Gritt Ryder finished with a double-double and the Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team remained unbeaten with an impressive 30-point win over Casper College 72-42 on Tuesday night at Cougar Palace.

Ryder finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while also adding eight steals and five assists in the win. More importantly, the Cougars showed plenty of offensive depth as three other Cougars finished with double-figure scoring. Jess Samorodova netted 16 points, while Mikayla Brower and Ashley Stevens each had 12 points.

Ryder said the team played well from the get-go.

“Coach [Dave Harnish] told us before the game that this was a big rivalry and that we wanted to do really well,” the sophomore guard from Denmark said. “I think we played really great defensively. We still have a lot to work on, but we did great in the small areas with rebounds and boxing out.”

The Cougars’ defense was definitely on Tuesday night generating a number of turnovers and steals. The Cougars finished with 18 steals on the night, with Ryder benefiting with eight, Brower with three, and Laurin Rivera, Shalisa Moffit, and Jessica Aratani with two each. Samorodova also blocked three shots in the win.

“I thought we did a great job on defense. The posts did a great job boxing out and us guards tried to get the rebounds as well. I thought we followed the game plan pretty well, recognized the shooters, and did what coach told us what to do.”

WNCC didn’t take control of the contest until after the midway part of the first half. Casper held a 12-11 with 12 minutes to play. Brower changed the momentum of the game as she drained a 3-pointer to put WNCC up 17-14.

The Cougars continued playing strong the rest of the half. Leading 20-16, the Cougars went on a 21-6 run to close out the half and a 40-22 halftime lead. The lead included eight points by Stevens and five points from Ryder on two steals. Moffit also chipped in a 3-pointer.

WNCC’s defense continued playing strong in the second half as the Cougars went on a 13-4 run to go up 53-26 behind four points from Stevens and back-to-back 3-pointers by Ryder and Moffit. Casper came back to score seven straight points, but WNCC put on the afterburner once again with a 6-point run to stop any hope of a Casper comeback.

The Cougars shot 45 percent from the field including connecting on 7 of 21 3-pointers. Ryder canned three treys, while Moffit had two. Brower and Aratani had the other 3-pointers.

Ryder said the team is starting to get confidence amidst their 8-0 start to the season.

“It helps to win games but we all know we want to win a regional championship so this is just one step in the road to that goal,” she said.

The Cougars will be back in action Nov. 29-Dec. 1 when they compete in the Air Force Prep tournament. WNCC’s next home action will be Dec. 6-8 when they host the Lady Cougar Holiday Classic.

Casper (6-2)                       22 20 – 42

WNCC (8-0)                        40 32 – 72

CASPER

Kaylee Swope 2, Ashley Jones 5, Shelby Stewart 14, Whitney Lott 4, Fayne Tyson 4, Cheyanne Balster 4, Shelby Garske 1, Ragen Wilson 2, Agata Dobrowolska 6.

WNCC

Mikayla Brower 12, Gritt Ryder 20, Shalisa Moffit 7, Ashley Stevens 12, Jessica Aratani 5, Jess Samorodova 16.

The Nebraska women’s basketball team returns to the Bob Devaney Sports Center to take on Sam Houston State on Tuesday night. Tip-off between the Huskers (3-1) and Bearkats (1-2) is set for 6:05 pm (MST) and it can be heard on AM 1400, KCOW, Alliance

Nebraska will look to rebound from its first loss of the season, a 60-55 setback at South Dakota State in Brookings on Sunday. Senior point guard Lindsey Moore led the Huskers with 21 points, four rebounds and five assists, while junior forward Jordan Hooper added 15 points and seven boards. However, the rest of the Huskers combined for just 19 points and 16 rebounds.

A bounce-back game will not be easy against the Bearkats. Sam Houston State returns four starters and nine letterwinners from a team that went 18-12 in 2011-12, includng 12-4 in the Southland Conference. The Bearkats advanced to the second round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational Postseason Tournament. SHSU will be the third Husker opponent in five games to earn a postseason berth a year ago, joining South Dakota State (NCAA) and Temple (WNIT).

Coach Brenda Welch-Nichols and the Bearkats have opened the season 1-2 while participating in the Preseason WNIT. SHSU is coming off a 73-55 win over Grambling State on Nov. 17.

Nebraska Coach Connie Yori became the winningest women’s basketball coach in school history with NU’s win over Temple on Nov. 11, 2012. The victory over the Owls increased Yori’s win total to 192 at the start of her 11th season at Nebraska. She moved past former Husker Coach Angela Beck (1986-97) atop Nebraska’s all-time win list. Beck posted a 191-128 record (.599) in 11 seasons at the helm of the Huskers.

