Cougar notes: WNCC men earn defensive win over McCook

Photo: Xavier Kirkpatrick goes up for a bucket in the first half against McCook on Wednesday.

                Kellon Harris scored 24 points and the Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team stayed in the hunt for a first-round home playoff game with the 74-65 win over McCook Community College Wednesday evening at Cougar Palace.

                The win moves the Cougars to 5-7 in conference play and 9-19 overall. McCook drops to 6-5 in conference and 16-11 overall.

                Witold Czerenkiewicz, who had three big 3-pointers in the game, said it was a good win for his team as they continue to build for the playoffs.

                “We tried to share the ball, let everybody play, find the best shot in the offense,” Czerenkiewicz said. “And I think in the ending of the second half we were able to do that, to find the best shot, find the man who was open and had a good streak. Also, on defense, we could get some stops, maybe not all the time, but we could get some rebounds and then run the play on the other half of the court.”
                This was a big win for the Cougars, especially defensively as they held McCook to just 65 points, which was the best defensive performance all season. The 65 points is the lowest score that the Cougars have held an opponent in 55 games. The previous best was on November 6, 2024, when Eastern Wyoming College only scored 64 points.

                The defensive effort was really bit late in the second half in the last five minutes where the Cougars trailed 60-54 with 4:35 to play. It was then the defense went to town, holding McCook to just five points while reeling off 20 points of their own.

                “The last five minutes were decent, but I think what really made the job is our face on defense when were up by 20 in the first half. Then some things didn’t go our way and we went down by which is okay, but we kept fighting, kept believing,” Czerenkiewicz said. “The last five minutes, they got some advance but we were able to get some stops in a row with like one or two minutes to go. That really helped us.”

                The final five minutes was the difference in the game as something clicked on defense as they got key stops, key rebounds. Trailing 60-54, Dorian Nguema got things started with his first bucket of the game. Then it was three straight 3-pointers, two from Kellon Harris and one sandwiched in from Xavier Kirkpatrick. For a 65-60 lead.

                McCook finally hit a bucket with about 2:30 to play, but WNCC got a big old-fashioned 3-point play from Viktor Lukic-Gavric to go up 68-62. The defense then force a big turnover and Amarea Jackson hit a big shot for a 70-62 lead.

                Harris sealed the game as he hit four free throws with under 40 seconds to play to get the win.

                Czerenkiewicz said they can build off this win going forward as they have two more regular season conference games left and they are important to win if they want to host a playoff game. WNCC will travel to North Platte Community College on Saturday and then travel to Northeastern Junior College on February 28 for the last regular season game.

                North Platte lost to Northeastern on Wednesday 70-69, which makes the race for the top four places even tighter. Other games on Wednesday in the South saw Southeast top Otero 89-78 and Trinidad State defeat Lamar 90-68.

                “We’ll probably enjoy this as we should, but as soon as we go tomorrow to the gym to shoot free throws or do whatever, we’re gonna switch our minds and we will try to win another one,” he said. “That’s nice to have some confidence boost, especially this is our only second two game win streak in a row. We didn’t have that and we’re struggling here in our home gym, but we were able to win today, which gives us some confidence.”

                WNCC had just two in double figures. Harris led the way with 24 points with four 3-pointers followed by Noah Jones with 12 points and two treys. Czerenkiewicz finished with nine points, all 3-pointers, while Lukic-Gavric had eight points.

                Before the game on Wednesday, WNCC recognized the seven sophomores that played their final regular season game in Cougar Palace. The seven included Czerenkiewicz, Harris, Jones, Isaiah St. Preux, Toms Linis, and Dorin Nguema. Czerenkiewicz said his two years at WNCC has been special as he got to walk out to center court with his dorm mom.

                “Western Nebraska became like a second home for me. I’m very happy that I could spend my first years of college here and this night meant a lot,” he said. “Walking out with my dorm family, which they helped me a lot since the last season. They were always there for me, so it was a very big moment. Also having my friends in the bleachers in the crowd. That was very nice. I have a lot of fans. There are some of my best friends in here that they want to see me succeed. I want to see them succeed also, so I’m very happy that they put some effort to recognize me.”

McCook             33 32 – 65

WNCC                39 35 – 74

MCCOOK

Nate Coley 22, Djibril Diawara 13, Alier Alier 12, Lukas Gudavicius 8, Mo Diao 7, Vladimir Brkovic 3.

WNCC

Kellon Harris 24, Noah Jones 12, Witold Czerenkiewicz 9, Viktor Lukic-Gavric 8, Melchi Egbeyemi 6, Amare Jackson 4, Xavier Kirkpatrick 4, Toms Linis 3, Dorin Nguema 2, Isaiah St. Preux 2.

WNCC women use big fourth quarter to down McCook

                The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team used a 16-7 run in the fourth quarter to down McCook Community College 68-55 in a South Sub-region contest Wednesday evening at Cougar Palace.

