The North Central Missouri College women’s and men’s basketball tams opened up mid first-half advantages and led the entire second halves in a doubleheader sweep of the Wentworth Military Academy Red Dragons.
The Lady Pirates, playing a WMA squad with only two victories coming into the contest, started slowly, as a normally potent NCMC offense led after 10 minutes, but only by a score of 14-8. Over the next 20 minutes, Jenni Croy’s team ran the Dragons off the floor, scoring a combined 59 points and cruising to a 94-40 win.
The triumph improves the North Central women to 12-5 overall, and 1-0 in Region XVI, with WMA falling to 2-12 overall, and 0-2 in Region XVI.
The balanced and consistent offense continues to pace the Lady Pirates impressive season, according to Coach Jenni Croy:
The NCMC women, despite the early game slumber, remained confident in their ability to get the offense going:
Kendey Eaton led the Lady Pirates with 27 points, while Asia Young added 17, McKinley Hurley 14, and Sarah Lamp 13 points. The Dragons had 13 points from Leanna Cadogan with 13 points and Deja Cartwright with 10.
The Pirate men played superb basketball over the first 24 minutes of their game against visiting Wentworth, leading by 28 points early in the second half. However, the Red Dragons had a furious rally to force the North Central men to hit a number of late-game free throws to secure a 95-86 win, pushing the North Central men to 8-4 overall, and 1-0 in Region XVI, while WMA suffers its fourth loss in a row.
Major Finley led NCMC with 27 points, with M.J. Johnson adding 18, Demetrius Houston 15, and Jalen Gant 14 points. For the Red Dragons, now 6-10 on the season, Bediako Nyaso had 21 points, Quovai Shorter 20, Romello Jones 18, and Derrik Brock Jr. 11 points.
In winning his Region XVI debut, NCMC Coach Jeremy Esry noted that the second-half surge from Wentworth was not unexpected:
Sophomore point guard Teyontae Jenkins continues to improve his play for the Pirates, noticeable with his ball-handling and defensive work on Wednesday night:
The North Central women and men host Southeast (Nebraska) Community College on Saturday afternoon, with the women’s game at 2 o’clock and the men’s game at 4, both to be broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7.
The next Region XVI games for the Pirate teams will be Wednesday night, January 25th (women at Cottey College at 6 PM) and Saturday, January 28th (women vs. Penn Valley at 1 PM, men vs. Penn Valley at 3 PM), with all three games scheduled for broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7.
