MCCOOK – The Western Nebraska Community College men’s basketball team outscored McCook Community College 51-31 in the second half enroute to an 87-76 South Sub-region win Wednesday night in McCook.
The win moves the Cougars to the middle of the pack in the South Sub-region at 2-4 and 6-16 overall. McCook falls to 3-3 in conference action and 13-9 overall.
WNCC will be back in action Sunday, February 1 when South conference-leading North Platte Community College comes to Cougar Palace for a 3 p.m. contest. North Platte was a 64-60 winner over Northeastern Junior College Wednesday night.
The other south sub-region contest saw Lamar defeat Trinidad State 81-73.
WNCC is now fifth in the south conference while North Platte leads at 5-1 followed by Lamar at 4-1, NJC at 4-2, and McCook at 3-3. Southeast, Otero, and Trinidad State are all behind the Cougars with one conference win.
The North sub-region had three contests Wednesday with Laramie County topping Gillette 93-63, Northwest defeating Casper 77-67, and Western Wyoming nipping Eastern Wyoming 72-61.
Wednesday’s contest was a tale of two halves. In the first half, the Cougars made just 2-of-15 3-pointers. The second half, WNCC connected on 8-of-15 triples. WNCC shot 44 percent from the field for the game and were 13-of-23 from the charity stripe.
McCook shot 44 percent from the field and made just 3-of-20 from the 3-point arc while going 23-of-29 from the free throw line.
WNCC never led in the first half and was only tied once with McCook at 2-2. McCook ran out to an 18-6 lead and led by 18 points, 43-25 with about three minutes to play in the opening half. WNCC closed out the half on an 11-2 run that saw Viktor Lukic-Gavric hammer down a thundering dunk and Amare Jackson nailing a clutch 3-pointer. WNCC trailed at half 45-36.
The second half was back and forth with both teams exchanging buckets. McCook led 53-42 and that was when the Cougars buckled down on defense and went on a 13-2 run that saw back-to-back 3-pointers from Xavier Kirkpatrick and Withold Czerenkiewicz. WNCC tied the game at 55 on a Melchi Egbeyemi bucket.
WNCC took the lead at 58-56 on a Toms Linis 3-pointer followed by a Kellon Harris triple to lead 61-56. McCook came back and took a 64-61 lead with about 10 minutes to play. That was when WNCC doubled down on defense, holding McCook to just 12 points the rest of the game. In the meantime, WNCC went on an 8-0 run to lead 69-64 on a Noah Jones 3-pointer and an Amare Jackson dunk.
McCook got to within three points at 77-74 with 4:31 to play and had it Cougar lead down to 80-76 on two technical shots with three minutes to play. McCook would not score again the rest of the contest and WNCC would knock down five free throws to claim the win.
WNCC was led by Lukic-Gavric with 27 points followed by Amare Jackson with 12 and Noah Jones with 11. Lukic-Gavric also had seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals, while Jones led the team with eight rebounds.

WNCC (6-16) 36 51 -- 87
McCook (13-9) 45 31 – 76
WNCC
Viktor Lukic-Gavric 27, Amare Jackson 12, Noah Jones 11, Toms Linis 9, Xavier Kirkpatrick 9, Witold Czerenkiewicz 6, Kellon Harris 5, Isaiah St. Preux 5, Melchi Egbeyemi 3.

Region IX Standings
After Wednesday’s Games
South Sub-region
Conf Overall
North Platte 5-1 13-8
Lamar 4-1 10-11
NJC 4-2 12-8
McCook 3-3 13-9
WNCC 2-4 6-16
Southeast 1-3 10-10
Otero 1-3 2-16
Trinidad 1-4 8-12
North Sub-region
Conf Overall
Northwest 4-1 15-8
LCCC 3-1 10-9
W. Wyoming 3-1 10-11
Gillette 2-3 9-11
C. Wyoming 1-3 7-12
Casper 1-3 6-15
EWC 1-3 4-18