The 2010 National Coach of the Year, Yori needs seven more wins to become the first women’s coach in Nebraska history to reach the 200-victory mark. Yori’s NU mark is 193-127 (.603).

On the men’s side, only Danny Nee and Joe Cipriano have produced 200 basketball victories at Nebraska. Nee won 254 games in 14 seasons coaching the Huskers from 1987 to 2000. Cipriano earned 253 wins in 17 seasons from 1964 to 1980.

Senior All-America candidate Lindsey Moore made the 102nd consecutive start of her Nebraska career in the Huskers’ loss at South Dakota State on Nov. 18. The 5-9 point guard from Covington, Wash., has started every game of her Husker career since leading the Huskers to a perfect 29-0 regular season record and the Big 12 title as a freshman in 2009-10.

Moore owns a 72-30 record as Nebraska’s starting point guard and has guided the Huskers to a pair of NCAA Tournaments. She is nearing Nebraska’s top 10 in career starts. If Moore can get to 106, she will catch 1993 Wade Trophy winner Karen Jennings (1990-93) at No. 10. Kelsey Griffin, a 2010 first-team All-American and a teammate of Moore’s in 2009-10, owns the NU career record with 127 starts.

The last time Rich Williams, Zach Clemens, and Isaiah Castellaw played a game in Cougar Palace, the Scottsbluff Bearcats won a district championship.

Now, as part of the Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team, the three players will be back on their championship court when the Cougars have their home opener on Tuesday against Western Wyoming Community College. Tip-off is slated at 7 p.m. after the Cougar women take on Casper College at 5 p.m..

Williams said it feels good to play at home after a rigorous road slate that saw the team face three of the last four national champions.

“Playing at home should be exciting. We drove all the way to Texas, Casper and Gillette [to play quality opponents], so it should be fun to have our first home game,” Williams said. “I am very excited for the outcome for the season.”

Not only is the Cougars coming into the home opener playing well, for the three Scottsbluff High graduates, Williams said that having won a district title on this court and then being a part of the Cougar team this year is special.

“It was fun when I played the district championship game on the court and now I am in college playing for the Cougars,” he said. “It should be fun.”

The WNCC men have been a team that has showed plenty of scoring as of late. The Cougars are averaging 80 points a game, but more importantly, they have played a tough first five games. The Cougars split contests in the season opening tournament in Gillette, Wyo., beating Gillette College before falling 107-104 in overtime to Gillette.

WNCC then fell to defending national champions South Plains College 102-49 on the road. After that loss on Nov. 6, the Cougars have turned around the season at the Region 18/9 Showcase last weekend, where they fell in a heartbreaker to the College of Southern Idaho 68-67 after holding a 35-34 halftime lead. The Cougars rebounded with a 82-76 win over Salt Lake Community College on Saturday.

Against Salt Lake, the Cougars trailed 37-30 at halftime before erupting for 52 second half points to sting the Bruins.

The Salt Lake contest saw the Cougars bury 10 3-pointers. Willie Mangum paced the Cougars with 32 points, including six 3-pointers, while Charles Ward pitched in 23 points and three treys. Trey Moore had the other 3-pointer.

Williams said they are starting to click as a team.

“We played great both games,” he said. “The chemistry has come a long ways since South Plains,” he said. “We are playing more as a team now. That Salt Lake win was huge for us in the way we moved the ball around more and more, and not being as selfish. We played like a team like we should have at the beginning of the year.”

Williams said anyone on the team can score, even though the big scorers on the season have been Mangum and Ward. That offensive threat will pay dividends in the long run for the team.

“We have some really good scorers with Charles and Willie,” he said. “They should inspire the crowd.”

What is making this team special, however, is that since that loss to South Plains, the team has really stepped up. The 10 days of practice between games turned the team around for the better, according to Williams.

“The beginning of the season was rough, but once we got to the Southern Idaho game that is when everything starting clicking,” he said. “We started slowing down and running our plays, making the extra passes so another player can score, and right know our chemistry is really good.”

After Tuesday’s home opener, the Cougars will be off through the Thanksgiving break before hosting Casper College on Nov. 27 at 7 p.m.

RIVERTON, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball connected on a combined 15 3-pointers in two wins over the weekend at the Central Wyoming tournament in Riverton, Wyo.

