North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights women’s basketball team was defeated on Monday night by the Northeast Community College Hawks, 89-45.

Madisyn Francis, from Houston, Texas, was the lone player to score in double figures with 13 points.  Nahatabaa Nacona, from Chinle, Ariz., added nine points.

Katie Cox, from New Port Richey, Fla., had nine rebounds to lead the Knights and Francis added seven rebounds.

Irene Sanz led the Hawks and all scorers with 20 points.  Two other Hawks also scored in double figures.  Lauren Hunstad had 15 points and Blake Mann added 12 points. Three of the Hawks had seven rebounds.

The Knights, now 2-13 on the season, are in action on Friday night, when they travel to Trinidad, Colo., to play Region IX Division I opponent, Trinidad State Junior College.

North Platte, Ne – Knights basketball is finally back after almost a month break for the holidays.

The Women played their first game back on Friday the 11th (they were scheduled to play a game against York earlier in the week before it was cancelled) and the Men had their second game back after the break as both teams took on Central Community College.

The Women would have their first look at one of the teams they would need to go through to win the region in the matchup. Things started out all Raiders as they jumped on the Knights with an 8-0 run to open the game. The Knights were getting good looks at the rim but shots just would not fall for the Knights. Central would have a 14-2 lead after one quarter of play.

The second looked much like the first as Central would jump out of the gate again, starting the quarter with an 8-2 that would prompt a time out from Head Coach Jeff Thurman. Whatever Coach Thurman said to the team worked as the Women then went on a 10-3 run out of the time out. North Platte would outscore Central 21-15 in the quarter to go into halftime down just six; 29-23. Emily Joesph came alive in the 2nd scoring 12 points while playing good defense.

With all the momentum the Knights would come out hot in the second half and with 7:50 left in the third they would take their first lead of the game. Madisyn Francis got involved in the scoring as she put in 8pts to lead the Knights in the frame. Again the Knights would outscore Central Community College 21-12 and would take a three point lead into the fourth; 44-41.

That would set up a great fourth quarter of basketball. North Platte would continue its momentum and start the quarter off on a 12-8 run to go up by as much as seven at one point. Central would not go away behind the play of Monica Brooks, the 6’0″ forward from Oklahoma the Raiders were able to come back and retake the lead. The Raiders would get a few key stops down the stretch and edge out the Knights 68-62.

Leading the way for the Knights was Emily Joesph who had 23 in the contest along with 3 rebounds. Madisyn Francis also scored in double digits with 15 points.

The Women next play on the 14th as they travel to Norfolk to take on Northeast.

After the Women’s game was through the Men took to the court looking to keep rolling after playing the night before in Hastings.

The Men looked slow to start the game letting Central jump out to a 7-0 lead which got a quick time out from head coach Kevin Oconnor. He lit the fire under the men as they came out of the time out and rattled off 11 points to take the lead 11-9.

From there the teams spent the next few minutes trading the lead with neither team able to really get a leg up on the other one. Finally the Knights were able to break through when Ilya Tyrtyshnik the forward from the Ukraine found his shot and knocked down two big three point shots. From there the Knights were able to get some distance and pull away from the Raiders taking a 41-24 lead into half time.

The second half was all North Platte as they came out and showed why they are perfect this year at home and have only one loss on the season. Tyrtyshnik continued his hot shooting (he would end the game with 22 points) and help keep the game out of reach. Center Nelo Nducuia from Mozambique would corral 11 rebounds before fouling out and the Knights would improve to 11-1 on the season, getting the win 74-59.

The Men play next on Friday as they travel to southern colorado to play Otero and Trinidad.

North Platte – Alexa McCall, head volleyball coach of the North Platte Community College Knights, announced the signing of two players for the 2019 season, Chloe Baker, from Wiggins, Colo., and Ruby Valle, from Weldon Valley High School in Weldona, Colorado.

Baker, a 5’ 3” setter, played four seasons on the Wiggins varsity team.  In her career, Baker had 3367 set assists, 800 defensive digs, 105 service aces and a serving percentage of 94.2 in 1456 attempts.

“We are excited to have Chloe join the Lady Knight family,” McCall said. “She is a fundamentally sound player that has a mind for the game!”

Valle, a 5’ 1” defensive specialist, played four seasons for the Weldon Valley varsity.  Valle had 817 defensive digs, 70 service aces, and a serving percentage of 93.5 in 705 attempts.

“Ruby comes from a solid program and we are excited to have her join the program,” McCall said. “She will add depth in the passing position.”

Baker and Valle join Erica Hopping, from Sutherland, Alysen Daniels and Courtney Rice, from Mullen to the 2019 recruiting class for the Knights.

Hastings – The North Platte Community College Knights men’s basketball team opened up the second semester with a 100-81 win over the Hastings College Junior Varsity Broncos on Thursday night.

The Knights led at halftime, 52-42.

The Knights had five players scoring in double figures, led by Courtney Murrell, from Carrollton, Texas, who led all scorers with 26 points. Edgars Kaufmanis, from Valmiera, Latvia, was next in scoring with 18 points. Mert Halavurte, from Izmir, Turkey, and Ilya Tyrtyshnik, from Kiev, Ukraine, each had 14 points. The other Knight to score in double figures was Nelo Nducuia, from Maputo, Mozambique, who finished with 10 points.

