MCC women's basketball team off to strong start

Grant Strunk/McCook Daily Gazette The 2009-10 McCook Community College women's basketball team, left to right, front row, Sierra Guy, Lauren Woods, Keri Novacek, Stevie Cussak, Tiani Cole, Michelle Price. Middle row, Molly Paul, Alexa Ward, Claudia Ortega, Morgan Spencer, Julia Hale, Jacqueline Lovato. Back row, Nikki Nilson, Emmalee Fladliand, Elie Heister, Kylie Berry, Lacey Tefft, Skylar Johnson, Donell Betts, Britney Bunker. [Click to enlarge]

The McCook Community College women's basketball team has taken big steps under the guidance of head coach Benjamin Smith. The Indians have a chance to improve on their win total from all of last season before this season's Christmas break.

The MCC women travel to Scottsbluff this weekend for three games in the Colorado-Nebraska Showcase. Coach Smith's squad takes a 6-4 record into the round-robin tournament play.

MCC will face Lamar (Colo.) Community College Thursday at 6 p.m. CST. The Indians then play Otero Junior college of La Junta, Colo. Friday at 6 p.m. before Saturday's 4 p.m. meeting with tournament host Western Nebraska Community College.

Coach Smith came to McCook after assistant coaching stints at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and the University of Alaska-Anchorage. He also spent several seasons as a student assistant at Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Ariz.

MCC finished last season with a 10-19 overall record.

"Not great, but an improvement from a year before, we won seven games the year before," Smith said. "We have a chance this year to eclipse our win total from all of last year before Christmas. If we go 4-2 over the next six games, we'll tie our win total from all of last year in the first semester, which is pretty good."

Three home games next week

The Indians have three homes games next week before the holiday break. The MCC women will host Colorado Christian for back-to-back games next Tuesday and Wednesday at the True Hall gym on the McCook campus. Tuesday's game versus the Colorado squad will tip off at 7 p.m., with Wednesday's rematch set to begin at 5 p.m. MCC entertains Central Wyoming Community College of Riverton, Wyo. Saturday, Dec. 12 with a 3 p.m. start.

After starting the season with six straight wins, the MCC women have dropped four straight, including a disappointing seven-point loss to Lamar at True Hall Nov. 17. Coach Smith said his squad was looking forward to today's rematch with the Colorado team at Scottsbluff.

MCC has several players on the roster from the Colorado Springs, Colo. area, the same southeast Colorado stomping grounds as Otero JC and Lamar CC. Smith said many of his players from Colorado competed against the players from the two Colorado schools during their high school days.

"Otero is kind of a bitter rivalry with us," Smith said. "A lot of our kids personally know those kids on that roster. There's a lot of history and a lot of different emotions that go into that game. It will be a fun weekend for us."

Smith is trying to build a solid program at McCook. He has seven sophomores on this year's roster along with a talented group of freshmen.

"I thought we brought in enough talent that we could compete every night," Smith said. "Which is something that I don't think McCook's been able to do in a really long time against the Western Nebraskas, the NJCs (Northeastern of Sterling, Colo.) of the world and the powerhouses in this regional, and a lot of the Jayhawk (Kansas league) schools.

"We went down a few days ago (Nov. 21) and played NJC at their place. It was back and forth, we had a lead late, we ended up losing by four. We had a 3-pointer rim out with a chance to take the lead with 30 seconds to go. They proved a lot to themselves. We started the season 6-0, and that was a good confidence boost. We've faced some stiffer competition and we have four losses now. I think the kids are living up to my expectations."

Region IX

McCook CC competes in the Region IX division of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Region IX teams encompass four states -- Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.

There are four sub-regions in women's Region IX basketball with 16 teams total. The East sub-region includes MCC, Western Nebraska of Scottsbluff and Northeast Community College of Norfolk. The teams are seeded in the Region IX tournament next March according to regular-season results of home and away series between the sub-region teams (The MCC Saturday tournament game with Western Nebraska does not count in the sub-region standings).

The Region IX North sub-region has five teams, and the fifth-place finisher will enter the Region IX tournament as the fourth seed in the East.

McCook CC also competes in the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference with North Platte Community College, Southeast CC of Beatrice and Northeast of Norfolk. Western Nebraska is not a conference member.

Coach Smith said there is a load of talented players on the Region IX squads. He said those teams featured fundamentally sound players, while the teams in the Jayhawk League from Kansas are probably more athletically driven, with teams that will run up and down the court.

"The lost art of shooting is not entirely lost in our conference," Smith said. "We're very fundamentally driven. We can really shoot the ball -- we have some kids that can really light it up from outside."

Smith said fans will see a traditional style of basketball if they come and watch his team play.

"We've not ultra athletic, but we have some real quality guards, and we can push it up the floor," Smith said. "We play a disciplined style of half-court basketball. We try to control tempo. A lot of teams in the region try to run and are fast-paced. We really try and take them out of their game with what we do offensively and defensively -- make them guard us for seven or eight passes, get it in the post, play inside-out, play outside-in. For me that's the way basketball was designed."

One of the leaders on the MCC women's squad is sophomore center Julia Hale, the 2008-09 MCC Athlete of the Year.

New facility planned

The local college is planning to build a new gymnasium in the near future. The old True Hall gym might not have the glitz the planned Civic Center will have, but Coach Smith likes playing in the old building, and he said the old gym has not been a hinderance to recruiting.

"I think it's a matter of perspective," he said. "True Hall, there's a lot of history there. There's a lot of tradition. It doesn't have the nicest amenities in the world, but when you get it packed full of people, it actually is a really good home court advantage. The stage is right there and the student section can get really rocking. The (grandstand area) is right on top of the floor. In True Hall, there's nowhere to hide.

"I think it's got a lot of charisma and a lot of character. I will gladly welcome the addition of a new $10 million facility, but for right now, we're able to (recruit) get kids in here, and quality kids. I'm really proud of my team on and off the court. It hasn't been a huge hiccup for us by any means."

Coach Smith said he has a group of hard-working kids on his roster. He said the MCC players are good students who are actively involved in the community. Smith said his team has a cumulative 3.7 grade point average, and his players rise early each morning to go out and perform various tasks helping people in town.

"It's nice to know that these girls are that quality individuals who put all that blood sweat and tears into this town in various places," he said.

MCC men at Colorado tourney

The MCC men are also in action this weekend. The Indians take an 8-4 season record to Sterling, Colo., for the Pepsi Classic Tournament at Northeastern Junior College. MCC will face Air Force Prep Friday at 5 p.m. CST before a meeting with the tournament hosts Saturday at 7 p.m. CST.

The MCC men have one home game before the Christmas break. The Indians host Colby (Kan.) Community College Friday, Dec. 11, with a 7 p.m. tip off at True Hall gym.