DANVILLE — Upon reaching the Final Four of the NJCAA Division II National Tournament, South Suburban coach John Pigatti acknowledged that he was concerned about the monsters on the other three teams.
Ultimately, his fears were realized in the championship game.
National Park College with 6-foot-11, 300-pound center Taylor Harrell claimed their first-ever National Title with an 84-79 victory over South Suburban in the title game at the Mary Miller Center.
“The monster did win the battle,’’ said Pigatti, noting that his 6-foot-8 center Tremear Fraley got into foul trouble. “It’s a tough one-day prep and he is a great player.
“I told my assistants after the game that we need some monsters like that next year.’’
Harrell, who only had 22 points and 12 rebounds in the Nighthawks first two wins in the National Tournament, saved his best for the final two contests. The sophomore from Huntsville, Texas, had 18 points and 15 rebounds in a semifinal win over Davidson-Davie and followed that with 22 points and 8 rebounds in the win over South Suburban. He was named the Pin Ryan Tournament MVP.
“I definitely was surprised,’’ Harrell admitted. “The way our team operates. I don’t look to be an MVP. I look to be an energy guy to bring us together.’’
So, what changed in the semifinals and the finals?
“My mindset,’’ he said. “Never being in a situation like this, it was all new to me. Those first two games I was just getting adjust to everything.
“My teammates have always told me that I’m the X factor. That once I get into the game, I need to do what I do, which is rebound, and get easy buckets around the basket.’’
It was more of the latter against the Bulldogs.
“We just ran a simple cross-block screen to get him the ball,’’ National Park coach Dillon Hargrove said. “Taylor just went to work and Zo (Keryn Collins) just handled it.’’
Collins was the other star for National Park (31-1) on Saturday night. The 5-foot-10 sophomore from Dallas dished out a tournament-best eight assists in the title game to go along with 19 points.
“Nakavieon (White) was in foul trouble, so I had to step up and beat a leader for this team,’’ said Collins, who averaged 10 points and five rebounds in three previous tournament games. “I just had to stay composed. They tried to speed me up and get me out of my game, but it didn’t work.’’
Collins was also part of the defensive duo along with Siddiq Canty that the Nighthawks used to Jemel Jones, who had a tournament-high 46 on Friday in South Suburban’s semifinal win over Ellsworth.
Jones, who was averaging 40.7 points in the tournament, was held to 25 in the title game.
“He is a monster and he was going to get his,’’ Collins said of Jones. “We just did our best to slow him down.’’
It wasn’t just the National Park defense that slowed down Jones on Saturday night. The 6-foot-4 sophomore from Blue Island Eisenhower High School also injured his shoulder in Friday’s win over Ellsworth.
“He shouldn’t have been playing,’’ Pigatti said. “He toughened it out. If you think about it. If his shoulder is not hurt and he gets his scoring average, we probably win the game.
“We spent the last 18-20 hours trying to get him ready to go with trainers, stem machines, medicine, ointments. We tried everything they had.’’
An injured Jones wasn’t the only problem for South Suburban.
The Bulldogs were also a dismal 9-of-17 at the free-throw line in the first half and they were outscored 44-30 on points in the paint.
“We have been horrible on possessions in special situations in practice this year. We do it every day in practice and we have been horrible all year and it caught up to us,’’ Pigatti said. “I hope they learn from this lesson … if you are going to do things the right way, you have to take every little bit seriously.’’
Still, the Bulldogs had a shot — a 3-pointer from Jones from the top of the key — with just under 10 seconds to tie the game.
“It’s kind of like ‘Shooter’ in the movie “Hoosiers” 3..2..1.. around the rim and out,” said Pigatti referring to the line from Dennis Hopper.
Julius Byrd and LeQuan Washington combined for 32 points to help offset the scoring loss from Jones, but it wasn’t enough. Jones did finish with a team-high six assists.
It was not only the first-ever National Title for National Park College, but for the first time in NJCAA Division II history, an at-large team won the title.
This is the first time in 37 years that the NJCAA Division II National Tournament included 4 at-large teams with the 16 district champions. The at-large teams did fairly well, National Park was 1st, Des Moines Area Community College was 5th, North Central Missouri went 2-2 and Iowa Lakes went 1-2.
But, not all of the Nighthawks knew on March 3 when they lost to South Arkansas 62-60 in the Region 2 finals that their season wasn’t over.
“Honestly, we didn’t know for sure, but (coach) Hargrove told me that we would get an at-large berth,’’ said sophomore guard Ja’Bryant Hill. “We didn’t officially know until the pairings were announced (March 12).’’
Those nine days gave National Park an opportunity to regroup. The Nighthawks had won 27 straight and they had been ranked No. 1 for eight straight weeks.
“We went back to the drawing board,’’ Hill said. “That gave us a week week, so we went to work hard that week getting ready. That was probably the longest practice weeks we had all year.’’
While getting an at-large berth gave them a second chance, it also put a little pressure on them.
“We knew there would be people that doubt us and didn’t feel like we belonged since we didn’t win our district,’’ Collins said. “When we got here, we made sure we proved it to all of them.’’
National Park College 84, South Suburban 79
National Park (84) — Patrick Punch 2-3 0-0 4, Taylor Harrell 10-12 2-6 22, Ja’Bryant Hill 3-8 7-7 15, Nakavieon White 3-7 3-5 9, Keryn Collins 6-12 6-6 19, Anthony Swift 3-4 0-0 6, Them Koang 0-0 0-0 0, Siddiq Canty 3-4 1-3 9. Totals: 30-50 19-27 84.
