The No. 12 North Platte Community College men’s basketball team (10-0, 2-0 South Sub-Region) went on the road Tuesday night where they defeated the Hastings College JV by a final score of 82-79.

The Knights got off to a slow start that saw the Broncos’ take an early 6-11 lead. The rest of the half would see the Knights never quiet be able to get over the hump to take a lead before trailing at halftime 32-35. In the second half sophomores Tim Simmons and Ethan Montalvo would take over the game as they would score 13 and 12 points. Marco Pascolo made a 3-point basket with under a minute left to put the Knights up six before a 3-pointer by the Broncos would make the final margin three.

Simmons led the Knights with 21 points while Montalvo chipped in 17. Freshman Marco Pascolo and Cameron Williams would also finish in double-figures with 15 and 14 points. The Broncos were led by Nate Maloley who lead all scorers with 25 points and Brandon Krause who finished with 21.

“We found a way to win tonight,” said assistant coach Nathan Wieseler. “We have several areas we need to improve before we play againSaturday but we had some guys step up and make some plays when we needed them.”

The Knights return home Saturday Dec.7 as they host Region IX opponent Lamar Community College Runnin’ Lopes (3-10, 0-1 South Sub-Region) at 7:30 p.m. following the Lady Knights game with Lady Runnin’ Lopes. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1410 and online. The Knights finish out the fall semester on Dec. 11 as they host Region IX opponent No. 13 Northeastern Junior College (12-0, 1-0 South Sub-Region) at 7:30 p.m. in McDonald-Belton Gymnasium.

The North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team (4-5) defeated the Colby Community College Lady Trojans (2-10) 54-38 on Tuesday night at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium.

The Lady Knights would start the game off slow before opening up a 29-16 lead at intermission. The second half would see the teams exchange baskets before the Lady Knights finished off the Lady Trojans. The Lady Knights out-rebounded the Lady Trojans 53-38 and forced 25 turnovers.

DaVontaye Merritt led the Lady Knights with 14 points and seven rebounds. April Stull and Jordan Dickerson were also in double-figures for the Lady Knights with 11 and 10 points respectively. Amanda Miller led the Lady Knights with 19 points.

“We got off to a slow start,” said assistant coach Nolan Collins “but the girls played good defense tonight. We were able to limit them to one shot most trips as we ou-rebounded them 27 to 18 on the defensive end of the court.”

The Lady Knights return to action on Friday Dec. 6 as they travel to York to face the York College JV at 6 p.m. The Lady Knights return home on Saturday Dec. 7 as they host Lamar Community College at 5:30 p.m. and Northeastern Junior College Dec. 11 to finish out the fall semester. The game with Lamar precedes the men’s game and will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1410 and online.

Crete – The No. 16 North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team (3-5) dropped a contest Sunday afternoon to the Doane College JV by a final score of 68-66 in Crete.

The Lady Knights were led by DaVontaye Merritt who scored 14 points and Courtney Widick who finished with 13. April Stull was the Lady Knights third leading scorer with nine points. Merritt and Stull were in foul trouble most of the night and each finished with four fouls.

“We competed hard,” said head coach Richard Thurin “but we didn’t play defense well enough to win.

The Lady Knights are now off until after Thanksgiving break when they welcome the Colby Community College Lady Trojans (1-7) to McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. The Lady Knights travelled to Colby earlier this year and emerged victorious 55-43. The Lady Knights then travel to York to face the York College JV on Dec.6 and host Lamar Community College Dec.6 and Northeastern Junior College Dec. 11 to finish out the fall semester.

North Platte – The No. 25 North Platte Community College men’s basketball team (9-0, 2-0 South Sub-Region) knocked off the Trinidad State Junior College Trojans (5-5, 0-2 South Sub-Region) Saturday afternoon in McDonald-Belton Gymnasium behind 27 points and 10 rebounds from freshman Marco Pascolo.

“It was good to make some shots,” said Pascolo. “My teammates did a good job screening for me and getting me open.”

The Knights picked up where they left off last night as they raced out to an early lead that would balloon to 25 points at halftime at a score of 54-29 behind 16 points from Pascolo and 15 from Ethan Montalvo as the Knights shot 52 percent from the field.

In the second half 31 fouls were called as the Knights shot 22 free throws and the Trojans shot 27. The Knights were able to secure the final margin by only turning the ball over 12 times and out-rebounding the Trojans 41-28. The Knights shot 55 percent from the field for the game.

