MCC downs Lamar 55-43; moves on to Thursday round

The McCook Community College women's basketball team opened post-season play Saturday with a strong defense in a 55-43 win over Lamar Community College.

The win, in a Region IX first-round play-in game, moves MCC to 18-12 on the year and on to Casper, Wyo. to face the No. 2 seed in the Region IX North Division, Eastern Wyoming, in a Thursday game.

"We had a really good first half, shot the ball really well, and then got complacent in the second half," said MCC Coach Brandon Pritchett.

MCC came out blazing in the first quarter taking a 17-12 lead after 10 minutes of play. MCC made seven of 11 shots from the 3-point line (63.6 percent) and went up at the half 34-22.

In the second half, MCC cooled off considerably missing all seven shots from distance and shooting just 22.2 percent overall in the second half.

"We have a lot of things to work on to get better, I still don't think we've played our best game all year where we've put two halves together," Pritchett said. "We've had good first halves or second or have a game where we are strong in the first and fourth quarters, but this team really hasn't put four quarters together."

The coach said his team needs to take that opportunity now.

"We don't get second chances at the region tournament," he said. "So we have to put all four quarters together to be successful." Pritchett said.

Lamar's Althea Kara Angeles entered the game in the top 25 nationally, averaging 17.7 points per game, 36.5 percent from the field and 29.1 percent from the 3-point line. Going into Saturday's game, Pritchett said the goal was to try and limit her.

"We played really tough defense on her today, Shelby Clark had a great defensive game and her task was to guard her, and she held her to seven points," Pritchett said. In addition the Lamar sophomore hit just two of 13 shots overall (15.4 percent) and went 0-for-six from the 3-point line.

After shooting 25.8 percent in the first half, MCC held Lamar to 20 percent in the second half and 23 percent for the game.

"Collectively, I think this was one of our best defensive games that we put together, hopefully we can continue those things because you have to get stops in the region tournament," said Pritchett. "So I think we're at a good point defensively,"

On the offensive end after shooting 41.4 percent in the first half, MCC finished the game shooting 32.1 percent, 38.9 percent from the 3-point line and 12 of 15 from the free-throw line (80 percent).

MCC outrebounded Lamar 47-40.

Sophomore Vanessa Jurewicz (Stockholm, Sweden) led MCC with 15 points. Sophomore Sonia Sato (El Paso, Texas) scored 12 points and went two-for-three from the 3-point line. Sophomore Carla Torrubia Cano (Melilla, Spain) scored 10 points and had a team-best nine rebounds.

Clark, a sophomore from Las Vegas hit a pair of 3-pointers in the first half to finish with six points and five rebounds. Yzabelle Tevao (sophomore, Auckland, New Zealand) came off the bench with six points and four rebounds.

Lamar finishes the season 7-20.

MCC moves on the next round of the Region IX tournament and will face Eastern Wyoming Thursday.

MCC played the Lancers twice this season, opening the season Nov. 5 with a 63-56 win at home and losing at Torrington 84-72 on Dec. 3. Like MCC, Eastern Wyoming tied for the No. 2 seed in their division, but unlike MCC, The Lancers won the tie-breaker and were idle this weekend. They went 16-11 in the regular season and 6-4 against Region IX north opponents.

"They shoot the ball really well, so we need to have a strong defensive game against them on Thursday," said Pritchett.

For more photos from Saturday's game, please visit the MCC Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MPCCMcCook

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REGION IX TOURNAMENT

     Thursday Schedule (All times MT)

     MCC vs. Eastern Wyoming, 12:30 p.m.

     Northwest Wyoming vs. Western Nebraska, 2:30 p.m.    

     Trinidad State vs. Laramie County CC, 5:30 p.m.

     Otero Junior College vs. Casper, 7:30 p.m.    

FINAL REGION IX

SOUTH DIVISION STANDINGS

                             DIV.    OVERALL

Western Nebraska  10-0          26-1

McCook CC             6-4          18-11

Trinidad State         6-4           9-16

Northeastern JC      4-6          13-15

Otero                     3-9            9-19

Lamar                    1-9            7-19

REGION IX SOUTH PLAY-IN SCHEDULE

     Saturday First Round Games

          McCook CC 55, Lamar 43

     Sunday First Round Games

          Otero JC 72, Northeastern JC 63 (at Sterling, Colo.)

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NORTH DIVISION STANDINGS

                             DIV.    OVERALL

Casper                   10-0        24-4

Eastern Wyoming    6-4          16-11

Laramie Co. CC       6-4          15-11

Northwest              5-5          12-14

Central Wyoming     2-8           7-20

Western Wyoming    1-9           5-20

REGION IX NORTH PLAY-IN SCHEDULE

     Saturday First Round Games

          Laramie County CC 70, Western Wyoming 45                    

          Northwest Wyo.  70, Central Wyo. 49