GILLETTE, Wyo. – The Western Nebraska Community College men's basketball team battled Gillette College in the semifinals of the Region IX tournament on Friday, but ended up on the short end, falling 87-71.

                The loss ends the Cougars' season at 14-17, where the team ended up as one of the highest-scoring teams in Cougar history.

                Gillette advances to the championship game Saturday at 3 p.m. when they face Trinidad State College. The Trojans topped Casper in a similar score, beating the T-Birds 86-77.

                Friday's showdown was one where shooting was the difference. WNCC shot just 38 percent from the field compared to 53 percent for the Pronghorns. WNCC won the battle from behind the arc, nailing nine triples compared to seven for Gillette.

                The disparity came at the free-throw line. WNCC was whistled for 20 fouls while Gillette had 13. That meant that the Cougars only made 4-of-6 from the charity stripe for 67 percent. Gillette was 20-of-27 from the stripe at 74 percent.

                The first half was the difference as the Cougars couldn't buy a bucket as they trailed at intermission 38-26. The second half was a different story as the two teams were neck-in-neck in scoring. Gillette won the battle 49-45.

                WNCC had three players finish with double digits, led by sophomore Elijah Hollins with 20 followed by sophomore Elijah Burney with 18. Kellon Harris chipped in 10.

                Hollins had four 3-pointers while Burney and Toms Linis each had two. The other triple came from freshman Isaiah St. Preux.

                Gillette won the rebound battle 48-31. Linis led the Cougars with six boards while Mathiang Maker had five rebounds.

                WNCC loses just three sophomores next year in Hollins, Burney, and Maker as they hope to make a title run under this year's first-year head coach Roybell Baez.

WNCC                26 45 – 71
Gillette                38 49 – 87
WNCC
Kellon Harris 10, Elijah Hollins 20, Mathiang Maker 6, Elijah Burney 18, Toms Linis 6, Isaiah St. Preux 7, Dorin Nguema 4.
GILLETTE
Dane Christensen 24, Andrew Fuquay 21, Caleb Hollenbeck 14, Jefferson Neary 9, Dorell Thomas 6, Sayed Sayed 4, Malique Moss 5, Javonne Nesbit 4.