Do you believe in miracles?
Northern Essex Community College men’s basketball coach Darren Stratton apparently does.
After a few preseason practices, if someone had asked him in September if he had a “national championship” team heading into the 2025-26 season he would’ve laughed.
“No way!” said Stratton. “After a few practices, even a month in, I figured we could compete with some of the best teams in the region and districts, but not do this. Man, was I wrong.”
After four treks to the NJCAA Div. 3 national championships, the fourth time was a charm for Stratton, when NECC defeated Dallas Richland, 68-62, on Saturday night.
The No. 1 seeded NECC men broke away from a 50-50 stalemate with five minutes remaining, outscoring Dallas Richland 18-12, to bring the school its first-ever national title.
Ironically, it was Dallas Richland which sent NECC home early from the nationals a year ago.
“We like to press and run,” said Stratton. “They like to hold the ball, slow it down, and wait until there’s about 10 seconds on the shot clock. Richland is tough. They know how to play at this level. We just were able to get our game going, especially in the final minutes.”
This time was different as NECC appeared to be prepared to finish off the No. 2 seed early, opening up a 17-9 lead. But the Knights missed about six “bunnies” around the basket and Richland, which led the country in defense, made it a ball game.
The game was nip and tuck the rest of the first half and most of the second half when NECC found its groove, despite losing its top player, Alex Johnson, who scored 39 points in the semifinal, with about six minutes remaining.
Instead, it was four other Knights stepping up, including freshman guard Jay’von Depina (Brockton), and a trio of sophomores Jacob Sanders (Boston), Jacob Mercedes (Salem, Mass.) and Cristian Moscat (Lawrence).
“My assistants get on me a lot, wanting me to shorten the bench to eight or nine players,” said Stratton. “But I really like playing about 12 guys, just in case. We needed Mercedes against Quincy, late in the game, and he came through. If that doesn’t happen, maybe he doesn’t do what he did for us in the second half and we lose.”
The team returned home via three vans – “Coach Stratton wanted to change our luck instead of taking one bus, which is not the way they usually travel,” said NECC athletic director Dan Blair – with a few dozen family and friends awaiting them at the school with signs and, of course, loud cheers.
The No. 1 seeded Knights finished their championship season school-record 33rd win at the Herkimer C.C. gymnasium.
Delgado scored a game high 16 points along with eight rebounds as he was named to the All-Tournament team, leading a trio of scorers in double figures.
Johnson, who didn’t play most of the second half, was named National Tournament MVP, while Depina also chipped in with 12 points off the bench.
Depina received the “Small Man of the Tournament” Award. Sanders was also named to the All-Tournament and finished the championship game with eight points and eight rebounds.
Stratton, to no one’s surprise, was named “Coach of the Tournament.”
“This team wasn’t as talented as some of the other great teams we’ve brought to the nationals, but they were truly a team,” said Stratton. “They may have surprised me early in the year, not at the end. We were ranked Number One for a reason and we showed it when it counted most.”
You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.