Women Keep Rolling, Men Set Back By Central
The North Central Missouri College women’s basketball team is enjoying a banner year, literally.
The heavy favorites to hang a Region 16 banner in 2021 kept their stellar work going on Monday, picking up a road win in Columbus, NE, defeating Central College 78-50.
The Pirates went to work early, running out to a 39-27 halftime lead, but their 20-9 run in the third quarter was what really put the game away. Central drifted away quietly in the fourth as North Central collected its fifth-straight win and 13th overall.
Maci Moore continued her tremendous freshman campaign, leading the Pirates with 16 points and seven rebounds. Kennadie Crowe had 16 points as well and added six rebounds. Behind that duo, Lily Osborn had 12 points and five assists and Nora Ford finished with nine points. Kortlyn Rounkles filled out the stat sheet with eight points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
With the win, North Central improved to 13-3 overall on the season.
MEN
A day that started with the North Central Missouri College men’s basketball team celebrating their climb to No. 11 in the NJCAA Division II poll, ended on a much lower note Monday as the Pirates suffered an 88-71 road loss to Central College in Columbus, NE.
The North Central men saw their five-game winning streak snapped with the loss, a setback cause mostly by a poor shooting night. North Central was 39 percent from the field, but connected on just 3-of-24 three-pointers and missed over half of its free throws in the loss.
“We ran into a high-energy, well-coached Central team and were just unable to match what they did on the floor,” Esry said. “We made some runs in the second half to get the score within two, but struggled shooting the ball from the outside and the free-throw line. Our guys still played super hard, which we love to see. Hopefully we can use this as a learning opportunity so we can go on a little run and finish the year strong.”
Jeramy Shaw had 18 points, four steals and three assists to lead the Pirates while Atavian Butler, who battled foul trouble early on and finished playing just 18 minutes, added 13 points. Kolten Griffin had 10 points and six rebounds and Darious Thomas finished with seven points and seven boards.
With the loss, North Central fell to 11-6 overall on the season.
Both NCMC teams will be on the road Saturday, traveling to St. Louis to take on the Archers in Region 16 play. Both North Central teams defeated St. Louis in Trenton on March 6, the women winning 72-39 and the men taking a 72-68 victory.
Saturday’s games in St. Louis tip off at 1 p.m. with the women’s contest and the men will follow at 3 o’clock.
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