The North Central Missouri College men?s and women?s basketball teams opened their season with a pair of wins over William’ Penn?s junior varsity on Saturday night. The women got a 74-59 victory while the men were 90-78 winners.
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The North Central Missouri College men?s and women?s basketball teams opened their season with a pair of wins over William’ Penn?s junior varsity on Saturday night. The women got a 74-59 victory while the men were 90-78 winners.
NCMC Women
The Lady Pirates, under new head coach James Arnold, ran their way to a convincing 15-point-win. The Lady Pirates opened the game with a 9-0 lead but William Penn went on a run that tied up the contest at 9-9.
?I think everyone had their adrenaline going early in the game and that had something to do with the runs,? Arnold said. ?We were a little ragged early on, but we really settled down.?
The Lady Pirates went into halftime with a 32-31 lead, despite not playing well and not having sophomore Stephanie Beason score very much.
?We fouled too much, we turned the ball over too much and Stephanie struggled a little bit,? Arnold said. ?With all that we still went into halftime with a lead and that says a lot for this team, which doesn?t have a lot of returning experience.?
The Lady Pirates settled down in the second half and began to pull away. Beason, who scored just five points in the first half, finished with a team-high 18 points. She added six rebounds and five steals. Leigh Mead finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. Tara Sunderland chipped in with 11 points and five assists. Lindsey Lattimore had nine points and six rebounds. Dana Lucas had five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The Lady Pirates also knocked down an impressive 7-of-10 from the three-point line.
?We had several girls step up in the first half,” Arnold said. “Lindsey Lattimore, Tia Kleoppel and Bridgette Berry all came in and gave us a spark. In the second half, Stephanie and Leigh both led us to the win.?
The Lady Pirates open their season at 1-0 and will travel to the Ellsworth Classic on Friday.
?It was great to get the first win,? Arnold said. ?It was nice for the girls to get the win because they have been working very hard. It was also nice for our coaching staff because we are so young. Personally it was great because all my family came up from Virginia to see the game. So it was nice that they got to see a win.?
NCMC Men
The NCMC men got off to a quick start and it looked like they were going to run away from William Penn. But after leading by as many as 20 points in the first half, the Pirates saw their lead dwindle down to only five points in the second half.
?I really thought we looked good for the first game in the first half,? Head Coach Steve Richman said. ?We were not sharp in the second half. We let them hang around until (William Penn?s) shots started to fall.?
The Pirates led at halftime, 44-32. William Penn then saw its outside shooting heat up in the second half.
?We quit doing all the things that helped us build our 12-point halftime lead,? Richman said. ?We quit running our offense. We stopped getting into the passing lanes and really lost our intensity.?
The Pirate were able to overcome that lack of intensity in the final eight minutes of the game and finished the game with a 12-point win.
?We had some bright spots but we also had several areas that need to be improved on,? Richman said. ?Overall it was nice to get the win and it was nice to see us regain our composure and take care of business.?
Donovan Thompson led the way with 21 points. Matt Toomey had 16 points and Ryan Peterson chipped in with 12 points.
?One positive for sure was the way Donovan, Matt and Ryan all stepped up,? Richman said. ?Last year none off those kids were asked to score for us, so it was nice to see them responded when we needed them.?
The Pirates are 1-0 overall. They will host Avila College in a open-gym scrimmage on Wednesday. People are encouraged to come and watch the practice at 6 p.m.