WNCC notes: WNCC volleyball splits matches at EWC tourney

                TORRINGTON, Wyo. – The 8^th-ranked Western Nebraska Community College volleyball team split a pair of matches at the EWC Lancer Invite on Friday.

                The Cougars opened the EWC tourney with a 25-13, 25-20, 25-18 win over North Platte Community College. WNCC then faced No. 4 Utah State-Eastern and fell in straight sets 25-22, 31-29, 25-15.

                WNCC will wrap up the tourney Saturday with two matches when they face Casper College at 8 a.m. and Laramie County Community College at noon.

                In the first match against North Platte, the Cougars had a balanced output. Karen Cordero led the team in kills with 16. Cordero also tallied four digs and three points.

                Anabelle Gillen had a near double-double with 15 digs and nine points while Anuhea Kaohi had 12 digs, seven points, and two points.

                Andrea Tsvetanova did have a double-double as the sophomore setter tallied 37 set assists and 10 points. She also finished with eight digs and four aces.

                Also for the Cougars Olivia Schaub finished with five kills and two points; Alex Hernandez had nine digs, seven kills and two points, and Holleigh Jaime had four points.

                The match against Utah State-Eastern was a battle between the two top-10 ranked teams. The first set saw WNCC hold an 18-13 lead and led 22-19 late. Utah State-Eastern took advantage of a missed serve and then served five points for the first set win.

                The second set was another gut-wrencher. WNCC led 13-6 and later 18-12. Utah State-Eastern came back and cut the deficit to 18-17. The Cougars went back in front 20-17 before Utah State-Eastern tied things at 20-20. WNCC had set point at 25-24 and set points at 26, 28, and 29, but couldn’t get the final point to win the set. Utah State-Eastern tied the second set at 29 and got the final two points for the 31-29 win.

                The third set was all Utah State-Eastern as they jumped out to a 17-8 lead and never looked back to get the 25-15 win.

                WNCC had two players in double figure kills. Cordero finished with 16 kills while Hernandez had 12 kills. Cordero also had eight digs and two points.

                Kaohi also tallied eight kills and eight digs in the match with five points.

                Also for the Cougars, Schaub had four kills; Gillen tallied 10 digs and three points; Tsvetanova had 37 set assists, four points, and three digs; Jaime had two digs and four points; and Angel Nahinu had two kills.

                Other scores in the first day of the EWC Invite saw Northeastern Junior College down Laramie County in five sets; Salt Lake Community College over Eastern Wyoming 25-20, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22; Laramie County over Salt Lake 17-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-20; Northeastern over Eastern Wyoming 25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 25-22; Casper over North Platte 25-16, 25-20, 27-29, 25-20; and Utah State-Eastern over Casper 25-21, 25-19, 25-22.

WNCC women top Northwest

                The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team used a 33-point third quarter to topple Northwest College 91-76 on Friday night in the WNCC Classic.

                The first women’s game saw Lamar Community College use strong second and third periods to defeat Central Community College-Columbus 68-52.

                Action wraps up Saturday in the classic with the Northwest women facing Lamar at 10 a.m. followed by the Northwest men against Lamar at noon. The WNCC women will battle Central-Columbus at 2 p.m. followed by the WNCC men taking on Central-Columbus at 4 p.m.

                Mahoukou had the hot hand in the game, especially in the third quarter. Mahoukou had 11 of her game-high 28 points in the third, when the Cougars outscored the Trappers 33-18.

                Bella Sparaco said the third quarter play was vital.

                “The third quarter was huge for us to come out, make changes, and execute on both ends of the floor,” the sophomore said. “Defense wins games.”

                Overall, she said they need to play four quarters.

                “It wasn’t our best half but making adjustments and coming together as a team made a huge difference,” she said.

                WNCC had a strong first quarter, jumping out to a 10-2 lead and then running to a 22-9 lead behind an old-fashioned 3-point play from Yara Garcia. WNCC led 22-12 after one period.

                The second quarter was a little shaky for the Cougars. WNCC started the quarter with a trey from Ky Buell and then two free throws from Payton Fields for a 27-12 lead. Northwest came back on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 27-22.

                The Trappers took their first lead of the night at 34-33 but WNCC regained the lead on a Madison Blaney bucket. Northwest went back in front, but a Mahoukou bucket to end the half gave the Cougars a 37-36 halftime lead.

                Northwest lead early in the third quarter at 40-39, but WNCC came back to go on a 13-0 run behind back-to-back treys from Buell and Shanti henry for a 52-40 lead.

                Mahoukou then put in three straight buckets as WNCC led 59-41. The Cougars led 72-54 after three periods.

                WNCC couldn’t put Northwest away as the Trappers outscored WNCC 22-21 in the fourth. WNCC had an 80-59 lead after a Martrice Brooks bucket. Northwest came back to slice the lead to 80-65 and then got to within 11 at 84-73.

