DYNASTY

North Central Men Earn Third-Straight National Tournament Bid With 90-81 Victory

Two years ago in the waning moments of the North Central Missouri College men’s basketball team’s district championship win over Arkansas Mid-South then freshman Marty Jackson pointed to the east wall in the Ketcham Community Center. That wall was reserved for National Tournament banners and, to that point, the men’s program had never reached that echelon.
That wall that Jackson famously pointed out will now be fitted for a third-straight national tournament banner.
On Saturday in the Ketcham Community Center – the same gym the Pirates won that first district championship in two years ago – North Central dispatched of Spoon River Community College 90-81 to lay claim to the Central B District championship. After years and years of trying and failing, North Central is now a regular fixture of the NJCAA Division II National Tournament – even if COVID kept them from officially making the trip last season.
The three-year run of dominance over the region and district displayed the power of the program that Pirates’ coach Jeremy Esry has built. In junior college basketball, where rosters are completely rebuilt every one-to-two years, North Central has established continued success no matter who is on the court.
“I think we just did it day by day,” Esry said of the run his program has been on. “We just kind of stuck to small beliefs and small stuff and that led to the big stuff. We do a lot of the same things every day and it’s all about bringing in the right kids and finding the right fit. We were able to bring in a lot of kids from winning teams in high school and I think that was a key too.”
In this championship, North Central jumped out early, opening the game on a 9-2 run. The Pirates would continue to show the way throughout the rest of the first half, but could never pull away from Spoon River. At the break, the Pirates’ lead sat at 44-40.
The Pirates continued to show the way in the second half, but with just over nine minutes left to play, Spoon River took its first lead of the contest at 66-65. But after a few lead changes, the Pirates regained control. With under two to go the lead was back to nine points. The lead was 13 with a minute to play and Spoon River’s 4-0 run to close the contest didn’t affect the outcome as North Central held on to make it three-straight district championships.
“It goes back to having guys with a winning mentality, guys who don’t get nervous under pressure,” Esry said. “They just keep believeing in it and they keep attacking and staying aggressive. We didn’t do anything out of character. Even when Spoon River made a run, our guys stuck with the program and kept believing in each other.”
The Pirates’ one-two punch of Jeramy Shaw and Atavian Butler were at it again in the championship, continuing to deliver on the biggest stage. Shaw went for a game-high 26 points, tallied six rebounds, handed out four assists and swiped three steals. Butler added 23 points and three assists.
“You hate hanging your hat on one or two guys, and I don’t think we have that because I trust our other guys, but those are two guys that just came up big,” Esry said. “When they are both hitting and both feeling themselves offensively and doing a lot of good things, I think we are really, really tough. They are a tough match-up and we like to put them on the same side of the basketball because that forces teams to make a decision on how they are going to guard. They are definitely a one-two punch and they do a lot. They make coaching a lot easier, I will tell you that.”
Behind that duo, North Central got 17 points from Jackson Andrews, who was 5-for-8 from the three-point line. Kolten Griffin added nine points while pulling down 10 rebounds. The Pirates hit 57.4 percent of their shots while limiting Spoon River to a 42.4 shooting percentage.
The win pushed the Pirates to 17-6 overall on the season. They will enter the national tournament having won six in a row and 11 of their last 12.
The Pirates advanced to the district finals with a 96-66 rout of Illinois Central in the semifinals on Friday. North Central jumped out to a huge lead early and coasted the rest of the way. The game was never in doubt after the Pirates’ initial punch.
Butler had 21 points and six rebounds in the win and Camron Donatlan added 21 points off the bench. Shaw had 10 points and eight rebounds and Griffin and Truman Kaderly each scored eight points.
The NJCAA Division II National Tournament will be held on April 20-24 in Danville, IL. Seeding for the tournament was scheduled to be released on Monday afternoon.
Lake Land 80
North Central 50
The North Central women’s region championship season came to a close on Saturday, one win shy of collecting a national tournament bid of their own.
The Pirates entered the Central A District championship game ranked 10th in the nation, however, Lake Land, ranked third in the nation, was just too much.
The Pirates trailed 28-10 one quarter in and 50-21 by halftime. NCMC made a run in the third quarter, but the damage done in the first half was too much to overcome.
“Lake Land is a really good team,” North Central coach Jenni Croy said. “They shoot the ball extremely well and do a great job defensively. We knew it was going to tough, however, we didn’t play to the level we are capable. It’s always disappointing when the season comes to an end but this group definitely had more highs than lows this season.”
The Pirates were led by Kennadie Crowe, who had 14 points and seven rebounds in the loss. Maci Moore and Lily Osborn each had nine points and Nora Ford finished with eight.
The loss gave North Central a final record of 17-5 on the season.
“(This team) I believe is the only team in our program history to be nationally ranked every week of the season,” Croy said. “They set some high goals for themselves at the beginning and achieved all but one which was to make to the national tournament. The sophomore group were great leaders for us and really showed the freshmen what it takes to compete at this level.”
The Pirates topped Lincoln Land 74-68 on Friday in the semifinals to reach Saturday’s championship game. Angel Wiggins led the way with 17 points while Moore had 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals and Crowe had 14 points and two blocks. Kortlyn Rounkles had eight points, three assists and three steals for the Pirates.