North Platte Community College Lady Knights Basketball lost a heartbreaker to Colby Community College at the McDonald – Belton gymnasium Saturday night 58-54.

The Lady Knights jumped out to a 26-4 lead and led at halftime by 10, 34-24

During the second half the Colby Community College Lady Trojans started a different group of players and cut at the Lady Knights lead.  They eventually tied the score at 51 with 4 minutes left in the game on a layup by Deandra Williams.  Williams scored the next 4 points to put the Lady Trojans ahead for good 55-51.

Lady Knights head coach Richard Thurin said the key to the game was, “Fouls, fouls, fouls,” he said. ” We need to play defense without fouling.”  The Lady Trojans took advantage by hitting 20 of 34 at the free throw line.

Coach Thurin also praised the play of Zulema Viescus, Sarah Mahr, and Aliyah Brown and the defensive play of Maddie Seamann.

Aliyah Brown led the Lady Knights in scoring with 11 points, followed by April Stull and Ester Micheva with 9 points.  Sarah Mahr grabbed 8 rebounds to lead the Lady Knights.

The Lady Trojans were led in scoring by Williams with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

The Lady Knights will look to improve on their 2-4 record when they face Doane College Junior Varsity on Sunday, November 16 at the McDonald-Belton gymnasium.  Tip-off is at 2:00 PM. The game may be viewed online at www.coachesaid.com.

The North Platte Community College Knights extended their home winning streak to 30 after defeating Midland University Junior Varsity 101-62 Friday night at the McDonald – Belton gymnasium.

“We had a pretty good effort tonight.  We challenged them the last couple days in practice and the first eight or nine minutes, the defensive intensity was pretty good.” according to Knights head coach, Kevin O’Connor.  The Knights jumped out to a 24-7 lead with twelve and a half minutes left in the first half and maintained the lead the remainder of the half leading 45-30.

In the second half, the Knights continued their defensive intensity and opened the game up and led as much as 46 points during the second half.

The Knights were led in scoring by freshman Shyquinn Dix, who came off the bench and led all scorers with 18 points.  The Knights had four other players that ended in double figures:  Cameron Williams, 17, Matt Thomas, 16, Tyree Peter, 14, and Marco Pascolo, 13.

Peter and Pascolo also grabbed 8 and 7 rebounds respectively.

Midland was led by Tyler Ripperger with 9 points.

The Knights take to the road on Tuesday, November 18, travelling to Dodge City Community College.  Tip-off will be at 7:00.  The game can be heard on ESPN 1410 or online at www.northplattepost.com.

The North Platte Lady Knights improved their season record by defeating Hastings College JV 76-70 at McDonald Belton gymnasium on Wednesday night.

The Lady Knights were led by sophomore April Stull, who had a career high 32 points before fouling out late in the game.  Stull also added 11 rebounds on the night.  The only other Lady Knight who scored in double figures was sophomore Aliyah Brown with 11 points.

Defense was the key to the game, according to Lady Knight Head Coach Richard Thurin.  The Lady Knights ended up with 17 steals led by freshman Whitney Edwards with 5 and Brown and Stull with 4 each.

The Lady Knights shot 34 percent the first half compared to the Lady Broncos 52 percent but only trailed by 1 at intermission 32-33.    Thanks to solid defense and fast breaks the Lady Knights opened up to an 11 point lead with 11:30 left in the game.  Hastings College clawed their way back into the game to pull within 2 with 3:30 left to play.

The Lady Broncos were led in scoring by Maria Van Kirk with 24, Jordan Johnson with 15, and Amy Schmelzer with 14.

The Lady Knights return to action on Saturday, November 15, against Colby Community College at home.  Tip- off is at 6:00.

The North Platte Community College Knights will host the Midland University JV on Friday, November 14, at 7:00 pm at the McDonald – Belton gymnasium.

The Knights have four players averaging in double figures in scoring.  Sophomore Cameron Williams from Omaha South leads the team in scoring with a 21.3 average, which in the early season is fourth in Region IX.  Other players in double figures are Matt Thomas (13.3) from Elkhorn; Tyree Peter (13.0) from Omaha Benson and Marco Pascolo (12.0) from Udine, Italy. Pascolo also leads the team in rebounding with a 7.0 average.

The Knights are 3-0 on the season averaging 93 points a game while allowing 72.7 points.

The game will be live streamed at www.coachesaid.com

The North Platte Community College Lady Knights will be in action on Wednesday, November 12 against the Hastings College Junior Varsity Lady Broncos at 7:00 pm at the McDonald- Belton Gymnasium.

The Lady Knights come into the contest with a 1-3 record in the early season, 1-1 at home.

Sophomore April Stull from Sweeny, TX leads the Lady Knight attack with 19.0 points and 10.0 rebounds a game.