                WNCC closed out the game on a 7-3 run to win 91-73.

                WNCC shot 40 percent for the game and had seven 3-pointers, led by Buell and Henry each with two.

                WNCC was led by Mahoukou with 28 points followed by Alejah Douglas with 14 and Buell with 11.

Women’s Games

CCC-Columbus                  15 12 16 9 – 52

Lamar                                    12 21 22 13 -- 68

CENTRAL-COLUMBUS

Allanah Beller 6, Brittney Veik 15, Bailey Lehr 7, Bailey Keller 6, Mia Stewart 2, Nyamin Blair 5, Macey Thege 11.

LAMAR

Yazmeen Henderson 4, Sophia Trujillo 8, Jada Dupree 5, Athea Angeles 20, Angie Lopez 4, Taylor Dossey 10, Vivian Castro 5, Nagua Puot 2, Kya Gastineau 10.

Northwest                          12 24 18 22 -- 76

WNCC                                   22 15 33 21 -- 91

NORTHWEST

Raquel Turner 12, Samiyah Worrell 7, Hidaya Thornton 6, Adela Smutna 5, Shelby Tarter 6, Sydney Prather 12, Kierra Cutright 9, Riley Aiono 15, Tatiana Coleman 4.

WNCC

Alejah Douglas 18, Yara Garcia 5, Ky Buell 11, Martrice Brooks 5, Shanti Henry 8, Ashley Panem 2, Payton Fields 2, Isabelle Cook 2, Madison Blaney 5, Emma Johnson 5, Lidsey Mahoukou 28.

WNCC men fall to Northwest

               The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team dropped a 78-67 contest to Northwest in the WNCC Classic on Friday.

                Northwest won the contest from behind the 3-point arc. The Trappers buried 14 3-pointers compared to just three for the Cougars.

                Jaren Fritz had the hot hand for Trappers, burying eight treys and finished with a game-high 30 points.

                The Cougars, who held a 32-28 lead at halftime, shot 26 percent from the field for the game and were just 45 percent in the second half. The Cougars’ three treys came in the second half.

                Northwest started the contest on a roll, bolting to a 20-7 lead. WNCC fought back, taking the lead at 25-23 on a Chase Thompson bucket with 4:45 to play in the opening 20 minutes.

                It was short-lived as Northwest went back in front at 26-24 only to watch Taylor Johnson and Agwa Nywesh score two points each to give the Cougars a 28-26 lead. Northwest tied the game at 28, but WNCC made the last four points to lead at halftime 32-28.

                The second half saw the Cougars jump out to a 45-37 lead and later at 48-43 after a Conner McCracken 3-pointer.

                That was when Northwest went on a roll hitting treys, nailing seven straight 3-pointers along with one old-fashioned 3-point play to lead 64-54. From that point on, both teams traded buckets and WNCC never could cut the deficit to single digits.

                WNCC had three in double figures. Thompson and Them Koang each had 17 points while Issad Solano had 12 points.

                Taylor Johnson led the way on the boards with nine rebounds.

                The first men’s game of the day between Lamar and Central Community College-Columbus was also a tight contest as Lamar’s Tim Montgomery drove the paint as time was running down and had a lay-in that won the contest for the Lopes 72-70.

                The WNCC Classic will wrap up Saturday with four games. The Northwest women will battle Lamar at 10 a.m. followed by the Northwest men taking on Lamar at noon. The Cougar women will battle Central-Columbus at 2 p.m. followed by the Cougar men taking on Central-Columbus at 4 p.m.

                After this weekend, the Cougar women and men will be back in action Monday when they host Laramie County Community College at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.

Northwest          28 50 – 78

WNCC                   32 35 – 67

NORTHWEST

Hayden Peterson 3, Andre Loigu 4, Jahquel Goss 5, Jaren Fritz 30, Gabriel Gutierrez 18, Oluwaseyi Oyeku 16, Jerome Mabry 2.
WNCC

Carter Brown 2, Chase Thompson 17, Jasiya DeOllos 1, Tayler Johnson 4, Tyler Mack 1, Agqa Nywesh 8, Issad Solano 12, Conner McCracken 3, Them Koang 17, Sayo Owolabi 2.

Lamar                    31 41 – 72

CCC-Columbus  42 28 – 70

LAMAR

Deondre Barfield 7, Bryce Whitaker 12, Donato Joseph 4, Tim Montgomery 8, Khahl Haywood 16, Kevon Wiggins 25.

CENTRAL-COLUMBUS

Tredyn Prososki 9, Kyle Hawthorne 4, Jayden Byabato 4, Dwight Glover 13, Gacoby Jones 15, Michael Ozomah 21, Caleb Muia 4.