Pascolo led the Knights in points and rebounds while Montalvo also chipped in 26 points. Cameron Williams scored in double figures for the second straight game as he finished with 20 points. Tim Simmons finished with 13 points and Aireon Porter scored 11 and had nine rebounds.

“A good way to start Region IX play with two wins,” said head coach Kevin O’Connor. “It was good to see some guys step up and make some plays for us.”

The Knights are now off until after the Thanksgiving break when they travel to face Hastings College JV on Tuesday Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. The Knights host Region IX opponents Lamar Community College on Dec. 7 and Northeastern Junior College on Dec. 11 before Christmas break.

North Platte – The #25 North Platte Community College men’s basketball team (8-0) opened up Region IX play on Friday night as they held home court against the Otero Junior College Rattlers (6-3) in a 93-67 victory.

The Knights started the game out strong behind sophomore Ethan Montalvo‘s quick 13 points. The Knights defense played well in the first half as well limiting the Rattlers to 26 first half points. The second half both teams found more of a rhythm offensive as the Knights scored 50 points to Otero’s 41. The Knights shot 58 percent from the field and held Otero to 37 percent shooting.

The Knights were led by career-highs by Cameron Williams and Jacob Maslo who finished with 26 points and 20 points respectively. Maslo finished with a double-double grabbing 10 rebounds. Montalvo finished with 16 points and Tim Simmons also finished in double figures with 11 points. The Rattlers were led by Nick Ongarato who finished with 14 points.

“It was a good to hold our home court,” said assistant coach Nathan Wieseler. “Now we have to turn around and play a talented Trinidad State team and do it again tomorrow.”

The Knights return to action at 2 p.m. tomorrow against Trinidad State Junior College at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium. The Trojans are led by freshman Joe Smith with 18.1 points per game and brothers Richard (12.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg) and Keouvion McCalop (11.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg).

The Knights are then off until after the Thanksgiving break when they travel to face Hastings College JV on Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. The Knights host Region IX opponents Lamar Community College on Dec. 7 and Northeastern Junior College on Dec. 11 before Christmas break.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team (3-4) started off hot and road the momentum to a hard fought 92-76 victory over the Northwest Kansas Technical College Lady Mavericks (1-7) Friday night.

The Lady Knights got off to a fast start Friday night as they took an early lead 11-5 on the Lady Mavericks that forced a timeout. The Lady Knights would extend their lead to 21-9 and then to their largest lead of the game at 41-21 behind 12 first half points from DaVontaye Merritt and 11 from April Stull. The half ended with a 51-36 margin for the Lady Knights after each team shot several free throws at the end of the half.

The second half was a little more back and forth as Northwest Kansas would go on a run only to be answered every time by the Lady Knights. The second half was neck and neck as the Knights would win the second half 41-40.

North Platte was led by post players April Stull who finished with 28 points and 9 rebounds and DaVontaye Merritt‘s double-double of 26 points and 13 rebounds. Rayven Thomas led the Lady Mavericks with 21 points.

“It was a hard fought game,” said head coach Richard Thurin. “We had some players come through at the end when it counted.”

The Lady Knights are off until after Thanksgiving break when they welcome the Colby Community College Lady Trojans (1-7) to McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. The Lady Knights travelled to Colby earlier this year and emerged victorious 55-43. The Lady Knights then travel to York to face the York College JV on Dec.6 and host Lamar Community College Dec.6 and Northeastern Junior College Dec. 11 to finish out the fall semester.

North Platte – The No. 25 North Platte Community College men’s basketball team (7-0) opens Region IX play this Friday and Saturday as they host the Otero Junior College Rattlers (6-2) and the Trinidad State Junior College Trojans (5-3).

The Knights first host Otero Junior College on Friday Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m. at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium. The Knights played the Rattlers three times last year including a victory over Otero in the Region IX Championship game to qualify for the NJCAA National Tournament.

The Rattlers are led by sophomore Chris Golden who is averaging 18.7 points per game and sophomore Jalen Little who leads the nation in assists at 9.2 per game. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1410 and will be available online. The men’s game will follow the women’s game with Northwest Kansas Technical College which tips at 5:30 p.m.

On Saturday the Knights return to action at 2 p.m. against Trinidad State Junior College at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium. The Trojans are led by freshman Joe Smith with 18.1 points per game and brothers Richard (12.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg) and Keouvion McCalop (11.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg).

The Knights are then off until after the Thanksgiving break when they travel to face the Hastings College JV on Dec. 3 at 7:30 p.m. The Knights host Region IX opponents Lamar Community College on Dec. 7 and Northeastern Junior College on Dec. 11 before Christmas break.

