The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team will be playing for a Region IX title Saturday evening after a heart-pounding 82-78 win over Casper College in the semifinals of the Region IX tournament at Cougar Palace.
WNCC, who have now won 13 straight, will be facing Trinidad State College for the title at 5 p.m. at Cougar Palace. Trinidad State had to hang on to down Gillette College 86-83 in the other semifinal game Friday.
WNCC coach Billy Engel said it was a heck of a game and his team battled tooth and nail to get the emotional win.
"We preach to these kids about playing big-time basketball at the end of the season and giving yourself a chance to go to Hutch, giving yourself a chance to win a championship, and these guys have put that into fruition and give themselves to play a championship game against a worthy opponent," Engel said. "Trinidad is back-to-back Region IX champions. They pulled out a really tough one earlier today, so I wouldn't have it any other way. Coach Folda is a heck of a coach and they have a heck of a team. They got our number here at home (during the regular season) and we really battled in a tough championship environment down at their place, so this place will be rocking tomorrow."
The game was one where the Cougars didn't have more than a 4-point lead all night while Casper had double-digit leads on several occasions. Casper's largest lead was 14 points at 30-16 in the first half and led 56-48 in the second half.
Engel said it was a game that both teams left it all out on the floor.
"We put a lot of effort and emphasis into different things like defensively, rebounding, sharing the ball, but at the end of the day it came down to heart, guts, to determination, to team work and to playing together," Engel said. "We came together and just found a way to make something happen. Our team did that late and I am incredibly proud of our guys."
The biggest thing is the Cougars get to play in a championship game with hopes of repeating of what the 2018 team did when they won a regional title against Otero in LaJunta, Colorado. Engel said it is nice to get to the championship game and know they have to work harder to finish the job.
"This means a lot. We haven't been there in six years," he said. "The returners have been talking about it for two years. The transfers coming in is that we recruited them to come here do something like this. The freshman on this team they have ridiculous confidence that they were going to come and do this. None of this was going to be easy, but it means a lot for the fact that our guys are happy and excited right now. It goes to show how much it means to us. Our crowd has been great ever since I have been here. The Scottsbluff and Gering community has been amazing and so supportive and I can't wait to see our crowd come out tomorrow (Saturday)."
The game was crazy as Casper came out and took a 14-9 lead in the first half before WNCC tied it at 14-14 on a Travis Easterly, Jr., bucket. Casper then went on a 13-0 run to go up 27-14, but WNCC came back to only trail by three at halftime at 41-38.
The second half saw WNCC tie the game at 41 on a JJ Harris bucket and then later at 48-48 on a Daniel Bula 3-pointer. Casper then ripped off eight straight to lead 56-48. WNCC came back to make it 56-55 on five free throws and tied the game at 61-61 on two Easterly, Jr. free throws.
Casper led 75-70 with about three minutes to play and pushed the lead to 78-74 with two minutes to play.
It was the last two minutes that the Cougar defense stepped up, holding the Thunderbirds scoreless. WNCC tied the game at 78-78 with 1:20 to play on an Anthony Simo bucket. The next possession for Casper, there was a call that originally the ball was given to Casper, but after instant replay, the ball was given to WNCC. The Cougars came down and Simo hit a bucket to put WNCC up 80-78 with 6.6 seconds. Casper then had a turnover with 5.3 seconds to play as Bula got a steal and was fouled. Bula hit both charity tosses for the 4-point lead to seal the win.
WNCC shot 39 percent from the field and buried six treys. Casper shot 46 percent and hit 11 3-pointers. The free throw line was where the game was won as Casper was just 9-of-20 while WNCC was 18-of-24.
WNCC out-rebounded Casper 51-32 as Bula and Harris each had nine boards.
WNCC had five in double figures. Simo and Easterly, Jr., each had 16 points while Bula had 15 points with a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. Kayden Nation had 13 points while Harris had 11 points.
WNCC will play Trinidad, who led Gillette 45-38 at halftime and then had to hang on to win 86-83.
Trinidad was paced by to in double digits as Devin Davenport had 28 points while Amir Reaves had 18.
Gillette had four in double digits, led by Jaden Witter-Watts with 17 followed Andrew Fuquay with 15, Jahki Gupton with 12, and Jefferson Neary with 11.
Gillette 38 45 – 83
Trinidad 45 41 – 86
GILLETTE
Jaden Witter-Watts 17, Andrew Fuquay 15, Jahki Gupton 12, Caleb Hollenbeck 8, Jefferson Neary 11, Dorell Thomas 3, Eman Lawal 8, Ali Sakho 9.
TRINIDAD
Keliese Drye 3, Amir Reeves 18, Chase McWhite 4, Tripp Beatty 4, Lateef Patrick 7, Titus Washington 6, Kenyon Elliott 5, Finn Lilly 7, Wahkil Lopez 4, Devin Davenport 28.
Casper 41 37 – 78
WNCC 38 44 – 82
CASPER
Jimma James 11, Kuon Kuon 3, Malyk Rebetez 3, Darius Robinson 16, Abdul Bashir 18, Josh Ijeh 4, Nate Sasser III 13, Jaden Peters 10.
WNCC
JJ Harris 11, Maurice Walker 2, Anthony Simo 16, Willie Wilson 7, Travis Easterly, Jr., 16, Stephen Ovia 2, Daniel Bula 15, Kayden Nation 13.