A Weekly Look Into Region IX Athletics
Region IX
Highlights
2
Week 14 Dec. 30, 2013
North Platte moves to No. 6 in nation Gillette, NJC also move into NJCAA Top 25 poll The first semester is over and many teams are having excellent seasons. One of the teams to watch is the North Platte Community College men’s basketball team has risen to No. 6 in the NJCAA national polls with a perfect 12-0 record. The knights are a perfect 4-0 in sub-region play and one of their biggest wins of the season this year was the last game out when they uphended Northeastern Junior College in the last game before break 69-60. That contest saw North Platte lead 28-23 at halftime. The Knights had three players in double figures, led by Ethan Montalvo with 16 points followed by Marco Pascola and Tim Simmons with 14 points each. NJC, who was at 12-0 at one time, lost two of their last three before break to fall to 2-2 in sub-region play. The Plainsmen not only lost to North Platte, but also Otero. The Plainmen finished off the first semester with a high-scoring game against McCook, beating the Indians 103-93 at McCook. Who will host the regional tournament in March is still up in the air as nothing is guaranteed. North Platte might lead the sub-region, but several teams are right behind with one loss, including McCook and Laramie County at 3-1, WNCC at 2-1, and NJC at 2-2. While many men’s teams are off during Continued on next page
Left; OTero’s Shun Williams pulls down a rebound during a game Dec. 13 against WNCC. The Rattlers split sub-region games during the weekend, beating EWC and falling to WNCC.. Below: Trinidad State’s Daisy Romero drives to the basket during their game against WNCC, while her teammate Charron Johnson blocks out. Trinidad State connected on 12 3-pointers to defeat WNCC 80-69.