5:5o mark they had their largest lead of the night 54-28 over the Knights.

At the end of three-quarters of play the Cougars held on to a 65-39 point lead.

At the start of the 4th the Knights showed signs of life and would jump out with a 7-2 run and then take a time out with 5:21 left in the game. At that point the score stood at 67-46.

The Knights would continue to pressure the Cougar defense and would force an Illinois time out with 3:37 left to play and a 70-53 score.

It was too little too late for the Knights however, the lead Illinois built was too large and the Knights fell 76-55.

Madisyn Francis lead the way with 19 points for the Knights. Also scoring in double figures was Nahatabaa Nacona with 13.

The best the Knights can finish is now 7th place. They will play #8 South Suburban (who lost to #9 Union County) on Thursday morning at 11am.

NORTH PLATTE – On Friday night, some of the players from the women’s basketball program were involved in an incident that goes against team code of conduct policies.

The incident in question did not involve any arrests for the Knights players but will result in suspensions being handed down just days before the team leaves for Harrison Arkansas where they will compete in the national tournament as the #16 seed.

The suspensions could affect the team for the tournament and also could extend into next season according to the team.

“It’s not anything that I consider major, but it was a violation of our team code of conduct, which is something we take very seriously,” Thurman said. “As a team, we are working through this together and are looking forward to playing in the national tournament.”

The team has not released any information on the suspensions or who was involved.

North Platte Community College men’s basketball coach Kevin O’Connor and three players have received all-conference honors and a pair of players top the All-Region IX south team.

Courtney Murrell and Jakub Karwowski received All-South Region IX first-team honors, joining Western Nebraska’s Jervay Green. O’Connor was named Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference Coach of the year with three Knights named to the team as well.

ALL REGION IX TEAM: In winning first-team All-Region south honors, Courtney Murrell, a 6-0 freshman guard from Plano, Texas, averaged 15.1 points per game – sixth best in the south region. He shot 48.5 percent from the field, averaged 5.3 rebounds per game and 3.2 assists. Defensively he led all south players with 57 steals on the season.

Jahub Karwowsk, a 7-1 sophomore center from Warsaw, Poland, averaged 9.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. He shot 70.6 percent from the field, tops among all players in the region. He was second in the south in rebounds per game and topped the south with 66 blocked shots this season.

Jervay Green rounds out the three players named to the first team. He led all scorers in the Region IX south with 23.6 points per game. He shot 54.7 percent from the floor, averaged 5.7 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. He was second in the south with 55 steals and third in assists with 98.

The second team is led by a pair of Western Nebraska players in Dru Kuxhausen, who was second in the south in scoring averaging 19.1 points per game and Martin Roub, who was third in scoring with 16.8 points per game. Isaac Essein, Trinidad State, is the other second-teamer. He averaged 10.7 and 4.6 rebounds per game.

Third team members included: Jubrile Belo, Lamar Community College, Wesley Harris, Otero Junior College, and Nyk Lange, Northeastern Junior College. Players receiving honorable mention included: Brevin Brimble, Lamar Community College; Ian Kelly, Trinidad State; Sam Mack, Otero Junior College; Peanut Cunningham, McCook.

NCCAC: Coach Kevin O’Connor, was named Nebraska Community College Coach of the Year and three of his players were named to the team in Murrell, Karwowski and Tim Johnson.

Johnson, a 6-3 freshman from Arlington, Texas was fourth in south sub-region in scoring, averaging 15.9 points per game along with 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists. He shot 52.1 percent from the field, 34.7 percent from the 3-point line and 86.2 percent from the free-throw line – second among all south region players.

Others named to the team were (from McCook CC) Tyrek Battle-Holley, Peanut Cunningham, and Mardrez McBride; (from Central CC), Latrell Talley, Tre Crawford; (from Southeast CC), Ray Harding and Ben Moss. Kenan Gray, received honorable mention.

Tickets for the Nebraska vs. Colorado State spring volleyball match will go on sale Saturday in McCook. They will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at the McCook Community College Graff Events Center, 401 E. M St. 

Tickets are $10 each, are limited to four per person and must be paid for with cash. They will only be sold to those ages 16 and up who provide identification. Anyone 2 or older must have a ticket to watch the game. Seating is general admission only.

