The North Central Missouri College Lady Pirates dominated play in a 78-50 road victory in Columbus, Nebraska on Monday afternoon, sweeping a season series with Central Community College and dropping the Raiders to a mark of 3-14.
The Lady Pirates, 9th ranked in the country in the latest JUCO D-2 poll, improved to 13-3 as Kennadie Crowe and Maci Moore controlled the paint with 16 points each, with Moore grabbing seven rebounds to Crowe’s six. Sophomore center Kennedie Kieffer had five points and seven boards, with Nora Ford scoring nine, and Kortlyn Rounkles eight points.
CCC was paced by a 13 point effort from Macey Thege, with Bailey Lehr contributing 11 points.
The men’s game saw a Pirate team battling injuries, and also trying to find the energy to grab a second road win in three nights in the Cornhusker State, after winning 102-100 at Southeast Community College on Saturday. Unfortunately for North Central, the offensive productivity faded on Monday, with Central controlling play in an 88-71 upset victory, handing a North Central team that had risen to #11 in the country earlier in the day their sixth loss of the season.
CCC, in improving to 8-10, had a dominating inside game from power forward Caleb Muia, with 23 points and 16 rebounds. Tredyn Prososki came off the bench to score 18 points, with Gavin Lipovsky scoring 13. Jeramy Shaw once again led the Pirates with 18 points. Atavian Butler, still slowed by a sprained ankle, came off the bench for the second consecutive game, scoring 13 points in 18 minutes of action, with Kolten Griffin adding 10. Starting point guard Damien Loyd missed another game with a lingering groin injury, suffered in a late February practice.
The Lady Pirates and Pirates return to Region XVI play this Saturday, playing at St. Louis Community College, with the women’s game at 1 o’clock and the men playing at 3. Broadcast plans remain uncertain, due to COVID-19 complications, for the weekend games.
