Men's Basketball: Post-Season Honors

Four members of the Central Community College men's basketball team and its head coach have earned post-season honors.

Sophomores Roman Behrens, Tre'vion Crawford, Nathan Frost and Cooper Pratt were named to the All-Region IX Team.

Behrens and Crawford were named to the Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference (NCCAC) All-Conference Team, while Frost was named NCCAC Honorable Mention.

CCC head coach John Ritzdorf was name Region IX Coach of the Year and NCCAC Coach of the Year.

Behrens (top left) started all 31 games and was the third-leading scorer for the Raiders with 15.2 points per game. He recorded three triple-doubles and nine double-doubles. Behrens led the team in assists at 8.8 per outing, with a 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio. He also led the Raiders with 44 steals.

"Everything we did this year started with Roman," said Ritzdorf. "He pushed the ball in transition, was a one-man press break and controlled the tempo of each game. His passing ability is the best I've been around, and he accounted for a huge part of our offense, either scoring or dishing out assists."

Crawford (top center) started all but one of CCC's 31 games and sported a team-best 20.3 points per game. He was CCC's top three-point shooter at 39 percent (82-211). Crawford led the Raiders in scoring 15 times and scored 30 or more points in five games. His season-high 38 points was scored in a contest against Highland Community College in December.

"Tre's ability to score the ball in different ways was a huge asset to our team," said Ritzdorf. "He finished through contact well, scored in the post and was dangerous from the three-point line. He was efficient with his shot selection and made big plays when the game was on the line."

Frost (top right) played in 30 games and start all but one of them. He was the team's leading rebounder with 8.9 per game and the team's second-leading scorer with 15.9 points per game. Frost led the Raiders in field goal shooting at 56.3 percent (201-357) and scored 30 or more points three times. He recorded 13 double-doubles during the season, including three consecutive games with double-doubles in November.

"Nathan had a great year," said Ritzdorf. "He led the way in rebounding from start to finish, which was a big key to our success. Nathan also showed his versatility on the offensive end of the floor by shooting 38 percent from three-point range, as well as improving his ability to score and finish in the paint."

Pratt (bottom left) started all 31 games and averaged 8.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He logged a season-high 20 points in CCC's 94-79 win over Southeast Community College in the Region IX championship game.

"Cooper was difficult to take off the floor because he made so many winning plays, things that don't necessarily show up on the stat sheet," said Ritzdorf. "He guarded multiple positions, took charges, got deflections, rebounds, and took charges."

Ritzdorf (bottom right) capped his first season leading CCC men's basketball with a Region IX title and an appearance in the NJCAA Division II Basketball North Plains District Championship.

"The coaching awards I received are because of the players buying into what I asked of them," said Ritzdorf. "It was an honor coaching this team and I appreciate the trust they put in me to be their coach."

The Raiders posted a 20-11 mark for the 2019-20 season.