The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team defeated the Southeast Community College Storm in a Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference game 80-68 Saturday.

The Knights improve to 15-4 overall and 2-0 in conference play.  Southeast drops to 7-12 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

The Knights were red-hot in the first half, shooting 17 for 27, which is 63 percent.  They were also five of eight from behind the three-point line.

The Knights led at halftime 42-35.

The Knights cooled off in the second half, shooting 39.1 percent from the field.

The Storm’s offensive rebounding kept them in the game as they had an 18 to 7 advantage over the Knights in offensive rebounding.  Their ability to control the offensive board led to 16 second chance points compared to 6 for the Knights.

The Knights were led in scoring by Cameron Williams with 23 points.  CJ Polk scored a career high 19 points, and Matt Thomas scored 11 points.  Thomas also led the Knights in rebounding with 7.

Knights Assistant Coach Ryan Glenney said,” CJ Polk gave us a great spark off the bench with his career high 19 points, and Matt Thomas led us with seven tough rebounds.”

The Storm were led in scoring by Snyder Cenecharles with 18 points.  Other Storm players to score in double figures were Noah Scott with 16 points and John Swift with 10 points.  Altez Davis and Josh Stroud each had 8 rebounds to lead the Storm.

The Knights continue their five game road swing next Friday as they travel to face Trinidad State Junior College.  Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CST.​

The North Platte Community College Lady Knights were defeated by the Southeast Community College Lady Storm 71-57 at the Truman Events Center in Beatrice Saturday.

The Lady Knights drop to 10-8 on the season and 1-1 in National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX Division II play. The Lady Storm improve to 10-6 overall and 1-0 in the region.

“It was a game of runs,” said Lady Knights head coach Richard Thurin.

Mid-way through the first half the Lady Storm went on a 14-2 run to take a 25-12 lead with 5:05 left to go in the half.

The Lady Knights then went on a 8-4 run to cut the lead to nine at half, 29-20, keyed by a three-pointer by Sarah Mahr.

In the second half, the Lady Knights scored the first seven points to cut the Southeast lead to two, 29-27.

The Lady Knights took the lead 44-43 with just under 13 minutes to play.

The game see-sawed back and forth until the Lady Storm opened up the game down the stretch.

“It was hard to defend Southeast’s inside game,”  Thurin said.  “We need to play better defense without fouling.”

The Lady Knights had three of their starters on the bench in the first half because of foul trouble.

Thurin also praised the play of Sarah Mahr.  Mahr had her second double-double in as many nights.  She had 18 points and 13 rebounds.  “Sarah played her best game tonight,” Thurin said.

Other Lady Knights to score in double figures were Aliyah Brown, who scored 15 points and April Stull who finished the game with 12 points.  Brown also recorded a double-double as she pulled down 10 rebounds.

The Lady Storm were led in scoring by Veshae Wilkinson, who led all scorers with 23 points.  Breanna Grant added 16, and Dionne Martin chipped in 12 points.  Martin led the Lady Storm in rebounding with 9.

The Lady Knights return to action on Friday, January 23 at home against Northeast Community College.

The game may be seen online at www.coachesaid.com.

Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. CST (Note:  The game was originally scheduled for 3:00 but was moved up due to the South Platte Valley Association High School Tournament later that night at McDonald-Belton).​

The North Platte Community College Knights defeated the Central Community College Raiders in a Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference game  78-47 Friday night.

The Knights started out slow  and held a 34-25 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Knights pulled away and outscored the Raiders 44-22 to seal the win.

Knights assistant coach Ryan Glenney said, “We held them to 25.9 percent shooting from the floor in the second half.”

The Knights continued their hot free throw shooting on the season, shooting 24 for 30 from the free throw line.  Coming into this game the Knights were eighth in the nation as a team in free throw percentage with 74.4 percent.

The Knights were led in scoring by Cameron Williams, who scored 29 points.  Williams went 8 for 12 from the field with 2 three pointers and 11 for 12 from the free throw line.  Williams is now averaging  23.5 points per game and is currently fifth in the nation in scoring.

Other Knights scoring in double figures were Marco Pascolo with 11 points and Matt Thomas with 10 points.

