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NPCC Lady Knights Earn Postseason Honors

npcc-knightsNorth Platte – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team had several players earn post-season for their play during the 2013-2014 season. DaVontaye Merritt and Courtney Widick were named All-NCCAC (Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference) while Jordan Dickerson was named Honorable Mention All-NCCAC. Head coach Richard Thurin was named Co-Coach of the Year for the NCCAC. In Region IX Division II, Merritt and Widick were named All-Region along with April Stull. Richard Thurin was named Region IX Division II Coach of the Year. Merritt, Widick and Dickerson were also all named to the Region IX Division II All-Tournament team.

Sophomore DaVontaye Merritt was named All-NCCAC, All-Region IX Division II and All-Tournament Team for Region IX Division II. Merritt is a repeat selection on all three teams from a year ago. Merritt finished her career with 863 points, good for 3rd All-Time on the Lady Knights career scoring list after scoring 16.0 points per game. Merritt averaged a double-double as she pulled down 10.3 rebounds per game. Merritt had 14 games this season where she recorded a double-double.

Sophomore Courtney Widick was named All-NCCAC, All-Region IX Division II and All-Tournament Team for Region IX Division II. Last year Widick was an Honorable Mention All-NCCAC selection. Widick finished her career with 570 points, good for 18th All-Time on the Lady Knights career scoring list after scoring 9.5 points per game this season. Widick also pulled down 4.6 rebounds while averaging 2.0 assists per game and a team high 2.8 steals per game. Widick made 41 3-pointers at a 33 percent clip.

Sophomore Jordan Dickerson was named All-Tournament Team for Region IX Division II and Honorable Mention All-NCCAC. Dickerson was also named to the All-Tournament Team for Region IX Division II last year. Dickerson averaged 8.6 points and 3.6 rebounds to go along with a team high 3.9 assists per game and 1.4 steals per game. Dickerson made the most 3-pointers on the team at 45, making 33 percent of the 3s she attempted.

Freshman April Stull was named All-Region IX Division II. Stull was the Lady Knights second-leading scorer and rebounder at 11.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Stull shot 51 percent from the field this season.

Head Coach Richard Thurin was named Co-Coach of the Year in the NCCAC for leading his team to a 4-2 record in the conference and the first ever NCCAC Championship in school history. Coach Thurin was also named the Region IX Division II Coach of the Year after leading his team to a 3-1 record during the regular season and winning the Region IX Division II Tournament title by defeating Central Community College.

McDermott Shines in Big East Tournament Win over DePaul

Creighton-Jays-BasketballNEW YORK (AP) — Doug McDermott put on a dazzling shooting display in his Big East tournament debut, scoring a record 27 of his 35 points in the first half for Creighton during a victory over DePaul.

The nation’s leading scorer hit six of his first seven 3-point attempts, sending the second-seeded Bluejays (25-6) into the semifinals Friday night against third-seeded Xavier or No. 6 seed Marquette.

Jahenns Manigat added 14 points for Creighton, which left the Missouri Valley Conference for the new-look Big East this season, and Austin Chatman had 11. Led by McDermott, the league’s player of the year and a heavy favorite for several national awards, the Bluejays shot a sizzling 14 for 22 from 3-point range (63.6 percent) against 10th-seeded DePaul (12-21).

Brandon Young had 22 points in his final college game for the Blue Demons.

Two Big Ten Quarterfinals to Air on ESPN, Including NU-OSU

Big-Ten-LogoINDIANAPOLIS – The Big Ten announced that Friday’s first two quarterfinal games of the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament will be televised on ESPN. Eighth-seeded Illinois will take on top-seeded Michigan at Noon ET, while fifth-seeded Ohio State will face fourth-seeded Nebraska beginning at approximately 2:30 p.m.

Illinois advanced to the quarterfinals after a 64-54 win over Indiana, while Ohio State defeated Purdue, 63-61, to move onto the quarterfinal round.

Friday’s evening session will feature two games on BTN. Second-seeded Wisconsin will take on either Minnesota or Penn State beginning at 6:30 p.m., while third-seeded Michigan State will face either Iowa or Northwestern at approximately 9 p.m.

Area High School Basketball Roundup March 10-15

Area high school basketball scores for the week of March 10-15.

Boys Basketball

Class D1 State Tournament

No. 7 Clearwater/Orchard 46 No. 2 St. Patrick’s 42

2014 NSAA State Boys Basketball Championships Class D1

Faried Leads Nuggets over Magic 120-112

Denver_NuggetsORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Kenneth Faried scored 26 points and Wilson Chandler added 21 points and 10 rebounds to rally the Denver Nuggets to a 120-112 win over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday night.

JJ Hickson had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Ty Lawson added 17 points and 12 assists for the Nuggets, who ended a two-game losing streak.

Arron Afflalo led Orlando with 24 points. Nikola Vucevic added 20, but had only four points in the second half. Jameer Nelson scored 19 points and had nine assists in Orlando’s fifth loss in six games.

After trailing by as many as 13 points in the first half, Denver took an 85-74 lead into the fourth quarter. A fast-break layup by JJ Hickson gave the Nuggets a 105-92 lead with 4:49 to play.

