Story and photo by Daniel Stinman Area Director of Marketing and Public Information
North Platte, Neb. – The North Platte Community College women’s basketball team advances to the DII Region IX Championship on Saturday, April 3, by defeating the Central Community College Raiders on Tuesday night, 69-33.
“Tonight was a complete defensive effort,” said head coach Jeff Thurman. “I am very proud of our focus and execution tonight and look forward to our next challenge on Saturday against Southeast”
In the first quarter, the Knights took their first lead of the game at the 7:19 mark as Diamond Moore-Heath drove through the lane and was able to get a contested layup to fall, 4-2. Central responded on their next possession to tie it up at 4-4, before the Knights used a 10-2 run to extend their lead to eight on a deep corner three by Janay Brauer, 14-6. North Platte outscored the Raiders 5-3 over the remaining minutes to take a ten point lead into the second quarter, 19-9.
Knights continued to roll offensively early in the second quarter using an 8-2 run to push their lead to sixteen, as Jennessy Aragon-Dennis connected on the front end of a pair of free throws. The Knights pushed their lead out to eighteen on a jumper by Viri Escobar, before the Raiders narrowed the deficit to fifteen at the break, 31-16.
In the third quarter, the Knights used a 20-2 run to extend their lead to 51-18 over the opening seven minutes. The Raiders trimmed the deficit down to twenty-eight inside a minute to play, but the Knights quickly extended their lead back to thirty by the end of the third quarter, 55-25.
The Knights energy continued into the fourth quarter, as Moore-Heath found Amber Wolever for an open jumper to extend the lead to thirty-two, 57-25. A short 4-0 run by the Raiders trimmed the lead down to twenty-eight, before the Knights answered with their own 8-2 run to push their lead to 65-31.
Knights held the Raiders to just one more field goal, while Kanesha Hall closed out the scoring for North Platte with four points over the final minutes of action.
Moore-Heath led the Knights with 18 points and eight rebounds, while her teammate Jordan Moon chipped in 10 points and collected six rebounds off the bench.
North Platte will look to advance to the District F Championship for the second time in three seasons, with a win over Southeast Community College on Saturday. The Knights and Storm split the regular season series with each team winning on the road. Tip for the DII Region IX Championship is set for 2:00 p.m. inside the Truman Center Gymnasium in Beatrice, Neb.