Matthew McLeod from Brownlee was the only Raider in double-figures with 19 points

The Knights improve to 14-4 overall and 1-0 in conference play.  The Raiders drop to 3-15 overall and 0-2 in the conference.

The Knights continue on the road as they travel to Beatrice to play the Southeast Community College Storm in another Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference game.  Game may be seen on ihigh.com. Tip-off is at 4:00 p.m. CST

The North Platte Community College Lady Knights defeated the Central Community College Lady Raiders in a key National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX Division II game, 74-58 Friday night.

The Lady Raiders jumped out to an early 11-2 lead with just under 18 minutes to go in the first half.

The Lady Knights pulled within three at half time and trailed 29-26.

In the second half the Lady Knights went on a 20-2 run to contribute to the win.

Head coach Richard Thurin said, “We played great defense and had four girls in double figures.  It was a great team effort.”

The four Lady Knights that scored in double figures were  April Stull, who led all scorers with 17 points, Aliyah Brown had 15 points and four steals, Ester Micheva had 12 points, and Sarah Mahr had 10 points. Stull and Mahr both recorded a double-double as Stull had 15 rebounds and Mahr had 11 rebounds

The Lady Raiders were led in scoring by Montrese Weller who scored 14 points.  Adrianna Beck was next in the scoring column with 13 points.  McKenna Rossmeier finished with 10.

North Platte improves to  10-7 overall and 1-0 in sub-region play.  Central drops to 9-8 overall and 0-1 in the sub-region.

The Lady Knights continue on the road as they travel to Beatrice to play the Southeast Community College Lady Storm in another Region IX Division II game.  Game may be seen on ihigh.com.  Tip-off is at 2:00 p.m. CST

The North Platte Community College Knights and Lady Knights play the Southeast Community College Storm Saturday, January 17 at the Truman Center Gymnasium in Beatrice.

Both games are Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference games.  The women’s game is also a Region IX Division II game.

In Region IX Division II there are three teams: North Platte, Southeast, and Central.  The Division II tournament championship will be hosted by the number one seed, against the winner of the number two and number three seeded teams.

The Knights play Central Community College the night before.

The Lady Knights are 9-7 overall for the season.  They are led in scoring by sophomore April Stull of Sweeny, Texas with a 16.4 scoring average.  Stull also leads the team in rebounds with 8.9 rebounds per game and in blocks with 1.5 blocks per game.

The Lady Storm, 9-6 on the season, are led in scoring by Breanna Grant, who is averaging 10.2 points per game.  Chelseah Savage is just under averaging double figures with 9.9 points per game.  Veshae Wilkinson leads the Lady Storm in rebounding with 6.6 rebounds per game.

In the men’s game, the Knights come into the game with a 13-4 record.  They are led by sophomore Cameron Williams from Omaha South.  Williams is averaging 23.2 points per game.  Other Knights in double figures are Shyquinn Dix, a freshman from Stamford, CT, averaging 12.3 points per game, and Marco Pascolo, a sophomore from Udine, Italy, averaging 11.8 points per game.

Pascolo also leads the team in rebounding with 7.8 rebounds per game.

The Storm, 7 -11 overall, has two players averaging in double figures. John Swift is averaging 10.8 points per game and Altez Davis is averaging 10.4 points per game.  Davis also leads the Storm in rebounding with 6.8 per game.

Tip-off for the Women’s game is at 2:00 p.m. The Men’s game is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

The games may be viewed on ihigh.com.

The North Platte Community College Knights Basketball team defeated the Laramie County Community College Golden Eagles 87-84 in a key Region IX game on Special Olympics night at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium Wednesday night.

The Knights improved to 13-4 and 6-1 in Region IX South sub-region play to remain in a tie with Northeastern Junior College for the lead in the South sub-region.

The Golden Eagles dropped to 14-5 overall and 5-2 in the South Sub-region.

The standings in the sub-region are crucial because the top four seeds in both the North and South sub-regions will host the first round of the Region IX tournament.  The winners of those games will advance to the top remaining seed in the North for the remainder of the Region IX tournament.

The Knights jumped out to an 11-0 and stretched the lead out 31-16 with 7:49 in the first half on a three pointer by freshman Matt Thomas.