Tickets will be sold from the southeast ticket booth in the lobby of the Graff Events Center. The southeast doors to the building will open at 11 a.m.

Due to the large amount of people expected, the ticket line will begin on the northeast corner of the Graff Events Center parking lot. Barricades will be set up along the east side of the building to help with organization, and MCC event staff will be on site to facilitate an orderly system for entry. 

In order to promote fairness and equal opportunity to all ticket buyers, saving places in line for large groups or cutting in line will not be allowed and will be monitored by college staff. 

There will be absolutely no entry to the Graff Events Center before ticket sales begin. Restrooms will be available across the street in McMillen Hall from 6 a.m. to 1p.m.

The match is scheduled for 1 p.m. April 20.

The North Platte Community College women came from 13 points down Saturday to down United Tribes Technical College 57-55, claim the Division II Region IX District F Championship, and also earn a berth in the NJCCA National Tournament March 19-23 in Harrison, Ark.

“What an unbelievable accomplishment for our program and student athletes,” said first-year North Platte Coach Jeff Thurman. “This team is the definition of perseverance and heart.”

The Knights survived a 12-game losing streak mid-season, opened post-season play with a 5-22 record.

If post-season wasn’t enough adversity, the game started in McDonald-Belton Gym on the North Platte Community College camps but finished up at North Platte St. Patrick’s High School gym, because of an extensive power outage on the south side of North Platte midway through the second quarter.

And then things really looked dark for the Knights. Over at St. Pat’s gym, United Tribes took a 13-point lead with about three minutes left in the third quarter and still held a 49-38 lead with 7:09 left in the game.

A couple free throws by sophomore Madisyn Francis (Houston, Texas) with 3:13 left in the game cut the deficit to seven points at 52-45. A Nahatabaa Nacona (Chinle, Ariz.) drive down the lane with 2:49 left resulted in an old-fashioned 3-point play. Her free throw cut the game to 52-48.

UTTC hit one of two free throws to open the lead back five points at the 2:27 mark but a Francis 3-pointer with 2:10 left in the game made it a 53-51 game. The Thunderbirds hit a couple free throws at the UTTC end to make it 55-51 with 1:43 left to play. A short jumper just inside the free-throw line by Francis made it a two-point game, then a couple free throws by Nacona tied the game at 55 with 1:06 left to play.

“Our two sophomores are our leaders and they made the big-time plays down the stretch,” Thurman said.

After a defensive steal at the Thunderbird end, Nacona came back the other way in transition and hit the big bucket with 45 seconds left to give North Platte the 57-55 lead. UTTC turned the ball over in their end and North Platte was able to run down most of the clock before the Thunderbirds gained possession with time running out and did manage to get the ball down court but not anywhere near the basket.

Francis led NPCC with 24 points, Nacona scored 14 points (Chinle, Ariz.) and freshman Emily Joseph (St. Petersburg, Fla.) added 10 points.

Freshman Katie Cox (New Port Richey, Fla.) led the Knights with 11 rebounds to go along with five points. Nacona grabbed 10. North Platte out-rebounded United Tribes 52-45.

United Tribes shot 33.3 percent from the field, made five of 23 3-pointers (21.7 percent) and 10 of 12 free throws (83.3 percent). Tariq Brownotter led the Thunderbirds with 20 points before she fouled out. Kierra Johnson had 17 points.

The Thunderbirds finish the season 15-17.

The Knights shot 25.7 percent from the field on 74 shots, made five of 18 from the 3-point line (18.5 percent) and connected on 14 of 23 shots from the free throw line (60.9 percent).

North Platte, now on a four-game winning streak, won the season finale against Lamar Community College 76-49 on Feb. 22. The Knights opened the Region IX Tournament with a 78-67 win at home Feb. 27 over Southeast Community College then went to Columbus March 3 to beat Central Community College 68-60 for the Region IX Division II title.

The Knights improve to 8-22 on the season — but more importantly become one of 16 teams in the nation still playing for the national championship.

“This is a program-changing win and we are playing in the National Tournament!” Thurman said.

Pairings will be decided after this weekend’s district games.

First-round games will be played Tuesday and Wednesday, March 19-20 with quarterfinals on Thursday, March 21, the semi-finals Friday, March 22 and the finals on Saturday March 23. All games will be played at Pioneer Pavillion at Harrison, Ark on the campus of North Arkansas College.