North Platte – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights basketball team were defeated by the Otero Junior College Lady Rattlers, Saturday afternoon, 61-48, at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium.

The Lady Knights started out the game on a 4-0 run for the largest lead by either team in the first quarter. There were seven lead changes in the first quarter and the Lady Knights held a 14-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Knights opened up the second quarter by scoring the first four points to make the score 18-13. The Lady Rattlers went on a 15-2 run to grab their biggest lead of the first half at 28-20. The Lady Knights cut the Lady Rattlers lead to 28-25 at the half by going on a 5-0 run.

In the first half, the Lady Knights shot 9-31 from the field for a 29 percentage compared to the Lady Rattlers, who shot 10-23, including six three pointer for a 43.5 shooting percentage.

In the third quarter, the Lady Rattlers outscored the Lady Knights 15-14. The Lady Rattlers did lead by 10 on a couple of occasions but the Lady Knights rallied to only trail by four at the quarter 43-39.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Rattlers allowed only nine points and scored 18 points to open up the game and seal the win.

The Lady Knights are 2-16 on the season. Naria Hall led the Lady Knights with 18 points. Allison Tichy was the only other Lady Knight to score in double figures with 11 points. Hall also had nine rebounds to lead the Lady Knights.

The Lady Rattlers, 9-13 on the season, were led in scoring by Alyssa Lovato with 14 points. Berklee Lerohl and Alba Vera-Ponte each had 12 points and Kalani Poloa had 10 points. Vera-Ponte and Grace O’neill each had seven rebounds to lead the Lady Rattlers.

The Lady Knights are next in action on Thursday, Feb 8 when they travel to play York College Junior Varsity. Tip-off is at 4 pm.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights suffered a one-point loss to the Lamar Community College Runnin’Lopes 80-79 at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium on Friday Night in a Region IX South Sub-Region contest.

With the score tied at 78-78, the Runnin’ Lopes Richard Caldwell hit a jumper to put the Runnin’ Lopes up by two at 80-78. On the next possession for the Knights, Sophomore Goy Lew was fouled and sent to the free throw line to attempt to tie the game. Lew made the first shot to cut the lead to 80-79. On the second shot, the Knights put Jakub Karwowski and Buom Duboul in rebounding position. Goy missed the game-tying free throw but Karwowski attempted a tip-up shot but it fell short to give the Runnin’ Lopes the win.

The Knights led at halftime 38-36.

In the second half, the Knights and Runnin’ Lopes were tied at 66. The Knights were held scoreless, while the Runnin’Lopes rattled off nine points to lead 75-66. The Knights chipped away at the lead, which led to the final second events.

The Knights are 9-10 overall and 5-6 in South Sub-Region play. Godfrey Rolle scored 28 points to lead the Knights. Lew finished with 15 points. Karwowski and Aaron Ridley added 13 points each. Karwowski had five rebounds to lead the Knights.

The Runnin’ Lopes improve to 14-9 on the season and 5-5 in South Sub-Region play. Caldwell led all scorers with 29 points. Aaris Bonds added 15 points. Lance Longo had 11 points and Ron Boone added 10 points. Boone had six rebounds to lead the Runnin’ Lopes.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Lady Knights were defeated by the Lamar Community College Lady Lopes 78-73 on Friday Night at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium.

The first two minutes of the game was a scoring exchange between the Lady Knights Naria Hall and the Lady Lopes Armani Robbins. Both players scored their teams first few points with the Lady Lopes leading 6-5 in the first two minutes. The Lady Lopes went on to lead 19-11 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Lady Knights opened up the quarter outscoring the Lady Lopes 15-9 to pull within two points at 28-26. The Lady Lopes caught fire and went on an 11-1 run to jump out to their biggest lead of the game at 39-27. The Lady Knights and the Lady Lopes each scored 20 points in the second quarter and the Lady Lopes held a 39-31 lead at the half.

The Lady Knights opened up the second half with a 9-4 run to close the Lady Lopes lead to three at 43-40. With the score at 51-47, Robbins went to the line 10 times and connected on eight of them. The Knights outscored the Lady Lopes 24-22 to trail 61-55 at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Lady Lopes increased their lead to 10 at 68-58, but the Lady Knights chipped away at the lead and trailed by one point on a couple of occasions.

The Lady Knights are now 2-15 on the season. Three of the Lady Knights scored in double figures led by Hall, who finished with 25 points. Hannah Johnson added 17 points and Nahatabaa Nacona had 12 points. Allison Tichy led the Lady Knights with 11 rebounds.

The Lady Lopes are 12-10 on the season. Robbins led the Lady Lopes in scoring with 23 points. Hanna Diaz finished with 11 points and Kiara Budd added 10 points. Robbins had 11 rebounds to lead the Lady Lopes.

