January 17, 2015 • By Zach Chriswell / zchriswell@columbustelegram.com
COLUMBUS -- The Raiders played their worst game of the season, according to Central head coach Mike Kroupa.
"We played the worst game of our season," he said. "We didn't play very good defense and we didn't play very good offense. We stood a lot and we just watched the game instead of playing it."
The Central Community College women's basketball team fell to North Platte Community College 74-58 Friday at the Raider Fieldhouse.
The Raiders caught fire quick, scoring their first bucket seconds after the tip-off. Central scored the first nine points of the game.
"We came out firing, we came out ready to go, we came out prepared, then we just stopped playing hard," Kroupa said.
After the 9-0 start, North Platte outscored the Raiders 26-20 to end the first half. At the break, Central led 29-26.
The Knights started the second half on a 15-0 run to take control of the game.
"They were aggressive. They picked up the intensity and we didn't counter back," Kroupa said.
Kroupa called a timeout at the end of the 15-0 run, then Central hit back-to-back 3-pointers to get back within six points.
Five quick North Platte points later put the Knights ahead by 11.
A 6-0 Central run a few minutes later got the Raiders back within seven points, but that's the closest they got to taking back the lead.
Montrese Weller scored a team-high 14 points, while Adrianna Beck added 13 points, and McKenna Rossmeier had 10 points.
For North Platte, April Stull led all scorers with 17 points, while Aliyah Brown had 15 points, and Ester Micheva added 12 points.
Central looks to bounce back against the Doane College JV Sunday.
"Hopefully we come together after this," Kroupa said.
Friday at the Raider Fieldhouse
North Platte 26 48 - 74
Central (9-8) 29 29 - 58
* NORTH PLATTE (field goals-free throws-fouls-points) - Zulema Viescas 2 1-2 4 7; Whitney Edwards 0 0-2 0 0; Aliyah Brown 6 3-4 2 15; Djimonii Jackson 1 0-0 0 2; Sarah Mahr 3 3-5 2 10; T'Keyah Stapleton 1 1-2 1 4; Clara Vinton 2 0-0 2 5; Alleyah Evans 1 0-1 1 2; Ester Micheva 6 0-0 3 12; April Stull 4 9-10 5 17. Totals 26 17-26 20 74.
* CENTRAL - Adrianna Beck 4 4-5 2 13; Paige Muhammad 1 2-4 1 4; Paige Higginbotham 0 0-0 1 0; Lana'e Washington-Carson 3 0-0 3 6; Shananthia Bryant 0 0-0 5 0; McKenna Rossmeier 3 2-3 0 10; Montrese Weller 4 4-5 1 14; LaShonda Brewer 2 1-2 5 5; Makayla Augustine 3 0-1 2 6. Totals 20 13-20 20 58.
* 3-point field goals - North Platte 5 (Viescas 2, Mahr 1, Stapleton 1, Vinton 1), Central 5 (Weller 2, Rossmeier 2, Beck 1).