MCC teams open conference action Saturday evening

Friday, January 15, 2010
Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Antonio Dye (23,left) of McCook Community College drives to the basket against Colby, Kan. in men's college basketball aciton at MCC's True Hall gym earlier this season. Dye scored 35 points last Wednesday night to lead MCC to a win over the Hastings College junior varsity.

The McCook Community College men's basketball team is putting together a solid 2009-10 campaign.

The Indians take a 13-5 season record into the the start of Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference action this weekend. The MCC men host Southeast C.C. of Beatrice Saturday, Jan. 16. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at True Hall gym on the McCook campus.

The MCC women and Southeast open the double-header at True Hall Saturday at 4 p.m.

Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Britney Bunker (23) of McCook C.C. looks for a shot against Central Wyoming in women's college basketball action at MCC before the Christmas break.

MCC men's head coach Brandon Lenhart has put together a roster loaded with talent, with players representing several states. The high-scoring Indians try to play a high-octane, fast-paced style that usually means a lot of points on the scoreboard.

"We'll continue to do what we do -- try and move the ball up and down the floor as fast as we can, score a lot of points," Lenhart said. "Before the (Christmas) break, we were averaging close to 90 points a game, but giving up 77. That's one thing we've been trying to work on is our defense. Our field goal percentage defense has been pretty terrible, to be honest with you, at 47.8 percent. We're still try to work on that day-in and day-out, game-in and game-out.

"We play a fast-paced game, so that in turn gives teams more possessions, which in turn gives them a chance to score more points. Our defensive field goal percentage needs to be lower than what it is. That's what we've been concentrating on, and having a fighter's mentality all 40 minutes. We'll try and continue to get them to play tougher game-in and game out. The season's a marathon, not a sprint, and we'll take it game by game."

Lenhart expects a battle with Southeast Saturday. The Beatrice squad brings a 10-7 record to McCook after a 66-52 loss to Northeast C.C. of Norfolk last Tuesday night.

"They go five-in, five-out (mass substitutions), they play hard, they play pretty well together," Lenhart said of Southeast. "They score in the low 60s to 50s a lot of the time. They have quite a few returners from last year, but they lost a couple big kids, so that kind of hurt them. They are more perimeter oriented than they were last year.

"They're going to be hard-nosed, they are going to play hard, they're going to run their system. It will be a very good contest for us."

Southeast is in the conference but not in the Region IX East Sub-region with the Indians. The Sub-region teams include MCC, Mid-Plains Community College of North Platte, Western Nebraska of Scottsbluff and Northeast C.C. of Norfolk. The conference men's teams include MCC, Mid-Plains, Northeast, Southeast and Central C.C. of Columbus.

MCC will play home and away series this season again each of the conference and sub-region teams. Conference game results will determine the regular-season league champion. Sub-region results will help set seedings for the Region IX Tournament in March. The Region IX Tournament champ advances to nationals at Hutchinson, Kan.

Dye's big game

Antonio Dye scored 35 points Wednesday to lead the MCC men to an 85-76 road in over the Hastings College junior varsity. Dye, a 6-1 freshman from Mishawaka, Ind., has been a consistent leader for the Indians all season.

MCC missed Dye last weekend as the Indians split two games at the Region IX Shootout in North Platte. Dye suffered a thigh bruise in practice after returning from the holiday break. He showed no ill effects from the injury in Wednesday's performance at Hastings.

Coach Lenhart said his team built a 30-point lead Wednesday, only to let the Hastings JV climb back in the game.

MCC sophomore point guard Andrew Hanson (South County, R.I.) also suffered a thigh bruise midway through a 73-70 win over Otero (Colo.) J.C. in North Platte last Friday. Hanson scored 21 points before he was sidelined with the injury. The Indians lost a 77-73 decision to Lamar (Colo.) C.C. last Saturday in North Platte.

MCC WOMEN COMING OFF TOUGH ROAD TRIP

McCook Community College women's head basketball coach Benjamin Smith has a smart group of players on this year's roster.

The Indians excel in the classroom, with a 3.41 cumulative grade point average after the 2009 fall semester.

Oh yeah, the MCC women aren't too bad on the basketball court, either.

Smith's squad enters Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference action Saturday against Southeast C.C. of Beatrice. Saturday's conference opener is set for a 4 p.m. start at True Hall gym on the McCook campus.

The MCC women are 10-8 entering Saturday's action. The Indians dropped a pair of road games in Colorado last weekend in the team's first games after the Christmas break. MCC lost at Otero (La Junta, Colo.) last Friday 71-56, and Lamar topped the Indians 74-49 Saturday.

"Otero was a one-point game in the second half, really competitive, back and fourth," Coach Smith said. "They were shooting free throws, we had a technical foul, and Otero had a four-point swing. They made all four free throws, and they sort of iced it at that points. Our kids played very hard.

"We fully expected to win that game. The kids expected to. So when we didn't, I think it kind of took the wind out of their sails a little bit. Saturday night it just wasn't the same team. We were a step slower to loose balls. Lamar just really outplayed us. We really didn't give ourselves a chance to win on the road there."

Athletic Southeast squad

MCC will face an athletic Southeast squad Saturday. The Beatrice team is 5-6 on the season,coming off a loss to Northeast C.C. of Norfolk last Wednesday.

"Southeast is really athletic, they get up and down the floor," Smith said. "They're not scoring a whole lot of points, it hasn't come together yet. But they are really talented.

"They are going to be tough. They are athletic, and we have struggled with athletic teams, so we're going to have to execute a game plan from ahead (keep the lead), make sure we are making them guard us, stop penetration make sure we get back in transition."

Smith feels his team can play more physical and more disciplined than Southeast Saturday, and that may be a big key to MCC's victory hopes.

The MCC coach isn't afraid to go deep in his bench.

"We've got 11 players refusing to let themselves be weeded out," Smith said. "On any night, any of them can score in bunches and they can all make a difference on defense."

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