The season is on the line come Saturday when the Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team hosts Northeastern Junior College in the first round of the Region IX tournament.
WNCC, 20-10 on the season, earned the number two seed and the right to host a first-round contest. Tip-off against No. 7 NJC is slated for 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Sophomore Jeremy Ruffin said this is an important contest and his team will be ready.
"The focus is to play every possession your hardest; every possession matters," Ruffin said. "We have to take care of that. We have to defend and rebound and then the offense will take care of itself. That is the big thing going into Saturday."
What is important is this is a new season where all teams are actually 0-0 with the winner advancing to the 3-day Region IX tournament March 9-11 at the highest remaining seed from the North sub-region. Currently that team is Gillette and if Gillette tops Little Big Horn College on Saturday in a first round contest, the Pronghorns will host the final eight teams.
For Ruffin, who has never won past the first round at either Rich South High School in Chicago or last year at Williston State College, he knows what is at stack and wants to win a first round playoff game.
"Last year [at Williston] we got knocked out in the first round so this is big for me," he said. "I have never made it out of the first round even when I was in high school. This is a big game for me as well."
WNCC and NJC have met twice on the season with the Cougars winning both. WNCC topped NJC 82-57 Jan. 13 at Cougar Palace before defeating the Plainsmen on their own turf 89-71 on Feb. 18.
Ruffin said NJC is a tough team.
"The last time we played them, we played at NJC and basically it was for coach," he said. "What we know about them is they are a scrappy team, they shoot the ball well, they defend, they rebound, so we just have to play better basketball."
For the Cougars, though, it is just a matter of taking care of business and that is playing together.
"Team chemistry is big and that chemistry is coming together," Ruffin said. "When the players start knocking down shots and passing the ball to find each other, that pass becomes contagious. That is when we really start knocking down big shots."
Offense really hasn't been a problem for the Cougars all season. WNCC has scored 80 or more points in 11 of its games this semester. The Cougars have hit the century mark four times, including a 105-89 win over Eastern Wyoming last week. They also put up 120 points in a win over Ft. Carson back in January.
WNCC has six players averaging nine points or more this season. Ruffin said that ability has helped the team win 20 games this season. It is also the first time a Cougar team has won 20 games in a season since 2011 and they did it with plenty of gutsy play.
"It will take guts to win," he said. "You have to have guts to defend, guts to rebound, and guts to make open shots. We just have to play every possession and take one possession at a time and know that is what counts."
Vinnie Shahid leads the Cougars averaging 15 points a game followed by Djodje Dimitrijevic at 13.8.
Right behind is Scottsbluff's Trent Harris and Michael Connor, Jr., at 10 points, RJ Palmer at 9.5 points, and Ruffin at nine points.
Last time out on Saturday against Eastern Wyoming, Shahid and Harris combined for 55 points and 14 3-pointers. Shahid scored 30 points while Harris lit things up with 25 points.
First round games in the South sub-region included No. 1 Laramie County hosting No. 8 McCook, No. 3 Lamar hosting Trinidad State, and No. 4 Otero hosting No. 5 North Platte.
North first round games has No. 1 Gillette hosting No. 8 Little Big Horn, No. 2 Central Wyoming hosting No. 7 Miles, No. 3 Casper hosting No. 6 Western Wyoming, and No. 4 Sheridan hosting No. 5 Northwest College.
After this weekend, the teams will be reseeded for the 8-team regional tournament March 9-10 with the winner qualifying for the National Tournament March 20-25 in Hutchinson, Kansas.