The North Central Missouri College men, buoyed by a pair of second-half shots by sophomore guard Yacento Scott (Staley H.S.), picked up a 67-65 victory over the Ellsworth Community College Panthers on Tuesday night, in action broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7.
In a back-and-forth second half, Scott hit a left-wing three to give the Pirates a brief lead with just over three minutes remaining in regulation. Tom Johnson had the play-by-play call:
With the game tied and the clock running under 20 seconds, the Pirates defense forced a loose-ball scramble at mid-court, with the ball going out of bounds off of the Panthers, giving NCMC a chance for a game-winner. Scott got the basketball with 11 seconds remaining in the contest:
Sophomore small forward Jordan Reece led the Pirates with 19 points, with Scott adding 10, as did freshman point guard Soloman Thomas, a product of Hogan Prep Academy in Kansas City. The win improves the Pirates to 2-1 heading into two games this weekend in Kansas City, Kansas.
Here is Head Coach Jeremy Esry, talking about the increase in intensity the Pirates showed at the Ketcham Center, just three days removed from a flat performance at John Wood:
Ellsworth was paced by 18 points from L.J. Harris, 17 from Jamal Antoine, and 11 points from Devontae Sims.
The women’s contest, in the home opener for the NCMC Lady Pirates, went to Jenni Croy’s squad by a final score of 77-67, with the Lady Pirates outscoring 23-20 in the final quarter to secure the home-court victory.
The new-look NCMC women were led by Park Hill South product Dymeria Guillory with 16 points. Hailey Burrows, a sophomore forward from Gilman City, had 15, with freshman center Da’Briauana Bables scoring 13, along with 13 from transfer guard Karrisa Baber.
While admitting that the process of meshing her team of newcomers will continue to be a “work in progress”, Coach Croy was pleased with her team being able to pull out win #1 of the season:
Ellsworth, now 0-3 on the young season, had 15 points from Tayla Nulty and 11 from Sammy Miller.
The Pirate men, in KCK, will play Labette Community College on Friday afternoon at 4 o’clock, preceded at 2 o’clock by the Lady Pirates battling Hesston, Kansas. On Saturday night, the Lady Pirates, back in KCK, will play the host KCK Blue Devils at 4 o’clock, followed by Coach Esry’s squad playing KCK at 6 o’clock.
The next radio broadcasts of NCMC basketball will be Tuesday night, with the Pirate teams hosting Southwestern Community College, with both the women’s game at 5:30 and men’s game at 7:30 slated for coverage on Hot Country Z 101.7.