Todd Rice

North Platte High School Activities Director, Marc Mroczek, has named Todd Rice as the new head football coach for the 2018-2019 school year. Coach Rice is currently the head football coach at Clay Center High School in Clay Center, Kansas. Todd has an extensive background in coaching at the high school and college level with 25 years as a head high school coach. He will be teaching physical education for North Platte Public Schools.

Marc Mroczek, North Platte Activities Director comments: “Todd is a very experienced and respected head coach at the high school level. He understands the vision of building a successful program from the youth level to the high school level. His experience as a strength and conditioning teacher will be an added benefit to our student-athletes at North Platte High School. Todd’s passion for the game of football will be a big asset to our coaching staff at NPHS. I am excited for the future of North Platte High School football under Coach Rice’s leadership.”

Rice takes over for Bernie Madison, who resigned earlier this year.

North Platte – The North Platte Community College Knights and Lady Knights basketball teams will host the McCook Community College Indians and Lady Indians on Wednesday, Jan 31 at the McDonald – Belton Gymnasium.

The games have been designated as “black out” night. All fans are asked to dress in black for the games.

The women’s game is a Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference game.

The Lady Knights come into the game with a 1-14 overall record and 0-2 in the NCCAC. Allison Tichy is the lone Lady Knight to average in double figures at 14.2 points per game. Naria Hall is next in scoring at 9.8 ppg and Peighton Porter is at 8.6 ppg. Porter leads the Lady Knights in rebounding at 9.3 rebounds per game.

The Lady Knights average 63.4 ppg and allow 78.5 ppg.

The Lady Indians come into the game with a 4-17 overall record and 1-1 in the NCCAC. The Lady Indians are led in scoring by Aliyah Foote at 13.6 ppg. Colby Cox is the only other Lady Indian to average in double figures at 10.6 ppg. Gabrielle Enloe leads the Lady Indians in rebounding with 6.1 rpg.

The Lady Indians average 64.3 ppg and allow 74.9 ppg.

The men’s game is a key Region IX South Sub-Region and NCCAC game. In the South Sub-Region the Knights are currently in fourth place with a 5-4 record. The Indians are a game back of the Knights in a tie for sixth place with Lamar Community College at 4-5.

The Knights are 9-8 overall and 2-0 in the NCCAC. Godfrey Rolle leads the Knights in scoring at 17.5 ppg. He is followed by Trajan Harris at 12.9 ppg. Jakub Karwoski and Buom Dobuol lead the Knights in rebounding at 5.1 rpg. Karwowski is coming off of back to back double-doubles.

The Knights are scoring 74.2 ppg and allowing 74.7 ppg.

The Indians are 14-6 overall and 2-0 in the NCCAC. D’Von Moore is averaging 15.4 ppg to lead the Indians. Two other players for the Indians are in double digit scoring average. Chinedu Okonkwo is at 13.1ppg and Junathean Cunningham is averaging 10.7 ppg. Okonkwo leads the Indians in rebounding at 9.8 rpg.

The Indians are scoring 81.7 ppg and allowing 77.4 ppg.

Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 for the women’s game and approximately 7:30 for the men’s game. Both games will be broadcast on the radio on ESPN 1410 and on the Internet at www.northplattepost.com. They will also be livestreamed at www.npccknights.com.

Trinidad, Colo. – The North Platte Community College Knights basketball team fell to the Trinidad State Junior College Trojans in a Region IX South Sub-Region contest, 88-70, on Friday night.

The Knights jumped out to a 19-10 lead to begin the game. The Trojans then went on a 17-3 run to take a 27-22 lead. They continued to add to their lead, leading by as much as 16 at 47-31.

The Trojans led at halftime by the score of 49-36.

Starting the second half, the Trojans built on to their lead by going on an 11-6 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 61-42.

The Knights went on a 11-1 run to cut the lead to nine at 62-53. That was the closest they would get in the remainder of the game.

The Knights drop to 8-8 on the season and 4-4 in Region IX South Sub-Region play.

The Knights had three players in double figures led by Atem Ajang with 21 points. Jakub Karwowski finished with 16 points and Godfrey Rolle added 13 points. Karwowski had a double-double with 12 rebounds.

The Trojans are now 16-5 and 6-3 in the South Sub-Region.

The Trojans had four players in double figures led by Job Alexander and Tykeem Anderson with 16 points each. Charles Henderson finished with 11 points and Isaac Essign finished with 10 points. Henderson had 12 rebounds to lead the Trojans.

The Knights will travel to Cheyenne, Wyo., to play the Laramie County Community College Golden Eagles on Saturday in another Region IX South Sub-Region game. Tip-off will follow the women’s game at approximately 5 pm.

The link to the livestream of both men and women’s games are at www.npccknights.com.