Central falls to Highland, beats Concordia JV

December 06, 2014 4:30 pm • By The Telegram Staff

BEATRICE -- Too many turnovers doomed the Raiders Friday, before Central rebounded with a successful night behind the arc Saturday.

The Central Community College women's basketball team lost to Highland Community College 81-65 Friday in Beatrice and defeated Concordia JV 83-61 Saturday in Beatrice.

While Central was able to take a four-point lead at halftime Friday, the undefeated Highland squad became too much defensively for Central.

"They were full-court, get in your face pressure team," Central head coach Mike Kroupa said. "We were up by six at one point and our point guard Paige Muhammad had two charges called on her, so they picked up defensive pressure."

That defensive pressure led to several Raider turnovers -- 25 in total for the game.

"A lot of their points came in transition," Kroupa said. "We had a lot of turnovers that just killed us."

Highland Community College turned those transition points into a 51-point second half to take the win.

Boosting the Highland offense was Justice Daniel's 29 points and India Johnson's 23 points.

"They were getting easier looks because they were getting transitions with our turnovers," Kroupa said.

Central was able to rebound from Friday's loss, though, picking up a win over the Concordia JV 81-65 Saturday.

"Concordia is a solid team," Kroupa said. "There's JV teams, then there's Concordia. They're an excellent shooting team, they're well coached. Anytime you can beat a team like that, it's a good win."

Though the Raiders held a six-point lead at halftime, it was the first several minutes of the second half that shut the door on the Concordia JV.

"About eight minutes into the second half, Montrese (Weller) had 12 points and that helped give us a boost," Kroupa said.

Weller finished with 17 points, thanks to five 3-pointers.

The Raiders also found plenty of production from the bench, too.

"Precious Bell gave us a big lift in the first half and (Shananthia) Bryant had a good game for us as well off the bench."

Bell finished with 10 points, while Bryant tallied 11 points.

Central was led by Adrianna Beck's 21 points, who made three 3-pointers.

The Raiders were particularly efficient behind the arc because of Concordia's defense.

"They played zone against us, so we shot more 3-pointers than we had in the past few games," Kroupa said.

The Raiders move to 7-6 on the season and travel to York College Thursday.

Saturday at Beatrice

Central (7-6) 42 41 - 83

Concordia 36 33 - 69

* CENTRAL - Adrianna Beck 21, Motrese Weller 17, Paige Muhammad 11, Lanae Washington Carson 10, McKenna Rossmeier 9, Shananthia Bryant 5, Kelsey Flaherty 4, LaShonda Brewer 4, Makayla Augustine 2.

* 3-point field goals - Central 10 (Weller 5, Beck 3, Muhammad 1, Rossmeier 1).

Friday at Beatrice

Central (6-6) 34 31 - 65

Highland (10-0) 30 51 - 81

* CENTRAL - Adrianna Beck 12, Shananthia Bryant 11, Precious Bell 10, Paige Muhammad 8, McKenna Rossmeier 7, Lanae Washington-Carson 7, Montrese Weller 7, LaShonda Brewer 5, Makayla Augustine 4, Paige Higginbotham 2.

* 3-point field goals - Central 4 (Beck 2, Bell 2).