                The win keeps the Cougars in line to win the South Sub-region as they move to 9-3 in conference and 19-9 overall. Lamar leads the South with a 9-2 conference record.

                Other conference games on Wednesday saw Southeast beat Otero 72-68, North Platte top Northeastern 65-58, Lamar down Trinidad State 89-63, Central Wyoming top Northwest 78-65, and Eastern Wyoming defeated Casper 59-58.

                WNCC will wrap up the regular season with two road games when they travel to North Platte Community College on Saturday and then head to Sterling, Colorado, to face Northeastern Junior College on Feb. 28.

                The win was the Cougars final regular season home game and two players were recognized after the game. Zozefine Sipolina and Ruth Lively will graduate in May and both were recognized.

                Lively, a freshman who will graduate in May and transfer to UNK, said the team played well.

                “This was a pretty big especially since we lost to them on the road last time and it was close,” Lively, the Scottsbluff graduate said. “I think it was really big for us to just get our confidence back and, standing-wise, puts us in second and one step closer to winning (the sub-region).”

                While Lively has played just one year at WNCC before graduating, Sipolina has been here for two years. Sipolina finished the night with 10 points with two 3-pointers and she said they played well.

                Sipolina said the team had a lot of energy tonight and everyone contributed in some fashion to get the win.

                “The team energy today was awesome, so I think that’s one of the reasons why we won,” the sophomore from Latvia said. “I like to say that this game is an example of how we should play the last games that we have and we just have to be in that kind of pace and be aggressive and everything.”

                For Lively, the one year that she spent at WNCC on the basketball team was a big learning experience.

                “I think it’s been a great learning experience like just with everybody learning how to come together as a team through the ups and downs of the season,” Lively said. “I think I’ve grown tremendously from the beginning of the season.”

                For Sipolina, she wasn’t expecting to get an offer to play in the states and now she found another home in western Nebraska.

                “I would say this whole thing of coming over here was unexpected because I was not expecting that I was going to get this offer,” she said. “Once I came here, I loved it here. I loved the coaches. They are just caring about us all the time and doing their best so we can be the best person, the best versions of ourselves.

                Both Lively and Sipolina started in the last home game and the Cougars jumped put to an 8-5 lead early. McCook came back to lead 9-8 and it was tied at 11-11. That was when the Cougars changed the momentum as Sipolina hit a 3-pointer and then Brynn Sybrant had a bucket to lead 16-11 after one.

                The second quarter saw the Cougars lead by eight points early and then held a 32-24 lead at halftime.

                The third quarter saw McCook get to within one at 34-33. WNCC followed with a 10-3 run that saw Juseana-Rae Delatori hit a 3-pointer and Charisma Johnson get an old-fashioned 3-point play to lead 44-36. WNCC led after three periods 50-42.

                WNCC started slow in the fourth quarter as McCook got to within four at 52-48 on a bucket by Jacelyn Jorgensen. That was when WNCC ignited s they went on a 10-0 run to lead 62-48 after a Ella Chesta-Carty steal and bucket and capped it off with back-to-back 3-pointers from Chesta-Carty and Sipolina to lead 62-48.

                McCook made a mini run to make it a 62-55 with just over a minute to play, but the Cougars held McCook scoreless the rest of the way as they scored the next six points all on free throws.

                WNCC was 11-of-15 from the free throw line while McCook was just 1-of-3 from the line. Both teams shot 41 percent from the field (25-of-61). The difference was 3-point shooting where WNCC made seven triples and McCook just four.

                WNCC had three players in double figures, led by Chesta-Carty with 21 followed by Johnson with 15 and Sipolina with 10.

For Lively and Sipolina, they were overcome with emotion after the game as all the sophomores on the basketball teams were recognized between the games.

“It was a really special moment just to tell the coaches how much their impact has been on me and being able to kind of finish it out,” Lively said. “It was really special, but the season’s not done yet. We need to win the next two and hopefully Lamar will lose and we can get back up to that number one seed. And, if not, then we’ll just take the next game that we get and win and hopefully go all the way.”

For Sipolina, she definitely got choked up as she was recognized after the game as one of two players that will be leaving next year.

“It was really emotional and I was not thinking that I was going to get emotional, but I did get pretty emotional because I didn’t think about it at first,” she said. “So, now it’s just thinking that I’m going leave.”

McCook             11 13 18 13 – 55

WNCC                16 16 18 18 – 68

MCCOOK
Laia Izquierdo Altimira 18, Stephanie Nnabuihe 12, Carolina Garcia Perdomo 6, Jacelyn Jorgensen 6, Mar Molina Munoz 5, Johanna Gerlach 2, Neveah Lucero 2, Peyton Cox 2, Claudia Serrador Cortazar 2.

WNCC

Ella Chesta-Carty 21, Charisma Johnson 15, Zo Sipolina 10, Juseana-Rae Delatori 8, Celina Donyo 7, Brynn Sybrant 5.