Despite some disappointing losses for the Storm, the team fought its way to become the Region IX champions and will play at the District F playoffs in Bismark, N.D., on Sunday,
March 11, with the winnter to advance to the national championship.
SCC Men’s Basketball team suffered a close loss on Tuesday, Feb. 7, to Northeast Community College, dropping their record to 14-9 on the season.
“We struggled with shooting and fouls in the first half,” said head coach Joel Wooton, “and in the second half we had lapses, but made two good runs.”
SCC went into the half trailing behind Northeast 33-42. In the second half, they out-scored Northeast, but couldn’t overcome the deficit and lost 75-81.
Freshman guard Delquan Thomas of Louisville, Ky., contributed with 13 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 steal.
Gatpan Panoam, a 6’5” freshman from Anchorage, Alaska, gave the Storm 13 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 blocked shot.
“We just need a win to get our confidence back,” said Wooton of the game, but the team suffered another loss on Saturday, Feb. 11, to North Platte Community College. SCC’s record became 14-10 on the season.
“We struggled in the first half shooting the ball,” said Wooton, “and in the second half, we started playing better defense; that got us going offensively.”
SCC went into the half trailing behind North Platte 35-21. In the second half, they out-scored North Platte but couldn’t come out with a win. They lost 55-57.
Sophomore Domonique Smith of Louisville, Ky., contributed 11 points and 2 assists.
Venton Wilder, also a sophomore, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. gave the Storm 10 points and had 3 assists.
“We played the best defense we’ve played since the start of the year; we just need to make are shots,” added Wooten.
The team raised their record to 16-9 on the season with a win over Concordia JV on Monday, Feb. 13.
“We struggled again against a zone [defense] and at the free-throw line,” said Wooton.
SCC went into the half leading Concordia 43-30.
“We had guys trying to do too much,” added Wooton. “[Which is] why we let them back into the game,” yet the Storm came away with a 67-64 victory over Concordia.
Smith led the Storm with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
Mike Evans, a 6’2” sophomore from Bossier City, La., came off the bench to contribute 10 points and 5 rebounds for the night.
The team suffered another loss on Wednesday, Feb. 15, to Brown Mackie, dropping their record to 15-11 on the season.
“We continue to struggle with team chemistry issues,” said Wooton, “and you have to all be on the same page on both ends of the floor to beat a really good Brown Mackie team.”
SCC went into the half trailing behind Brown Mackie 27-47. In the second half, they battled back to get within 10 points, and Brown Mackie answered with big shots and pushed the score back to defeat SCC 68-86.
Thomas and Wilder each contributed 17 points.
Torr Woodhouse, a sophomore from Cambridge, New Zealand, gave the Storm 11 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists.
The Storm came out of the weekend with a win on Saturday, Feb. 18, against McCook, raising their record to 17-10 on the season.
“We shot the ball better,” said Wooton, “and got to the free throw line by attacking the basket.”
SCC went into half leading by 11 points over McCook. In the second half, they started to slow the ball down and missed enough free throws to allow McCook to climb back into the game, but SCC came out and defeated McCook 82-76.
SCC had four players scoring in double fingers. Thomas and Evens each contributed 17 points, while Woodhouse and Wilder scored 14 points.
The team raised its record to 18-10 with a win over 18-7 North Central College on Wednesday, Feb. 22.
“We made shots, we hit free-throws, and we defended a team that had been playing really well offensively,” said head coach Joel Wooton.
SCC went into the half leading North Central 40-32. The Storm then defeated North Central 86-70.
Thomas led the Storm with 25 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Leading the Storm with 10 rebounds was Tarir Gatuouch of Omaha, who gave SCC 14 points.
“It was the most complete win of the year,” added Wooton.