WNCC MEN HOST LCCC TONIGHT – Panhandle Post Archive

The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team will be looking to add to its current 2-game winning streak when they host Laramie County Community College tonight at Cougar Palace. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at Cougar Palace, and can heard on Double Q Country radio.

The contest is vital for sub-region standings for both squads. The Cougars moved up to seventh in the standings after dropping Lamar 70-62 on Friday and Northeastern Junior College 84-76 on Saturday.

For the Golden Eagles, they are in a fight to win the sub-region. LCCC comes in with an 8-4 sub-region record and 18-8 overall. North Platte leads the sub-region with a 10-3 record followed by Lamar at 9-4.

Sebastian Suarez said they played good team ball over the weekend.

“We had good practices this week and we have good communication,” Suarez said. “We are talking more and we have a lot of energy. We have been good teammates and that is why we have been playing better the last few games.”

Suarez had an outstanding contest on Saturday, pouring in 19 points. Cody Johnson also had 19 points to go along with his 10 rebounds.

Suarez said the key to their success lies in sharing the ball. “We have to share the ball and we all have to score,” he said. “If one person gets 30 points and the rest get five, which is no good. We all have to share and we all have to score, and that is how we are going to win games.”

And that is exactly what the Cougars did this past weekend in collecting the two wins – share the ball and have balanced scoring. Saturday night, Tahir Little dished out 12 assists in the contest. The Cougars had 19 as a team.

This contest will not be an easy by any means. The last time these two squads played back on Jan. 31, the Golden Eagles came back from a 29-26 halftime deficit and upended the Cougars 74-68 at Cheyenne, Wyo.

Laramie County has a couple of dangerous scorers in Julian Chiera and Deshon Portley, who finished with 22 and 19 points in the first time these two squads played. LCCC also received nine blocks from Ude Ifeanyichukwu.

As for WNCC, They only had two players in double figures, led by Charles Ward with 27 points and Quante Cooley with 17. The big thing for the Cougars in the loss was 3-point shooting, where they were just 3 of 12 for the game.

If WNCC is to make it three in a row, they will need to play like they did this past weekend, where they play under control and don’t lose focus, which was something that WNCC coach Russ beck lauded the team for doing in the win Friday against Lamar Community College.

After today’s contest, the Cougars will have four straight sub-region contests on the road beginning this weekend when they travel to Otero Junior College on Friday and Trinidad State Junior College on Saturday.

NOTES: The Cougar men also have a schedule change with the North Platte game later this month. That game has been moved to Friday, Feb. 22 beginning at 4 p.m. The game was originally slated for Saturday morning, but because of a scheduling conflict with North Platte and Eastern Wyoming on Saturday, the contest was moved. The men’s contest on Feb. 22 will be played before the Class B-6 girls championship game that night that begins at 7 p.m.

Women’s Region IX Standings

South Sub-Region

Team Conf. Overall

WNCC 8-0 12-13

EWC 6-3 17-7

McCook 5-5 18-6

Otero 4-4 15-7

Lamar 4-6 17-11

Trinidad State 2-5 13-11

NJC 1-7 11-14

North Sub-Region

Sheridan 11-1 20-6

Western Wyoming 10-2 20-4

Gillette 8-4 21-5

Casper 8-4 19-6

Northwest Wyoming 6-6 13-13

Miles 4-7 13-12

Central Wyoming 4-8 11-15

Dawson 3-10 10-14

Little Big Horn 0-12 2-23

This Week’s Schedule

Tuesday

Trinidad State at Otero

Wednesday

McCook at North Platte

Lamar at NJC

Little Big Horn at Gillette

Casper at Northwest Wyoming

Miles at Central Wyoming

Sheridan at Western Wyoming

Friday

Central-Columbus at McCook

WNCC at Otero

EWC at Trinidad State

Saturday

Southeast Nebraska at McCook

WNCC at Trinidad State

EWC at Otero

Little Big Horn at Casper

Dawson at Sheridan

Northwest Wyoming at Miles

Gillette at Central Wyoming

Central-Columbus at North Platte

Men’s Region IX Standings

South Sub-Region

Team Conf. Overall

North Platte 10-3 20-5

Lamar 9-4 17-10

Laramie County 8-4 18-8

Otero 7-4 19-6

Eastern Wyoming 6-6 14-11

Trinidad State 5-6 12-11

WNCC 3-7 10-14

NE Colorado 3-8 6-18

McCook 2-11 6-18

North Sub-Region

Sheridan 10-2 21-5

Casper 10-2 19-6

Central Wyoming 9-3 19-5

Gillette 8-4 14-10

Northwest Wyoming 6-6 17-9

Western Wyoming 4-8 7-18

Miles 3-8 9-16

Little Big Horn 2-10 5-20

Dawson 2-11 5-19