North Platte – The 16th-ranked North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team (2-4) fell Tuesday evening at McDonald-Belton Gymnasium. The Lady Knights were defeated by the Northeast Community College Lady Hawks (7-0) by a score of 68-47.

Both teams started the first half slow as both teams struggled to score in the opening minutes. The Lady Hawks got on the board first as they scored the first 12 points of the game and forced two timeouts from the Lady Knights. Jordan Dickerson would hit a 3 pointer to break the scoring drought for the Lady Knights. DaVontaye Merritt would score the next four points of the game to cut the lead to 7-12 which forced a timeout from the Lady Hawks.

The runs would continue as the Lady Hawks would score the next eight points before the Lady Knights answered with four of their own to cut the deficit to 11-20. The teams traded baskets the rest of the half as the Lady Hawks took a 15-33 lead into intermission.

During the second half the teams exchanged baskets before Northeast would win the half 32-35 on their way to a 68-47 victory.

The Lady Knights were led by DaVontaye Merritt who finished with 17 points on 7-11 shooting from the field to go along with three free throws. Jordan Dickerson, Samantha Hyattand April Stull all had six points for North Platte. Kirra Hill-Carter led the Lady Knights with eight rebounds and Kristian Roth had seven.

The Lady Knights return to action on Friday Nov. 22 at 5:30 p.m. as they take on Northwest Kansas Technical College. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1410 and will be streamed online. The game precedes the men’s basketball game with Otero Junior College at 7:30 p.m.

Colby, KS – The No. 16 North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team (2-3) took to the road Saturday night and defeated the Colby Community College Lady Trojans (1-6) by the score of 55-43.

The Lady Knights got off to a strong start defensively in the first half as they held Colby to only 10 points on 11 percent shooting from the field and zero percent from the 3-point line. The Lady Knights scored 26 points in the first half including 13 from DaVontaye Merritt as she scored 11 of the Lady Knights first 13 points.

In the second half the Lady Trojans got on track offensively and scored 33 points to the Lady Knights 29. Both teams turned the ball over 27 times and Coly earned a slight edge on the boards with a 57-54 advantage. The Lady Knights were able to win by shooting 31 percent from the field and holding the Lady Trojans to only 23 percent.

North Platte had four girls score in double figures, led by Merritt with 16 points for the game. Freshman April Stull had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Kristian Roth had 12 points and Courtney Widick had 11 in the victory.

“We really needed that win,” said head coach Richard Thurin. “We were in foul trouble, but I thought the girls really played hard. We never gave up and finished out the win.”

The Lady Knights return home next week as they face Northeast Community College on Tuesday Nov. 19 at 5 p.m. and Northwest Kansas Technical College on Friday Nov. 22 at 5:30 p.m.

North Platte – The No. 25 North Platte Community College men’s basketball team (7-0) had fourteen players score on Saturday afternoon in  their victory over the Doane College JV 89-41 in their last game before Region IX play starts for the Knights next week.

The Knights picked up where they left off last night on the defensive side of the ball as they held Doane JV to only 21 points in the first half and 20 in the second half. On the offensive side of the ball the Knights shot 52 percent from the field for the game and had 21 offensive rebounds. The Knights dominated the boards as they out rebounded Doane JV 52-26.

“We took care of business and did what we were supposed to do this week,” said assistant coach Nathan Wieseler. “A huge week for us next week as we start Region IX play with Otero and Trinidad State.”

North Platte was led by freshman Aireon Porter who finished with a career-high 18 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Tim Simmons and freshman Kenyon Gist were also in double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively. Sophomore Jake Maslo led the Knights in rebounds and assists as he finished with 10 rebounds and four assists.

Also scoring for the Knights were sophomore Ethan Montalvo (9 points), Tre’Vaun Hymer (8 points), Cameron Williams (7 points), Brandon Pressley (6 points), Luke Pittle (5 points), Jimma Lew (4 points), Marcus Linson (3 points), Xavier Hall (2 points), Akau Deng (2 points), Riley Rice (2 points) and Maslo (1 point).

“It was a good game,” said Porter. “It was good to have our team play so well this week before the big games we have next weekend.”

The Knights open up Region IX play next Friday Nov. 22 at home against Otero Junior College (5-1) at 7:30 p.m. and then take on Trinidad State Junior College (3-2) on Saturday Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. in McDonald-Belton Gymnasium.