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MCC women will face fierce rivals in home hoops opener
The McCook Community College women’s basketball team starts the season at home Tuesday and starts in a big way with its annual rivalry game against North Platte Community College.
After a home scrimmage game with MCC alumni Saturday at 2 p.m. (open to the public), the North Platte game kicks off a season that begins with six straight home games.
Coach Brandon Pritchett returns for his sixth year leading the MCC Women’s Basketball team and is glad for the home-heavy early schedule for a squad that has just one returning starter and nine newcomers.
However, the start of the season places immediate focus on the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference where MCC went 5-1 giving the team five straight NCCAC titles. Facing NCCAC foe North Platte in Game 1 adds an element of intensity to Tuesday’s home opener – particularly because this will be the final year for the Nebraska conference.
“It was just a scheduling issue, and the only date available for either one of us was that Nov. 5 date,” said Pritchett. “But it’s tough to play a conference game with our sister school that early, and it looks like Coach Jeff Thurman has put together one of his better teams there in North Platte this season so it will not be an easy game.”
North Platte, which has been considered a Division 2 team is moving up to Division 1, forcing a realignment in for Region IX in both Division 1 and Division 2. North Platte’s jump to D1 left just two teams in the region for Division 2 – Central CC and Southeast CC. The National Junior College Athletic Conference requires regions have at least three teams so Central is joining the Region XI in Division 2 and Southeast will join North Platte in the jump to Division 1 – giving Region IX 15 schools. The realignment means the end of the Nebraska Conference.
The quest to win the final NCCAC championship rests with a squad that returns just one sophomores who finished the season healthy, a redshirt who’s season ended last year after four November games, one player who returns to the team after starting 13 games in the 2022-2023 season and a sophomore transfer from Miami Dade College.
Pritchett’s teams at MCC have a 58.7 winning percentage over his tenure. The Lady Indians finished the regular season 17-15 and went 4-6 in the south region, placing fourth among the six teams in the Region IX South. The coach is glad for the home-heavy early schedule for a such a young squad and he added that remaining healthy is especially important this year.
“We can’t afford to lose anyone because just to get experience were going to be playing a lot of players early on and need to stay healthy,” said Pritchett. “For season expectations, we have all the tools, I just think it will be critical for us to get things figured out quickly and get over the youth hump because we’ve got a lot of games in a short time and we have to prep, and scout and will have to make a lot of adjustments.”
Madara Liepniece (Riga, Latvia) is the only returning starter joining Natalie Harmata (Sydney, Australia) who is back for a third season after missing most of last year with a knee injury. Marta Moya Perez (Alboraya, Spain) returns to the court after a year away and Irene Fernandez Pavesio (Asturias, Spain) transfers in as the only forward with JUCO experience.
“Madara has come a long way from last year until now, the growth continues every day and she’ll we’ll look to her and now that Natalie is healthy and Marta has returned and with Irene so our sophomores are going to be a huge asset this year,” said Pritchett.
At point guard, the 5-7 Liepniece played in all 32 games last season and averaged 5.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. She shot 45.5 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from the 3-point line.
Last season, Harmata was averaging 9.3 points a game through four games before going down with a season-ending injury. The 5-10 redshirt sophomore from Sydney, Australia returns for a third season. She was shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from distance a season ago and averaging 3.0 rebounds per game. In her freshman year 2022-2023, she started 21 games for the Lady Indians and averaged 7.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and was a 52.6 percent shooter (45.0 percent from the 3-point line).
Perez returns to the squad after last playing in the 2022-2023 season. That year the 5-8 guard started in 13 games for MCC and played in 30 while averaging 7.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists. The Alboraya, Spain native shot 41.8 percent from the floor and 32.4 percent from the 3-point line.
“She took a year off, was looking at a four-year school after her freshman year and that didn’t work out so we’re glad to get her back,” said Pritchett.
Irene Fernandez Pavesio (Asturias, Spain) played in 28 games for Miami Dade as a freshman, starting 10 games for the Sharks, averaging 6.1 minutes per game. The 6-0 forward averaged 2.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. She posted a season-best 13 points and six rebounds in a win over St. Petersburg College.
“She was looking for a change and we think it will be a good fit with us here and brings some experience we’ll definitely need,” said Pritchett.
Joining those four sophomores are four freshmen guards and four freshmen forwards.
“All the freshmen have been a blast to coach so far,” said Pritchett. “They’ve been receptive. It’s always a big change coming to college – the speed of the game, the physicality – but I think they’ve all done well with the adjustments they need to make.”
Freshman guards include: Carolina Garcia Perdomo (Islas Canarias, Spain); Johanna Gerlach (Hachborn, Germany); Jacelyn Jorgensen (Paxton); and Jada Kemm, (Henderson, Colo.).
“Caroline will be a combo guard playing point and wing can shoot the ball, passes really well and came from a program where it was pass-first for her and I’ve been on her about passing up open shots, but I think she’ll make the adjustment to come in and score the ball for us if we need that,” said Pritchett.
At 5-9, Gerlach gives the Lady Indians some size and physicality at the guard spot and Pritchett really likes her voice on the court.
“She can give us some scoring and shoot it and get to the rim and plays at a high level on the defensive side,” said Pritchett. “She is a high-energy level communicator and one thing that stands out with ‘Jo-jo’ is her communication. She is the loudest one on the floor and always locked in.”
Jorgensen has been a pleasant surprise according to the coach.
“She was out the early part of the fall with some health issues but has really come on in the past three weeks,” said Pritchett. “She doesn’t say much, just comes in and works hard and I’ve really been impressed how hard she’s worked to improve her game.”
An early-season concussion and later an ankle sprain hampered the start of the fall campaign for Kemm but she shot the ball really well from the outside in her first scrimmage game.
“I think we’re going to have some good depth at the guard spot and if we get everybody healthy and keep them healthy, I think our guard play will be our strong point this season,” said Pritchett.
Freshmen forwards competing for time on the court include: Peyton Cox, (Wauneta-Palisade); Brylyn Springer (Cambridge); Miriam Wahlqvist (Odakra, Sweden.); and Laia Izquierdo Altimira, (Barcelona, Spain).
“I think the pace and the physicality at the college level has been an adjustment for the two local players but the reason I recruited both of them is that they are physical players,” said Pritchett. “I think Payton at our jamboree in Lawrence, Kan. took that next step forward from a physicality standpoint and her and Brylyn are going to make the necessary changes to their games.”
Wahlqvist and Altimira can both play in forward/wing spots with toughness and strength.
“Miriam is the energizer bunny, Laia is physical and plays hard and they are what we want out of those positions,” said Pritchett.
In addition to the early NCCAC game against North Platte, the Lady Indians will play Central Community College twice in six days around the Thanksgiving break, then wrap up the final NCCAC season with a home game Jan. 26 against Southeast Community College and on the road to North Platte Feb. 4 and at Southeast Feb. 9.
The Region IX South schedule begins in Colorado Jan. 17-18 at Otero and Trinidad with Region IX home games Jan. 21 (Lamar), Jan. 28 (Western Nebraska), then three of the final four games of the season at home Feb. 18 (Northeastern), Feb. 28 (Otero) and March 1 (Trinidad State).
“So we’re going to rely on a lot of freshmen this year but I think we do have girls that can make plays and I’m excited about this team,” said Pritchett.