NJC men's basketball defeats WNCC 72-53, clinches Region IX hosting

Northeastern Junior College secured the South Sub-region championship with a 72-53 victory over Western Nebraska Community College in Sterling, giving the Plainsmen the right to host the men's Region IX tournament March 12-14, 2026 in Sterling. The win came in the South Sub-region contest played Saturday in Sterling, Colorado, and will place NJC at home for the three-day Region IX slate.

Reports from the game do not include a full men's box score or individual scoring totals for the Plainsmen's 72-53 win; available coverage confirms only the final score and postseason consequence. The contemporary accounts state explicitly that the victory "gave the Plainsmen the South Sub-region championship and the right to host the men's Region IX tournament March 12-14" in Sterling.

WNCC's men must shift to the road for the next step of the postseason. "The Cougars will be on the road next weekend as they will travel probably to North Platte or Lamar for a first-round contest." The timeline for matchups remains pending: "The complete first-round pairings will be released early next week," according to the same game coverage.

The day's split results included a strong performance by the WNCC women's program. Western Nebraska Community College beat Northeastern Junior College 75-57 to "capture their 20th win of the season, securing the South Sub-region second seed." Game narrative in the reports includes specific sequences: "WNCC had an early 3-2 lead after an old-fashioned 3-point play by Toms Linis and pushed it to 5-2 when Linis stole the ball and dunked the ball." The coverage continues, noting shifts in momentum and scoring: "Noah Jones stopped the NJC run with a 3-pointer. NJC would go on to lead at halftime 38-27," and in the second half "The Cougars then went scoreless for nearly three minutes before a free throw by Isaiah St. Preux and then a 3-pointer by Xavier Kirkpatrick to make it 50-37."

NJC's women registered 57 points with the following individual totals: Daniela Garcia-Gasco 17, Madison Sepeda 12, Markella Psarra 9, Monique Sena 7, Veronica Baray 5, Riley Phelps 4, Rebekah Seggerman 3. Those seven players account for NJC's full 57 points in the reported recap.

The sports roundup attached to the coverage also included verbatim box-score lines for two contests labeled Dawson vs WNCC; the sport was not explicitly named in the excerpts. The items appear as provided: "Dawson 301 010 0 – 5 8 3 WNCC 002 601 x – 9 6 0 WP – Carter Reisig. 2B – Catcher Gladysh, Jude Russell, Vaughn Wilson. 3B – Will Harbison." and "Dawson 035 000 000 – 8 8 2 WNCC 006 114 01x – 13 8 3 WP – Peyton Markheim. 3B – Catcher Gladysh, Ty Beutner. HR – Dakota Alber, Vaughn Wilson"

For historical perspective, Northeastern's pursuit of hosting Region IX has precedent: a Gonjc item from Feb. 10, 2014 recounts a Plainsmen upset over North Platte and quotes then-coach Trenkle saying, "I think that's why this game was so intense was because we were playing for the right to host this (the Region IX tournament)." That 2014 passage is provided as dated historical color and illustrates the long-standing local importance of hosting the regional tournament in Sterling.

With NJC confirmed as host for March 12-14, local preparations and ticketing details are expected to follow once Region IX releases the full bracket and first-round pairings early next week.