The Broncos also had five players in double figures. Trevor Adelung, Josh Quinn, and Shannon Watkins, each had 14 points. Ryan Ierra, had 12 points, and Austin Esch had 11 points

The Knights, improve to 10-1 on the season.

They are next in action tomorrow night at home when they play Region IX Division II and Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference opponent Central Community College.

Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m., following the women’s basketball game.
The night is “Military Appreciation” night.

The games will be broadcast on 98.1 FM / 1410 AM radio or on the Internet at www.northplattepost.com.

They will also be livestreamed at www.npccknights.com.

Scottsbluff, NE – It came out of the blue, a 30 year career has come to an end. Late in the afternoon on Jan 8th Joe Benson informed Scottsbluff High School that he was resigning effective immediatly.

Soon after that AD Dave Hoxworth sent out an email explaining the situtation:

Good Afternoon,

The purpose of this email is to inform you that Coach Joe Benson has resigned his position as Head Football Coach at Scottsbluff High School.

This position will be opened up immediately and remain open until filled.

Coach Benson has agreed to help the team transition through the winter conditioning season, and our goal is to have a replacement for him as soon as possible.

Through Coach Benson’s 30 year career at Scottsbluff, Joe coached at the freshman level for 2 years and the last 28 years with the varsity program and the last 12 years as the head coach. Coach Benson compiled an 85-39 record as the head coach of the Bearcats. Prior to becoming the head coach, Joe served as the defensive coordinator for several years.

It is very difficult to lose a coach that has had such a positive impact on our football program for the last 30 years. Joe has a tireless work ethic and is a coach that truly loves the game of football, but most importantly, Coach Benson loved building relationships with our student-athletes and treating kids with a tremendous amount of respect. One of Joe’s greatest qualities was to get the absolute best from every athlete that competed on our football team. Coach Benson has a unique gift to place a player in positions on our football team that would directly impact the success of our team.

We wish Coach Benson the best and thank him and his family very much for the long-lasting impact and the sacrifices they have made that comes with the responsibility of being a head football coach.

North Platte – Four members of the North Platte Community College Knights volleyball team were named to the Omaha World Herald All-Nebraska Two-Year College volleyball team.

Luisa Hernandez Marin, from Yuma, Colo., was named to the first team. Taylin McNair, from Imperial;, Sydney Mullin, from Maxwell, and Bailey Chintala, from Fleming, Colo, were named honorable mention.

Hernandez Marin, a sophomore outside hitter, led the Knights in kills with 404. She also had 468 defensive digs and 29 service aces on the season Hernandez Marin was named to the All-Region IX Division II team and the Region IX Division II All-Tournament team.

McNair, a sophomore setter, led the Knights in set assists with 752 and service aces with 47. McNair also had 297 defensive digs. McNair was also named to the Region IX Division II All-Tournament team.

Mullin, a freshman middle blocker, led the Knights in total blocks for the season with 98 and was fourth in kills with 245.  Mullin also had a .231 kill efficiency which led the Knights. Mullin was named to the All-Region IX Division II team.

Chintala, a freshman libero, led the Knights with 563 defensive digs. She also had 75 set assists.

The Knights were crowned the National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX Division II champions in November.

North Platte – Two members of the Nebraska State Class D-2 third place Mullen High School Broncos, Alysen Daniels and Courtney Rice, signed letters of intent to play volleyball at North Platte Community College in the 2019 season.

The Broncos finished the season at 29-4

Daniels, a 5’ 8 outside hitter, was a captain on the 2018 Broncos and played on the varsity team for three seasons. In her career, Daniels finished with 567 kills, 127 blocks, 431 defensive digs, and 60 set assists.

“Alysen is an athletic kid that plays a lot bigger than her size, Knights Head Volleyball Coach Alexa McCall said. “She’s a solid player that will add depth to our outside position.”

Rice, a 5’ 11” middle blocker, played four seasons on the varsity team. In her career, Rice had 231 kills, 117 total blocks, 120 defensive digs and 43 set assists.

“Courtney adds height to our roster and will be a good blocker for us on the right side,” McCall said.

“Both come from a solid program and we are excited to add them to our 2019 recruiting class,” McCall said.

They join Erica Hopping, from Sutherland, on the 2019 recruiting class for the NPCC Knights Volleyball team

The Nebraska Athletic Department and the University of Akron have finalized a two-part agreement, addressing the 2018 canceled football game between the schools and scheduling a future contest in Lincoln.

Nebraska will play host to Akron at Memorial Stadium on Sept. 6, 2025. Akron will receive a guarantee of $1.45 million for the 2025 game in Lincoln.
Nebraska will pay Akron $650,000 for the originally scheduled game on Sept. 1, 2018, that was canceled due to severe weather in Lincoln. The contract signed in 2014 provided a guarantee of $1.17 million for Akron to play the game in Lincoln, and Nebraska has agreed to pay more than half of that guarantee despite the game being canceled.

“We are pleased to finalize an agreement with Akron that is beneficial for both institutions,” Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos said. “We have had good dialogue with Akron during this process and are appreciative of the cooperation and patience from everyone involved. We look forward to Akron making a return trip to Memorial Stadium in 2025.”

The 2025 game against the Zips will be the home opener at Memorial Stadium for Nebraska. The Huskers open the season at Illinois on Aug. 30, before Akron will visit Lincoln. Nebraska also has a non-conference game scheduled at Cincinnati on Sept. 13, 2025, with one remaining non-conference opening.