The Magic trimmed the deficit to five on two occasions, but got no closer.

McDermott Unanimous Big East Player of the Year

Doug McDermott Creighton BluejaysNEW YORK (AP) — Doug McDermott, the nation’s leading scorer who led Creighton to a second-place finish in its first year in the Big East, is the unanimous choice as the conference’s player of the year.

Jay Wright, who led Villanova to its first outright Big East title since 1982, is the coach of the year and DePaul freshman guard Billy Garrett, Jr., is the rookie of the year in a vote of the conference coaches released Wednesday.

McDermott is looking to become the 11th three-time All-America and first since 1985. He is the seventh-leading scorer in NCAA history with 3,011 points and is averaging 26.5 points per game this season. He is believed to be the first player to win player of the year honors in two conferences. He was Missouri Valley Conference player of the year last season.

Silver: I Don’t See Tanking to Improve Draft Spot

NBA-BasketballBOSTON (AP) — NBA commissioner Adam Silver says he doesn’t see tanking going on in the league.

Silver said at a Boston College event on Wednesday that he thinks of tanking as players and coaches trying to lose on purpose. But he believes players and coaches are trying to win. Instead, teams are trying to rebuild through the draft, and that’s OK.

Silver was the guest of the Chief Executives’ Club of Boston.

This year’s college draft class is expected to be one of the best in memory. That has encouraged teams to trade away talent to improve their draft position. But that’s different from tanking.

Silver said teams are responding to the incentives set up by the league. If the incentives are wrong, that’s something the NBA needs to change, he said.

NCAA Selection Committee Faces Complex Choices

NCAA-Logo-College-SportsINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA tournament selection committee will have some tough choices this weekend.

It must determine where to seed Kansas in lieu of Joel Embiid’s back injury. It must evaluate where to put unbeaten Wichita State and how it views Syracuse, which has lost four of its last six. It must still find the top 36 at-large teams in a bracket that committee chairman Ron Wellman believes will be the most wide open he can remember.

And all of it must be finished by Sunday night.

Wellman told reporters Wednesday that committee members will be in touch with schools about injuries and may even come up with multiple brackets as a backup plan to help them deal with Sunday afternoon games.

Committee meetings begin Wednesday afternoon.

Jefferson, Walker Lead Bobcats Past Nuggets 105-98

Denver_NuggetsCHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Al Jefferson scored 26 points and Kemba Walker added 24 as the Charlotte Bobcats won their seventh straight game at home, defeating the Denver Nuggets 105-98 on Monday night.

Jefferson made 10 of his first 14 field-goal attempts and also had a game-high 12 rebounds. Walker added seven assists for the Bobcats, who also received a big boost from Gary Neal off the bench. Neal made his first six field-goal tries, including three 3-pointers, and ended up with 19 points.

Josh McRoberts added 15 points for Charlotte, including a key 3-pointer with 6:15 left at the shot-clock buzzer to extend Charlotte’s lead to 90-82 after Denver had cut it to five at 87-82.

Ty Lawson scored 24 points to lead the Nuggets.

Big Ten Announces 2014 Men’s Basketball Postseason Honors, 3 Huskers Honored

Big-Ten-LogoROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten men’s basketball All-Conference teams and individual award winners were announced on Monday, with Michigan’s Nik Stauskas earning Big Ten Player of the Year honors from the conference’s coaches and a media panel. Michigan head coach John Beilein claimed Coach of the Year laurels from the media while Nebraska head coach Tim Miles was named Coach of the Year by his peers. Indiana’s Noah Vonleh picked up Freshman of the Year accolades from the coaches and media. Ohio State’s Aaron Craft was named the Defensive Player of the Year while Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes was voted the Sixth Man of the Year by the coaches.

Stauskas takes home the Big Ten Player of the Year award after leading the conference with 13 games of 20 or more points. A four-time Big Ten Player of the Week this season, Stauskas ranked among the top five with 17.0 points per game and a .447 shooting percentage from three-point range in Big Ten contests only. The sophomore earns the fifth Player of the Year award in program history and the second in as many years for Michigan, following 2013 recipient Trey Burke.

Beilein led the Wolverines to their first outright Big Ten Championship since 1986. Michigan boasts a 23-7 overall record and a 15-3 mark in Big Ten play this season, marking the fourth consecutive year that Beilein has guided the Wolverines to a top-four finish in the conference standings. He is just four wins shy of his 700th career victory and five wins away from his 150th victory at Michigan. He collects his first Big Ten Coach of the Year award and the first for a Michigan coach since 1985.

Under the guidance of Miles, Nebraska posted a record of 11-7 in conference play, giving the Cornhuskers the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye in the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament. With an overall record of 19-11, Nebraska is one victory shy of its first 20-win season since 2008. Miles claims his first Big Ten Coach of the Year award.

Vonleh is Indiana’s 10th Big Ten Freshman of the Year selection after becoming the first freshman to lead the conference in rebounding since Ohio State’s Greg Oden in 2006-07. Vonleh is the second Hoosier in the last three seasons to be named Freshman of the Year along with Cody Zeller in 2012. Vonleh averaged 11.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in Big Ten contests.

