The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team put together a stellar second semester, going 14-1 with their only loss coming to Trinidad State back on January 19.
Since that defeat, the Cougar men have won 11 straight, including a big 77-76 win on February 23 over Trinidad that gave the Cougars the South Sub-region championship and the right to host the Region IX tournament.
The tournament begins Thursday, March 14 at Cougar Palace with four games with the championship slated for March 16 with the winner advancing to the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas, March 24-30.
WNCC head coach Billy Engel, who was an assistant for the Cougars when the Cougar men last won a regional title in 2018, said it is an honor to host the regional tournament and for the Panhandle fans to see some talented teams.
"We are very excited at the opportunity to be able to host the Region IX Tournament," Engel said. "It is a testament to how hard our guys have played throughout the season and how they've come together, grown together and learned to play together at a high level. We are also very excited to bring some high-level basketball to the community. The Scottsbluff community has been extremely supportive, and we can't wait to play this tournament in front of our home crowd."
JJ Harris, a sophomore, said this team is focused on what they need to do to bring on a title.
"It starts with God. Then, in practice, we must go 1-0 Monday through Wednesday in order to perform Thursday," Harris said. "We know we can. Then I honestly feel like God will take care of the rest."
Engel said while the team hasn't played a game in three weeks because of a forfeit win from Lamar Community College on February 27, his team is excited to get back on the court in front of the fans.
"I think the guys are extremely excited to get back to competition after a long rest period," Engel said. "We've been able to get healthy as well as mentally rested. We had a good week of practice last week and need 3 more good days this week."
The tournament actually started last weekend with first-round games at the site of the higher seed. WNCC and Gillette, who won the sub-regions, received a bye into the tournament.
The first-round games saw a couple of upsets and games that went as predicted of the seedings. First-round results with the winners making the quarterfinals saw Otero earn a 91-87 overtime win over North Platte; Trinidad State taking out Lamar 88-70; McCook upsetting Northeastern Junior College 78-76; Laramie County beating Western Wyoming 90-81; Casper defeating Eastern Wyoming 114-94; and Northwest Wyoming upsetting Central Wyoming 97-93.
That sets up the quarterfinal action on Thursday with four games at Cougar Palace. Action begins at 1 p.m. when Trinidad State takes on Laramie County followed by the North winner Gillette College taking on McCook at 3 p.m. The 5 p.m. contest will pit Casper against Otero followed by WNCC taking on Northwest College at 7 p.m.
The winners advance to the semifinals at 5 and 7 p.m. on March 15 with the championship game Saturday evening.
WNCC's first opponent will be Northwest College, a team they beat back on November 17, 89-72, after only leading 40-39 at the half. In that game, Kayden Nation led the team with 16 points.
But, what was also key was WNCC had five players in double figures. After Nation, Elijah Burney tallied 12 points followed by 11 each from Harris and Maurice Walker, and 10 from Nazir Griffin.
Engel said Northwest will be a tough team, having beat some quality teams. Trappers are 14-17 on the season while the Cougars are 22-8 and received votes in the last regular season NJCAA national poll.
"Northwest College is an extremely well-coached team," Engel said. "They are disciplined, detailed, tough, scrappy, and have some talented players."
Northwest had sox players averaging in double figures. Colin Hayes leads the team at 15.4 points a game followed by Koltar Maritt at 12.7, and Isaiah Halverson at 12.2 points. Milton Rodriguez-Santana is at 11 points followed by Will Hemme and Drew Larson at 10 points a game.
The diversity and depth of the WNCC scorers have been a big reason for the Cougar's play during the second semester.
WNCC had eight players who averaged seven points a game and three who averaged double digits.
Harris leads the way at 13.2 points a game followed by Nation with 11.4 and Willie Wilson at 11.1.
After that, Walker is averaging 8.7 points, Daniel Bula at 7.9, and Stephen Ovia, Travis Easterly, Jr., and Anthony Simo at seven points.
Harris said he believes the team is playing well right now and they are hoping to keep it going.
"I feel like the team is playing great," Harris said. "It starts with our bong off the court. Everyone is for one another and I love that for us."
What Engel loves about this team is how they have come together during the second semester. WNCC was 8-7 after the first semester. The second semester they are 14-1 and have won some key contests, especially in comeback fashion.
"Our keys to success have been the same all second semester," Engel said. "Number one is to defend personnel and actions of Opponent. No. 2 is great shot selection and take care of the ball, and three, when our opponents make a mistake we need to take advantage."
During that key 11-game winning streak, the Cougars have won plenty of nail-biters, including an 81-80 overtime win at North Platte followed by an 89-82 win at Otero and then an 83-81 win at Northeastern Junior College.
The NJC win was a team effort when the Cougars put five players in double figures, but it was Harris' shot with 1.4 seconds left that gave the Cougars the win.
WNCC then wrapped up the regular season on February 23 with a one-point win over Trinidad State on the road 77-76 that saw the Cougars put together a late 14-0 run to get the win.
WNCC had to battle back from a 10-point and 8-point deficit with five minutes to play and went up 76-70 with about 45 seconds left. Trinidad hit a 3-pointer with 37.2 seconds left. Neither team scored on their next possession. With 11.9 seconds left, WNCC was looking for a shot to seal the game but turned the ball over. Trinidad inbounded the ball and called a timeout as soon as the ball crossed half-court with 7.5 seconds.
On the inbounds play, Travis Easterly, Jr., got a steal and was fouled. Easterly, Jr., hit one of two free throws with 4.7 left. Trinidad came down and buried a 3-pointer with .2 seconds left and WNCC inbounded the ball and ran out the clock.
"This team has done a very good job throughout conference play of not looking into the future but taking care of what's right in front of them, going 1-0 today. The only thing our team is looking at right now is being prepared and ready to compete against NWC on Thursday at 7 p.m.