The Western Nebraska Community College basketball teams will have a busy weekend as they get set to host South Sub-region opponents Friday and Saturday before embarking on a February that is filled with road contests.
Friday will be WNCC Athletic Hall of Fame induction night as the Cougars host Otero Junior College with the women’s game beginning at 6 p.m. and the men’s contest at 8 p.m. Then, on Saturday, the Cougars will host Trinidad State Junior College in the doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
Friday night’s contests will be filled with plenty of festivities as the athletic department will induct two into the Athletic Hall of Fame. The first Hall of Fame ceremonies were held in 2017 when Bobby Jackson, who played basketball from 1993-95 and had a long NBA career, and NFL Hall of Fame football player Dick “Night Train” Lane were inducted.
This year’s class will include Jackson’s teammate at WNCC in Bernard Garner, who was named the NJCAA Player of the Year and a successful basketball career at Nebraska, as well as Neal and Lora Blomenkamp/Runza as distinguished supporters. A former ceremony will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the Learning Commons at WNCC and then a presentation of the inductees at halftime of the men’s basketball game.
The games this weekend are vital for Region IX tournament seeding. The Cougar women’s games with Otero and Trinidad were slated to be their final home games of the year, but because of the postponement with Northeastern Junior College last week, the Cougar women will have at least one more home contest on February 21.
The women have a chance to notch their 20th win of the season, a streak that started back in the late 1980s. The only time they team failed to reach 20 wins was the COVID year of the spring of 2021 when they went 17-6 in a season where the season was shortened and many nationally-ranked teams even failed to reach 20 wins. That year, though, the Cougars went 2-1 at the national tournament including defeating top-ranked Jones College.
The WNCC women enter Friday nights contest at 18-1 and ranked 6th in the NJCAA national poll that was released on Monday. The Cougar women trail just five other teams in the poll. Three Rivers Community College is No. 1 this week followed by Shelton State, Northwest Florida State, Georgia Highlands, and the College of Southern Idaho.
The Cougar women, with their 18-1 record are also ranked fourth in the nation in the World Exposure Report Top 25 rankings. A publication that focuses on women’s basketball in all 50 states.
But, what makes Friday’s contest special as the Otero Junior College head coach Matt Vavro was an assistant coach under Chad Gibney a couple years ago. Vavro is in his first year at Otero. The Rattlers are just 6-13 this season and 0-2 in sub-region play.
WNCC is 2-0 in sub-region play and have won 13 straight since their loss to No. 5 College of Southern Idaho in early November.
What makes this team a powerhouse on the court is their versatility on offense and defense. The Cougars are a juggernaut on offense, leading the nation in scoring at 90.6 points a contest. Right behind WNCC is the top-ranked Three Rivers team averaging 90.6 points a contest.
The Cougars are also one of the top defensive teams in the nation, giving up 56.4 points a contest. WNCC is 16th in the nation in 3-point shooting, having made 144 treys as well as 16th in free shooting, making 71.4 percent of their charity shots.
The defensive side of the ball, however, is where the Cougars shine. The Cougars are fifth in the nation in steals, averaging 17.3 a game and they rank in the top in blocked shots per game at 3.5. On top of that, the Cougars are fourth in the nation in turning over the ball the least number of times at 10.9 per contest while forcing 23.9 turnovers a contest on defense (6th in the nation).
For the women, these games will take a big step in achieving their goal of getting the No. 1 seed for the regional tournament that will be played the first weekend in March as well as the potential of moving up in the national polls.
While the Cougar women will be aiming for their 20th win of the season, the Cougar men’s contests this weekend are even more meaningful for WNCC in the sub-region. WNCC is 1-2 in the sub-region at 12-7 on the season. Otero is the top team in the region at 17-3 overall and a perfect 4-0 in conference play.
Otero defeated Northeastern Junior College on Tuesday 80-65. A big common opponent between WNCC and Otero is Air Force Prep. The Cougars split with Air Force Prep falling 97-70 in early January before coming back to top the Huskies on Tuesday 78-70. Otero fell to Air Force Prep 62-60 on Jan. 11.
Another common conference opponent between the two schools is McCook. Otero defeated McCook 100-79 while WNCC lost to the Indians 69-65.
Otero comes into the contest as the 11th highest-scoring team in the NJCAA, averaging 90.3 points a contest. WNCC is 82nd in the nation, averaging 79.8 points a game. Otero is 15th in made 3-pointers this season with 190 while WNCC has made 131 triples so far this year.
While Friday’s games will be special for many reasons including the induction of Garner and the Blomenkamps, Saturday’s games will also be intense when Trinidad State comes into Cougar Palace.
The Trinidad men are 9-7 overall and currently tied for second in the conference at 3-1. The Trojans have won their last three conference games. Trinidad opened conference play with a 65-56 loss to Otero and then reeled off three straight sub-region wins, topping North Platte 83-71, McCook 100-95, and Lamar 74-66.
The Trinidad women are 1-1 in sub-region play and 4-12 overall. The Trojan ladies defeated Otero 68-66 on January 13. Trinidad then fell in their last two games to Eastern Wyoming 77-62 and then to McCook 69-66.
After this weekend, the Cougar men will be on the road next weekend when they face McCook on Friday and North Platte on Saturday. The women will only play McCook on Friday next week.