Mullen native Riley Rice dished out 3 of his 6 assists in the first half.

The Golden Eagles outscored the Knights down the stretch in the first half 19-13 to cut the Knights lead to 44-35 at halftime.

In the second half. The Golden Eagles went on a 13-4 run to tie the score at 48 a piece with 16:49 left in the game.

Laramie took their first lead of the game 56-54 with just under 14 minutes to play.

During the rest of the game there were six lead changes and five ties.  The final lead change was with 1:15 to play when Cameron Williams made a layup to put the Knights ahead 81-79.

The Golden Eagles cut the Knights lead to two, 86-84 on a three pointer by Spencer Svejcar.

Riley Rice was fouled on the inbound by Darien Fernandez and sent to the free throw line.  Rice made one of two free throws to put the Knights ahead by three to clinch the win

“It was a good team win, we played unselfishly and passed the ball well”, Knights assistant coach Ryan Glenney said after the game.  The Knights had 17 assists led by Rice’s 6 assists.

The Knights were led in scoring by Cameron Williams with 35 points to lead all scorers.  Marco Pascolo scored 19 on some clutch three pointers and free throws.  Shyquinn Dix was the other Knight to score in double figures with 16 points.

The Golden Eagles were led in scoring by Kamari Robinson with 26 points.  Three other Golden Eagles hit the double digit mark:  Darien Fernandez scored 21, Spencer Svejcar scored 19, and Alexis Dargenton scored 12.

The Knights go on the road this weekend to face Central Community College in Columbus on Friday.  They then travel to Beatrice to play Southeast Community College on Saturday.  Both games are Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference games.

Tip- off for the Central game is 7:30 p.m. on Friday and 4:00 p.m. on Saturday for the Southeast game.

The North Platte Community College Knights and Lady Knights Basketball teams will travel to Columbus to face the Central Community College Raiders on Friday January 16.

Both games are Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference games.  The women’s game is also a National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX Division II region game.

The Lady Knights, who are 9-7 on the year, are led by April Stull.  Stull is averaging 16.4 points per game and 8.9 rebounds per game.  Both statistics are leading Region IX Division II in those categories.

Other players to watch for the Lady Knights are Aliyah Brown from Omaha Burke. Brown is averaging 9.6 points per game and is second in the region with 3.8 steals per game. Ester Micheva from Bulgaria is averaging 6.6 rebounds per game, which is third in the region.  Micheva is also averaging 6.8 points per game and is coming off a 14 point and 12 rebound game against Northwest Kansas Technical College.

The Lady Raiders, 9-7 on the year, are led by the number two and number three leading scorers in the region.  Adrienna Beck is averaging 16.2 points per game and Montrese Weller is averaging 15.7 points per game. Paige Muhammed is  another Lady Raider averaging in double figures with 13.2 points per game.

McKenna Rossmeier leads the Lady Raiders in rebounding with 6. 3 rebounds per game.

The Lady Raiders are averaging as a team 82. 2 points per game and giving up 80.7 points per game.

The Lady Knights are averaging 60. 8 points per game and giving up 53.8 per game.

In the men’s game, the Knights, currently 12-4 on the year, are led by sophomore Cameron Williams.  Williams is leading Region IX Division I in scoring with 22.4 points per game.  Currently Williams is 10^th in the nation in scoring.

Other Knights in double figures are Shyquinn Dix, averaging 12.1 points per game, and Marco Pascolo, averaging 11.4 points per game.  Pascolo is also averaging 7.9 rebounds per game, which is leading the Region IX South sub-region.

The Raiders, who are 3-14 on the year have three players in double figures.  Shawn Robinson leads the Raiders with 14.1 points per game.  Thomas Johnson is averaging12.9 points per game.  Matthew McLeod, who is also averaging 10.2 points per game, leads the Raiders with 4.8 rebounds per game.

The Knights are averaging 80.8 points per game and allowing 69.6 points per game.

The Raiders are averaging 69.8 points per game and allowing 82.9points per game.

The women’s game is scheduled for tip-off at 5:30 pm CST.  The men’s game will follow with approximate tip-off time set for 7:30 pm CST.