Women’s Basketball: SCC Stops CCC

Central Community College's Brittney Veik missed a three-pointer at the buzzer, allowing Southeast Community College to hold on for a 68-66 win on Saturday in Beatrice.

The Raiders bested the Storm, 21-14, in the first quarter and went on to take a 39-31 halftime lead. Central entered the fourth quarter with a 51-46 advantage before Southeast tied the game with a free throw and two field goals nearly two minutes in. Amy Mitchell's old-fashioned three-point play gave the Raiders a 54-51 lead at the 8:09 mark, but the Storm answered back with back -to-back three-pointers and a free throw to go up 58-54 with 6:42 to play. CCC's Julia Jurek tied the ballgame at 60 apiece with a three-point bucket at the 4:37 mark for the final tie of the game.

With 8.8 seconds to play and the Storm leading 67-66, the Raiders had a shot to win when the ball went out of bonds off Southeast hands. However, the in-bound toss went to the Storm and a quick foul sent SCC's Hunter Hartshorn to the charity stripe. The Raiders had another shot for victory as Hartshorn made one-of-two free throws, but Veik's running three-point shot was no good and SCC survived, 68-66.

"The girls did a good job of maintaining intensity throughout the entire game," said CCC head coach Billy Perkins. "While things did not go our way, I was very proud of our effort."

Jurek led the Raiders with 16 points while Nymiri Blair scored a dozen points off the bench. Veik finished with 10 points.

With the loss, the Raiders closed out the 2021-22 regular season with a mark of 10-11.

Up next, CCC will host SCC in the opening round of the Region 9 playoffs on Tuesday night at the Raider Fieldhouse. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. The winner will advance to Saturday's Region 9 title game at North Platte Community College.