The North Central Missouri College women, down by 3 points in the final seconds of Saturday’s game against the Southeast Community College (NE) Storm, leaned on their high-scoring guard from Mound City to send the game to overtime. Kendey Eaton, who caught fire in the second half, hit a left-wing 3 point shot with 15 seconds remaining, leaving the teams tied at 87.
In overtime, the Lady Pirates were able to fend off the Storm, winning 94-92 in action heard on Hot Country Z 101.7. Eaton finishing the game with 23 points, 21 of those after the half. Sarah Lamp had 18 points, while Madison Gonseth and Maddie Book each tallied 14 for the Lady Pirates, now 20-8 on the season.
Southeast, in falling to 9-18, shot the ball at a very-high rate from three point range, hitting a total of 15 three-point shots in the road defeat. Erika Goracke led SCC with 20 points, while DeAsia Walker added 17, Marcia Hawkins 15, Sebit Gatulak 14, and Madison Hajek 13 points.
The NCMC women have two games left in their regular season, hosting the Graceland JV on Tuesday at 5:30 PM and the North Arkansas Pioneers on Saturday (February 24th) at 12 noon, both at the Ketcham Community Center.
The Pirate men, on Saturday, had one of their most dominant performances of the season, routing Southeast by the score of 91-68. North Central led 42-25 at the half and never gave up their double-digit advantage over the final 20 minutes.
For Jeremy Esry’s Pirates, now 15-10 on the season, Jalen Gant had 26 points, Jordan Reece 18, Jake Salisbury 13, and Ryan Ward 10 points. NCMC, this week, will host the Central Methodist JV (Tuesday at 7:30 PM) and North Arkansas (Saturday at 2:00 PM) to finish the regular season.
Southeast’s men, in falling to 3-25, had 11 points from Shou Nisbet, with Panashe Dzimati adding 10.
The Lady Pirates and Pirates will open postseason play in the semifinals of the NJCAA Region 16, Division Two tournament, playing on Friday night, March 2nd at Jason Gym on the campus of Lincoln University in Jefferson City. The women will have the #3 seed, and will meet Penn Valley for the third time this season. The Pirate men look locked into a #2 seed, and will play the loser of this Saturday’s St. Louis at Penn Valley game in the region semifinals on March 2nd. The winner of the game in Kansas City will get the #1 seed, and an automatic berth into the championship game on the night of Saturday, March 3rd.