The Cougars, 7-0, opened the tournament by bearing eight treys in an 80-48 win over Central Wyoming College. Central Wyoming defeated the Cougars last season in the Region IX tournament first-round.

WNCC followed Friday’s win with another impressive showing, burying seven 3-pointers in a win over Miles Community College on Saturday.

WNCC will look to stay unbeaten when they host Casper College Tuesday night at 5 p.m. at Cougar Palace. Casper enters the contest with a 3-1 record after sweeping three opponents over the weekend against Snow College (58-38), College of Eastern Utah (53-42), and Northeastern Junior College (70-46).

WNCC was quite impressive in the two wins over the weekend. Against Central Wyoming, WNCC was 8 of 18 from the 3-point line and shot 50 percent overall from the field. Jess Samorodova and Gritt Ryder paced the team with 19 and 17 points each. Samorodova had two treys with 19 points, while Ryder, who committed to play at Colorado State University next year, had three 3-pointers, five rebounds, four assists, and six rebounds.

Jessica Aratani and Katie Kerkhoff each pitched in nine points in the win, while Ashley Stevens and Alyssa Yates each had six points.

The Cougars were in control of the contest from the beginning, running to a 9-0 lead before taking a 38-27 lead into the locker room. The Cougars dished out 22 assists and had 27 steals,

WNCC continued its hot shooting against Miles Community College, blitzing the nets for 53 percent shooting. The Cougars were 7 of 14 from the 3-point line. Samorodova, the 6-foot-3 center from Russia, buried two treys for her 12 points.

Ryder led all scorers with 21 points on 9 of 12 shooting. Ryder also had five rebounds, five assists, and six steals. Mikayla Brower also poured in nine points with three steals, followed by Laurin Rivera with eight points.

Also Shalisa Moffit also finished with double-figure scoring with 10 points. Samorodova, Rivera and Stevens all pulled down five rebounds in the win.

Friday’s Game

WNCC (6-0)                        38 42 – 80

Central Wyoming             27 21 – 48

WNCC

Gritt Ryder 17, Shalisa Moffit 5, Idil Ozbayrak 2, Jessica Aratani 9, Jess Samorodova 19, Mikayla Brower 5, Laurin Rivera 2, Katie Kerkhoff 9, Alyssa Yates 6, Ashley Stevens 6.

Saturday’s Game

WNCC (7-0)                        34 34 – 68

Miles CC                               20 23 – 43

WNCC

Mikayla Brower 9, Gritt Ryder 21, Shalisa Moffit 10, Jessica Aratani 2, Jess Samorodova 12, Laurin Rivera 8, Katie Kerkhoff 2, Maurissa Ortega 4, Ashley Stevens 2.

The Alliance High School Football Team held their annual end of season banquet Sunday night.

Head Coach Travis Hawk thanked the senior players for their hard work and dedication to the Bulldog football program and presented the following awards.

Freshman Most Improved – Cole Randall

Freshman Most Valuable – Kyson Schnell and Baden Shelmadine

Sophomore Most Improved – Jordan Mills

Sophomore Most Valuable – Sage Dubray

Junior Most Improved – Donald Red Nest

Junior Most Valuable – Josh Matulka

Senior Most Improved – Sergio Airada

Senior Most Valuable – Isaac Burnham

Team Captains – Isaac Burnham, Mitch Pancost and Nick Smith

Trench Warrior Lineman Award – Anthony Beal

Fox Hole Award – Kolton Dubs

Mr. Bulldog – Isaac Burnham

Western Conference All- Conference: Isaac Burnham, Mitch Pancost, Nick Smith, Josh Matulka.

Honorable Mention All-Conference: Anthony Beal, Ryan Romick, Sergio Airada and Donald Red Nest

Leading Passer: Isaac Burnham who was 116 of 216 for 1,628 yards, 12 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.

Leading Rushers: Mitch Pancost – 204 attempts for 974 yard and 12 touchdowns.   Isaac Burnham – 72 attempts for 350 yards and 5 touchdowns

Leading Receivers: Josh Matulka – 35 catches for 497 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Mitch Pancost – 27 catches for 328 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Tyson Dowler – 25 catches for 460 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Leading Tacklers:

Nick Smith – 30 solos and 23 assists.

Anthony Beal – 25 solos and 27 assists.

Tyson Dowler – 24 solors and 15 assists

Josh Matulka – 20 solos and 22 assists.

Ryan Romick – 22 solos and 23 assists.

Alliance finished the season with a record of 5 wins and 4 losses and just missed receiving a play-off berth.