January 31, 2015 5:15 pm • By The Telegram Staff 0

NORTH PLATTE -- The Raiders were a little too eager against North Platte Friday.

The Central Community College women's basketball team struggled early in an 81-68 loss to North Platte Community College in North Platte.

"We came out flat again," Central head coach Mike Kroupa said. "We got behind and couldn't fight back in it. It's a tough place to play, though."

During North Platte's 8-0 run, the Raiders had a hard time maintaining possession.

That kept the Raiders off the board.

"Just like last game, we had four turnovers in the first two minutes," Kroupa explained. "We came out too excited, I think."

Central also fell short at the free-throw line early, shooting 9-for-21 in the first half at the charity stripe.

"That's just bad," Kroupa said. "That killed us. If we made a few more of those, we wouldn't have had to foul at the end and could have won the game."

Eventually, Central began to settle in, but not before North Platte had built a 40-36 halftime lead.

The Raiders even cut North Platte's lead to three points.

Down the stretch, though, the Raiders had to start fouling. A couple of North Platte shooters surprised Kroupa, who hit key free throws in crucial situations.

"We tried to battle back, but they were up too big on us," Kroupa said.

McKenna Rossmeier led the Raiders with 20 points in the game.

"McKenna has had the best week out of anyone these past few games," Kroupa said. "She's done everything for us. She's scoring, getting rebounds, assists. She's been a warrior for us these past two weeks."

Adrianna Beck and Montrese Weller each tallied 13 points in the loss.

Central's game on Saturday at McCook Community College was postponed with no make-up date set. Monday's game on the road against the York JV is cancelled and will not be made up.

Central travels to Northeast Community College Wednesday.

Friday at North Platte

Central (12-10) 26 42 - 68

North Platte 40 41 - 81

* CENTRAL - LaShonda Brewer 5, Adrianna Beck 13, Paige Muhammad 6, McKenna Rossmeier 20, Montrese Weller 13, Lana'e Washington-Carson 7, Shananthia Bryant 2, Makayla Augustine 2.

* NORTH PLATTE - Sarah Mahr 11, Ester Micheva 8, April Stull 14, Zulema Viescas 3, Aliyah Brown 16, Whitney Edwards 7, T'Keyah Stapleton 18, Maddie Seamann 4.

* 3-point field goals - Central 4 (Weller 2, Rossmeier 1, Beck 1), North Platte 5 (Brown 2, Stapleton 2, Viescas 1).