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Flu-ridden Butler makes NP feel sick
MCC men,women
sweep Knights
Brandon Butler played center for the McCook Community College men's basketball team during the Indians' 90-84 victory over North Platte on Tuesday night at True Hall gym.
Butler also played sick as he had come down with the flu.
Most importantly for MCC, Butler played well. Butler finished with a team-high 20 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
"Butler is an unbelievable kid. Everytime he came out of the game he was doubled-over on the bench and he had a hard time running the court. It doesn't matter who his competition is, he's going to battle every game," said MCC head coach Ty Orton.
During the final two minutes of the first half MCC built up a comfortable 9- point lead for the locker rooms at 50-41.
MCC dominated the first 12 minutes of the second half. MCC led by 13 points with 8:38 remaining when NPCC began to claw back.
Within two minutes NPCC had gone on a 12-2 run and MCC's lead was down to three.
MCC finally regrouped on offense with 6:00 left when Rodrick Carter drove inside for a bucket.
"When Rodrick drives to the hole nobody can stop him," said Orton. Carter had 18 points.
Just 20 seconds later Butler added a pair of free throws to push MCC's lead back to seven.
Butler was 8-for-9 from the free throw line.
NPCC kept coming back, but the closest they would get was two points.
MCC was up 77-75 and 4:45 remained when Maarten Esveldt drained a 3-pointer
that put MCC up by five and took the air out of NPCC. Esveldt had 19 points.
NPCC's T.J. Johnson tried to carry NPCC out of the hole by hitting some key shots with 3 minutes left.
Johnson finished with a game-high 25 points. Teammates Donta Wilson and Corbin Biltoft added 20 and 18 points, respectively.
But MCC proved to be potent at the free throw line and went on to a 90-84 win.
Orton said his team played with a passion that they hadn't exhibited in the last few games.
"There was a fire in their eyes. They showed their character by showing up," said Orton. "These guys still have five guaranteed games left. They could easily knock off one of the top teams in the Region 9 tournament."
Shuan Wisdom and C.P. Martinez also scored in the double digits for MCC with 10 points each.
MCC will host games on Friday and Saturday and then finish its regular season at the North Platte tournament on Feb. 27-28.
With a 10-15 record, MCC will play host to Central Community College on Friday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
On Saturday, Northeast Community College will travel to True Hall gym to take on MCC. Game time is set for 4 p.m.
| NPCC | 41 | 43 | 84 |
| MCC | 50 | 40 | 90 |
MCC: Goldberg 2, Wisdom 10, Carter 18, Shackelford 6, Esveldt 19, Martinez 10, Butler 20, Anderson 2.
NPCC: Alvarado 6, Biltoft 18, Hamilton 8, Johnson 25, Sumyla 1, Soares 6, Watson 20.
MCC women 74,
NPCC 60
With the game tied at halftime and close through the first part of the second half, McCook Community College pulled away in the final 10 minutes to a 74-60 victory over North Platte Community College Tuesday night at True Hall gym.
LeeAnn Sperling was right on for MCC by hitting key shots and free throws.
Sperling finished with game-highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds.
"I wanted to use LeeAnn," said MCC head coach Michelle Quinones. "Last time she had 17 points and 10 rebounds. And with LeeAnn ending up with 19 points and 11 rebounds makes a huge difference for us."
MCC held a seven point lead at one point in the first half. Quinones wasn't surprised when NPCC came back to tie it at 34.
"I knew the minute the game started it was going to be a close game. When we had the seven point lead I knew it wasn't going to be safe," she said.
When MCC went on a 13-1 run between the 12:00 and 8:00 mark they had effectively cut NPCC out of the game. MCC's run put them up 58-47.
NPCC could only cut MCC's lead down to 8 points before MCC ended with the 14-point win.
Other leading scorers for MCC were Melissa Whitman with 16 points and Wendi Hopkins with 13 points.
Maywood alum Kara Fangman led NPCC with 18 points. Dani Stritt, a 2003 alumna of Republican Valley High School, finished with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.
The win brings MCC's season record to 10-16.
MCC will play host to Northeast Community College on Saturday. Game time is expected for 2 p.m.
| NPCC | 34 | 26 | 60 |
| MCC | 34 | 40 | 74 |
MCC: Whitman 16, Guerrero 4, Quevedo 5, Pachek 1, Fahey 9, Anderson 4, Hopkins 13, West 3, Sperling 19.
NPCC: Porter 4, Lockett 7, Ruiz 1, Suttlemyre 4, Stritt 12, Fangman 18, Johnson 12, Milleson 2.