Other players to watch are Sophomore Aliyah Brown from Omaha (Burke), NE who averages 5.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, and Freshman Sara Mahr from Sidney averaging 5.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Another local athlete that could see playing time is  Maddie Seamann from Hershey.

The game will be aired on  ESPN Radio 1410 or on www.northplattepost.com.  It will be videostreamed at www.coachesaid.com.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights (3-0) men’s basketball team opened up their home slate of games Thursday night at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium by hosting the Hastings College JV. The Knights shot 50% from the field in the first half to earn a halftime lead and would go on to earn an 85-79 victory.

The Knights were led by sophomore Cameron Williams who scored 24 points on 9 of 14 shooting from the field to go along with 5 of 8 free throws. Williams also led the Knights in assists with three and steals with two. Sophomore Marco Pascolo led the Knights with eight rebounds while also chipping in 13 points. Matt Thomas was the only other Knight in double-figures as he scored 14. Both freshman Tyree Peter and Fadil Robinson chipped in eight points and seven rebounds.

Hastings JV was led by Jake Hansen and Creighton Buhr who each scored 15 points. Buhr had a double-double also pulling down 11 rebounds. Kendall Ferguson contributed 14 points and Calisto Nyumbura had 11 rebounds.

“It was a game of runs,” said assistant coach Ryan Glenney. “We were able to maintain the lead throughout the game but need to build and sustain leads better. That takes discipline and experience.”

The Knights return to action next Friday, November 14 as they host the Midland University JV at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium at 7 p.m. The Knights then take to the road to face Dodge City Community College on Tuesday, November 18 at 7 p.m.

McCook – The North Platte Community College Knights (2-0) men’s basketball team started out the season with two neutral site victories. The Knights traveled to McCook to compete in the McCook Community College Classic to face Clarendon College and the Doane College JV. On Friday evening, the Knights defeated Clarendon College 102-59. On Saturday the Knights returned to action and defeated the Doane College JV 91-80.

In the first game of the season, the Knights were led by sophomore Cameron Williams who scored 22 points. Sophomore Marco Pascolo and freshman Tyree Peter each scored 15 points while Peter led the way with seven rebounds. Sophomore Xavier Hall led the way in assists and steals as he recorded six assists and four steals. Freshman Matt Thomas was the fourth Knight in double-figures as he scored 11.

Against the Doane College JV, Cameron Williams again paced the Knights as he scored 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting. Marco Pascolo led the way on the boards, recording nine and chipping in eight points. Freshman Shyquinn Dix had five assists while Xavier Hall again had four steals. The Knights had four other players in double-figure scoring led by Tyree Peter who scored 16, Matt Thomas with 15, Dix with 13 and Hall with 10. The Knights shot 53% from the field and 53% from the 3-point line.

The Knights play their first home game of the year on Thursday, November 6 at 6 p.m. as they host the Hastings College JV in McDonald-Belton Gymnasium.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights (1-1) women’s basketball team earned a split during the opening weekend of the season as they hosted the Hampton Inn Classic. The Lady Knights started out their season with a victory over the Midland University JV by a score of 57-35 on Friday night. North Platte returned to action the following day to complete the Classic but were handed their first loss of the season to Fort Carson 60-64 after leading at the half by a score of 36-28.

Against the Midland JV, the Lady Knights used a strong defensive effort to emerge victorious. North Platte held the Midland JV to only 28.9% shooting from the field and 23.5% from the 3-point line while shooting 49.1% themselves from the field. Sophomore April Stull led the way for the Lady Knights as she scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Sophomore Aliyah Brown was the only other Lady Knights in double-figures as she finished with 10 points, six rebounds and had two assists. Freshman Sarah Mahr chipped in eight points and sophomore Ester Micheva had seven rebounds.

In the second game of the season, the Lady Knights were again led by Stull and Brown. The Lady Knights led Fort Carson at 26-28 but were outscored 36-24 in the second half. April Stull finished with her first double-double of the season as she scored 18 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Aliyah Brown scored 13 points. Sophomore Alleyah Evans scored nine points and notched six rebounds. Three Lady Knights scored four points and four scored two points.

“We are still learning how to play together as a team,” said assistant coach Nolan Collins “and our freshman are still adjusting to college basketball. We are excited to return to action next weekend.”

The Lady Knights return to action next weekend as they travel to Norfolk for the Hawks Classic. On Friday, November 7 the Lady Knights face Des Moines Area Community College at 2 p.m. North Platte returns to action on Saturday, November 8 to face Iowa Lakes Community College at 12:00 p.m. The Lady Knights next home game is Wednesday, November 12 at 7 p.m. against the Hastings University JV.