Craft collects Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year laurels after setting the conference record with 328 career steals. The 2012 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Craft becomes the sixth conference player to win the award twice and gives the Buckeyes their fifth individual defensive honor. Craft led the conference with 2.7 steals and 4.6 assists per game this season in Big Ten play.

Hayes is averaging 8.0 points per game off the bench for Wisconsin and shooting 53 percent in all contests. He becomes Wisconsin’s second Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year and first since Jason Bohannon in 2008.

Stauskas was a unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection by both the coaches and the media. He was joined on the first team for both the coaches and media by Iowa’s Roy Devyn Marble, Michigan State’s Gary Harris, Nebraska’s Terran Petteway and Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky.

Joining Vonleh and Hayes on the coaches’ All-Freshman Team were Illinois’ Kendrick Nunn, Michigan’s Derrick Walton Jr., and Purdue’s Kendall Stephens. Craft was joined on the All-Defensive Team by his teammate Shannon Scott, Harris, Purdue’s A.J. Hammons and Wisconsin’s Josh Gasser.

The Big Ten also announced 12 Sportsmanship Award Honorees. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting.  This season’s honorees are Illinois’ Joseph Bertrand, Indiana’s Will Sheehey, Iowa’s Mike Gesell, Michigan’s Jon Horford, Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine, Minnesota’s Austin Hollins, Nebraska’s Shavon Shields, Northwestern’s Drew Crawford, Ohio State’s Lenzelle Smith Jr., Penn State’s Tim Frazier, Purdue’s Travis Carroll and Wisconsin’s Ben Brust.

2013-14 All-Big Ten Men’s Basketball Team

FIRST TEAM

Roy Devyn Marble, Iowa
NIK STAUSKAS, MICHIGAN
Gary Harris, Michigan State
Terran Petteway, Nebraska
Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin

SECOND TEAM

Yogi Ferrell, Indiana
Caris LeVert, Michigan
Adreian Payne, Michigan State
D.J. Newbill, Penn State
Sam Dekker, Wisconsin

THIRD TEAM

Noah Vonleh, Indiana
Aaron White, Iowa
Aaron Craft, Ohio State
LaQuinton Ross, Ohio State
Tim Frazier, Penn State

As selected by Big Ten coaches

HONORABLE MENTION

Rayvonte Rice, Illinois
Glenn Robinson III, Michigan
Keith Appling, Michigan State
Denzel Valentine, Michigan State
Andre Hollins, Minnesota
Shavon Shields, Nebraska
Drew Crawford, Northwestern
A.J. Hammons, Purdue
Ben Brust, Wisconsin

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

Kendrick Nunn, Illinois
Noah Vonleh, Indiana
Derrick Walton Jr., Michigan
Kendall Stephens, Purdue
Nigel Hayes, Wisconsin

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Gary Harris, Michigan State
Aaron Craft, Ohio State
Shannon Scott, Ohio State
A.J. Hammons, Purdue
Josh Gasser, Wisconsin

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Nik Stauskas, Michigan

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Aaron Craft, Ohio State

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:

Noah Vonleh, Indiana

SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR:

Nigel Hayes, Wisconsin

COACH OF THE YEAR:

Tim Miles, Nebraska

UNANIMOUS SELECTIONS IN ALL CAPS

As selected by Media Voting Panel

FIRST TEAM

Roy Devyn Marble, Iowa
NIK STAUSKAS, MICHIGAN
Gary Harris, Michigan State
Terran Petteway, Nebraska
Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin

SECOND TEAM

Yogi Ferrell, Indiana
Caris LeVert, Michigan
Adreian Payne, Michigan State
Aaron Craft, Ohio State
D.J. Newbill, Penn State

THIRD TEAM

Noah Vonleh, Indiana
Aaron White, Iowa
Drew Crawford, Northwestern
Tim Frazier, Penn State
Sam Dekker, Wisconsin

HONORABLE MENTION

Rayvonte Rice, Illinois
Will Sheehey, Indiana
Glenn Robinson III, Michigan
Keith Appling, Michigan State
Denzel Valentine, Michigan State
Andre Hollins, Minnesota
DeAndre Mathieu, Minnesota
Shavon Shields, Nebraska
LaQuinton Ross, Ohio State
A.J. Hammons, Purdue
Ben Brust, Wisconsin
Josh Gasser, Wisconsin
Traevon Jackson, Wisconsin

PLAYER OF THE YEAR:

Nik Stauskas, Michigan

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:

Noah Vonleh, Indiana

COACH OF THE YEAR:

John Beilein, Michigan

UNANIMOUS SELECTIONS IN ALL CAPS

Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honorees

Joseph Bertrand, Illinois; Will Sheehey, Indiana; Mike Gesell, Iowa; Jon Horford, Michigan; Denzel Valentine, Michigan State; Austin Hollins, Minnesota; Shavon Shields, Nebraska; Drew Crawford, Northwestern; Lenzelle Smith Jr., Ohio State; Tim Frazier, Penn State; Travis Carroll, Purdue; Ben Brust, Wisconsin

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