WNCC women come up short against McCook

MCCOOK – The Western Nebraska Community College women’s basketball team came up a bucket short against McCook Community College, falling to the Indians 58-56 in a South Sub-region contest Wednesday in McCook.
The loss snapped a 5-game winning streak and moved the Cougars to 5-1 in the South sub-region. WNCC and McCook are tied for the lead at 5-1 and Lamar is 4-1 after the Lopes defeated Trinidad State 77-44 Wednesday night.
Other sub-region scores Wednesday saw Northeastern Junior College defeat North Platte Community College 65-61. North Platte will be WNCC’s next opponent as the Knights come to Cougar Palace on Sunday, February 1 with a 1 p.m. start.
The North sub-region games on Wednesday saw Gillette top Laramie County 89-54, Northwest defeat No. 23 Casper 81-62, and Eastern Wyoming came back to down Western Wyoming 63-59.
Wednesday’s loss was the first time McCook has defeated the Cougars in eight tries. The last time coming on March 21, 2021, when they upset No. 9 WNCC 65-57.
Wednesday’s contest saw WNCC only lead three times in the first three quarters. The first 10 minutes was a showdown as the two teams battled to a 17-17 tied. WNCC last led 15-14 on a Verlyn Aviles bucket. McCook answered with a 3-pointer and Celina Donyo tied the game with a field goal.
The second quarter was low scoring as neither team could hit a shot until McCook hit a bucket with 5:56 to play in the quarter. Both teams were tied at 21-21 when McCook went on a 4-0 run to lead 25-21 and closed out the half on another 4-0 run to lead 28-22 at the break.
The third quarter saw McCook forge to a 33-23 lead. WNCC fought back to slice the deficit to a single point at 37-36 on an Aviles old-fashioned 3-point play and then one of two free throws by Ella Chesta-Carty with 3:22 to play. WNCC managed just two points the rest of the third as McCook went on a 7-0 run to lead 44-38 after three quarters.
WNCC came out in the fourth and scored six straight points to tie the contest at 44-44 on buckets by Aviles and Zozefine Sipolina. WNCC took its first lead of the game since the first quarter at 48-47 with 6:10 to play on a Aniaya Burton-Hernandez bucket. After that it was a chess match with both teams answering each other play on the court. WNCC tied the game at 54-54 with 2:28 to play on a Sipolina 3-pointer. McCook went back in front 56-54 with a bucket. Chesta-Carty tied the game at 56 with two free throws with 21 seconds to play. McCook hit two charity tosses with 13 seconds and WNCC had a chance to either take the lead or tie the came and the shot missed and the Cougars couldn’t get off another shot before the final buzzer.
The difference in the contest was shooting. WNCC was just 28 percent from the field and 3-of-23 from beyond the arc. McCook shot 48 percent from the field and were 3-of-10 from 3-point range.
WNCC had two in double figures as Aviles led the way with 18 points while Chesta-Carty had a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds.


WNCC (15-7) 17 5 16 18 – 56
McCook (12-10) 17 11 16 14 – 58
WNCC
Verlyn Aviles 18, Ella Chesta-Carty 17, Celina Donyo 8, Zozefine Sipolina 7, Amiaya Burton-Hernandez 2, Juseana-Rae Delatori 2, Charisma Johnson 2.

Region IX Standings
After Wednesday’s Games
South Sub-region
Conf Overall
WNCC 5-1 15-7
McCook 5-1 12-10
Lamar 4-1 12-5
Otero 2-2 3-15
NJC 3-3 7-15
North Platte 2-4 5-15
Southeast 0-4 2-16
Trinidad 0-5 2-16
North Sub-region
Conf Overall
Gillette 4-1 16-7
Northwest 4-1 16-7
C. Wyoming 3-1 10-10
Casper 2-2 18-4
EWC 1-3 11-10
W. Wyoming 1-3 14-8
LCCC 0-4 8-12