Knights remain unbeaten in Region IX play

Columbus, Neb. – Diamond Moore-Heath continued her dominance in the paint with a season-high 23 points to accompany her 17 rebounds, as the Knights defeated the Raiders of Central Community College on Saturday afternoon, 76-56.

"Great region win for us today," said head coach Jeff Thurman. "We played well defensively which created extra opportunities for us on the offensive end."

Knights fell behind early, but a 9-3 run capped off by a three from Kayla Pope gave the Knights a four-point lead with 3:25 to play in the first quarter. A short burst by Central knotted the game up at 9-9, before the Knights regained the momentum and closed the quarter on a 7-2 run.

Knights surged ahead in the second quarter, as Avery Johnson connected on back-to-back buckets to extend the lead to nine. The margin grew to fourteen by the 8:01 mark, before the North Platte offense went cold for the next two minutes. During that span, the Raiders used an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to eight.

Fumnanya Ijeh got the Knights offense rolling again by connecting on a floater as the margin grew back to double-digits. North Platte held off one final run by the Raiders over the closing minutes and managed to stretch their lead to fourteen on a Moore-Heath jumper, before the teams headed into the halftime break.

Raiders came out firing on all cylinders and cut the deficit to ten with 4:33 remaining in the third quarter. Moore-Heath halted the momentum and sparked a Knights 7-0 run to extend their lead to seventeen. Raiders narrowed the deficit to eleven until a three by Janay Brauer and a layup by Johnson pushed the lead back to sixteen.

Knights controlled the final ten minutes as the lead grew to twenty-five after a free throw line jumper by Pope. The Raiders chipped into the deficit, but the Knights controlled the tempo down the stretch to seal the road win.

As a team, North Platte shot 44.9 percent (31-69) from the floor, including 28.6 percent (6-21) from three-point range. The Knights outrebounded the Raiders 37-32 and tallied 22 assists. North Platte held Central to just 30.4 percent (17-56) shooting, including just 2-of-14 (.143) from the perimeter.

North Platte improved to 17-8 overall and 3-0 against DII Region IX opponents, while the Raiders fall to 8-10 overall and 0-2 in DII Region IX play.

North Platte hits the road for their final road game of the season against Lamar Community College. Tip between the Knights and Runnin' Lopes is set for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 8 at the Wellness Center in Lamar, Colo.