Southeast storms past Knights in Region IX matchup

North Platte, Neb. – Jada Grigsby scored eight of her team high 14 points in the opening half, but it was not enough to propel the Knights to their first Region IX victory of the season, falling to Southeast Community College 69-54 on Saturday afternoon.

Fumnanya Ijeh finished the game with 13 points and five rebounds, while Reece Halley chipped in 10 points for her fourteenth double digit performance of the season. Samantha Riggles led the Knights on the glass with seven rebounds to go along with her three points, but in the loss North Platte slips to 6-17 on the season and 0-3 in Region IX play.

Southeast stormed out to a 14-6 lead in the opening six minutes of the first quarter. Ijeh led the response by finding a crease in the defense and finishing at the rim, but Southeast would stretch their lead to ten with 2:30 remaining. North Platte closed the quarter on a short 5-0 spurt to narrow the deficit to 20-15 at the end of the opening quarter.

The North Platte offense settled into a rhythm in the second quarter as they regained the lead on a jumper by Ijeh inside the opening four minutes. Knights and Storm exchanged the lead over the next 3:25, before Southeast closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 39-32 lead into the halftime break.

Southeast controlled the final twenty minutes as their lead only dipped into single digits twice the rest of the way. The Storm utilized a 6-0 run to extend their margin to double digits, before a up and under move by Grigsby halted the run. The margin stayed in double digits until Noel Warrior connected on an open three as the game clock expired in the quarter.

The margin was pushed back into double digits in the early moments of the final quarter before it was briefly cut to nine on a three by Ijeh. Southeast never surrendered the momentum down the stretch and put their finishing touches on the Region IX win.

Knights will return to the road for a two-game stretch beginning with McCook Community College on Tuesday, Feb. 14. Tip is set for 5:30 p.m. inside the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center.