The North Central Missouri College women and men swept a basketball doubleheader against the visiting Southwestern (IA) Community College Spartans on Tuesday night, with the Lady Pirates winning 77-62 and the Pirates claiming an 85-73 win.
The games, while finishing in similar fashion, were played much differently, with the Lady Pirates struggling in the first half to 27 percent shooting, including 1 for 17 from three-point range, in trailing by four at the break.  The Pirates played very well in the first half in building a 16 point halftime lead, with the Spartans never threatening the lead in the final 20 minutes.
The story coming out of the Lady Pirates performance centered on the play of freshman point guard Jessica Reeter (Chillicothe, MO), who ignited a struggling offense with six three-point shots, including four in the fourth quarter, as part of a 28 point, eight rebound, 7 assist night. Head coach Jenni Croy was asked about the recruitment of Reeter from the Hornets to the Pirates in a postgame interview:Â
The returning sophomore starting frontcourt of Mary Copeland (Polo, MO) and Tori Meinecke were solid for North Central, with Copeland scoring 12 points and Meinecke 10.  Coach Croy described the challenge for her young team of finding answers to their first half struggles:
The win improves NCMC to 2-0 on the young season, with challenging games coming off this weekend against Des Moines Area CC (Friday at 7:30 PM) and Iowa Western CC (Saturday at 2:00 PM) in the NCMC Classic.
Southwestern’s ladies, falling to 0-2 on the season, were paced by Shyla Moore with 13 points, Brooklyn Hadl 12, Samair Colon with 11, and Mikayla Hearon 10 points.
The Pirate men had an effective rebound game from Saturday’s home loss to #11 ranked Johnson County, with Tyler King (St. Louis, MO) scoring a game-high 20 points. Isaiah Reams (Mexico, MO) had 17 points, Giovanni Mack (Belton, MO) 14 points and Jakorrie Terrill (Slater, MO) 14 points.
The Pirates play in the KCK Classic this weekend, including a Saturday night (6 o’clock) game against Kansas City Kansas Community College at Hy-Vee Arena in Kansas City on KGOZ FM 101.7. The Pirates will play National Park College on Friday afternoon at 4 o’clock from the campus of KCK Community College.
Photo credit – North Central Missouri College Athletics / NCMCPirates.com / Trenton, MO