South Suburban (79) — Julius Byrd 7-13 0-0 18, Kenton Wright Jr. 1-5 0-0 3, LeQuan Washington 5-10 4-6 14, Jemel Jones 7-13 11-12 25, Quentin Heady 5-13 1-5 11, Trent Askew 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Harrison 2-7 3-4 8, Tremear Fraley 0-1 0-2 0. Totals: 27-62 19-29 79.
National Park `44 `40 `— `84
South Suburban `38 `31 `— `79
3-pointers — National Park 5-10 (Hill 2-2, Canty 2-2, Collins 1-3, Punch 0-1, White 0-2). South Suburban 6-15 (Byrd 4-6, Wright Jr. 1-2, Harrison 1-5, Jones 0-2) Rebounds — National Park 26 (Harrell 8), South Suburban 38 (Heady 10). Assists — National Park 12 (Collins 8), South Suburban 15 (Jones 6). Turnovers — National Park 12, South Suburban 12. Total fouls — National Park 20, South Suburban 18. Fouled out — Fraley.
Records — National Park College 31-1 overall. South Suburban 34-3 overall.
Davidson-Davie 88Ellsworth 75
DANVILLE — Jakob Moore recorded his third double-double of the season as the Davidson-Davie Storm got past the Ellsworth Panthers 88-75 in the third-place game at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.
Moore finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Storm, who finished their season 35-2. It’s the fourth consecutive National Tournament where Davidson-Davie has won three out of four games, finishing second in 2021 and 2022, fifth in 2023 and now third.
Ellsworth, who was making its first-ever appearance in the NJCAA Division II National Tournament, also got a double-double from Jordan Glenn-Hawkins, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds. The Panthers had three previous appearances in the NJCAA National Tournament, including winning the 1971 title.
Third-Place Game
Davidson-Davie Community College 88, Ellsworth Community College 75
Ellsworth (75) — Jaron Crews 4-14 0-2 9, Arlandus Keyes 3-7 0-0 7, Veijko Munitlak 2-2 0-0 4, Jordan Glenn-Hawkins 5-18 2-2 17, Clinton Efinda 13-27 4-7 32, Brennan Geoghegan 0-1 0-0 0, Christopher Willis 1-4 0-0 2, Lamarana Diallo 1-1 0-0 2, Themba Tshuma 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 30-78 6-12 75.
Davidson-Davie (88) — DJ Suggs 4-8 0-0 11, Nygie Stroman 2-7 1-1 6, Ethan English 4-12 0-0 10, Jakob Moore 9-16 4-6 23, Baron Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Zyhir Sims 0-1 0-0 0, Mike Wade 1-3 0-0 0, Kobe Parker 1-3 0-0 3, Alex Reece 1-2 0-0 3, Frank Stockton 3-8 3-4 9, Tyler Johnson 2-4 0-2 4, Trey Fields 5-8 2-3 13, Aden Taylor 2-5 0-0 4. Totals: 34-79 10-16 88.
Ellsworth `40 `35 `— `75
Davidson-Davie `42 `46 `— `88
3-pointers — Ellsworth 9-32 (Glenn-Hawkins 5-15, Efinda 2-4, Keyes 1-3, Crews 1-6, Geoghegan 0-1, Willis 0-3); Davidson-Davie 10-31 (Suggs 3-7, English 2-5, Moore 1-2, Reece 1-2, Parker 1-3, Fields 1-3, Stroman 1-5, Williams 0-1, Taylor 0-1, Stockton 0-2). Rebounds — Ellsworth 44 (Glenn-Hawkins 10); Davidson-Davie 54 (Moore 12). Assists — Ellsworth 13 (Crews 5); Davidson-Davie 14 (English 3). Turnovers — Ellsworth 10, Davidson-Davie 14. Total fouls — Ellsworth 13, Davidson-Davie 14. Fouled out — none.
Records — Ellsworth Community College 29-8 overall, Davidson-Davie35-2 overall.
DMACC 87
Milwaukee Area 77
DANVILLE — In a battle of past champions, the Bears from Des Moines Area Community College defeated the Stormers from Milwaukee Area Technical College 87-77 in the fifth-place game at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.
DMACC, the 2021 National Champions, were led by all-tournament selection Angelo Winkel with 20 points, while Trey Lewis came off the bench to chip in with 17.
Milwaukee Area Tech was the 2023 champions, and they were led by Ke’Varius Taylor with 21, while Shelton Williams-Dryden contributed 19 points and a game-high 12 rebounds in the losing effort.
Fifth-Place Game
Des Moines Area Community College 87, Milwaukee Area Technical College 77
Des Moines Area (87) — Demerius Shakur 1-3 2-2 4, Elijah Thomas 4-10 2-2 13, Trevian Carson 3-5 0-0 6, Victor Desmond 3-6 0-0 7, Angelo Winkel 9-17 2-3 20, James Glenn 3-9 3-4 12, Da’Shon Fisher 3-7 0-0 6, Trey Lewis 7-11 0-0 17, Ethan Thomas 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 34-69 9-11 87.
Milwakee Area Tech (77) — Ke’Varius Taylor 6-17 6-6 21, Shelton Williams-Dryden 8-15 3-4 19, Shamann Artis 3-10 0-0 7, Qi’Andrew Washington 2-6 1-2 5, Antonio Foxwell 2-5 0-0 6, James Horton 1-4 3-6 5, Maurice Clay 1-4 0-0 2, Cyrus Little 0-2 0-0 0, Brione Williams 1-3 2-4 4, David Rosengargen 1-1 0-0 3, Ian Murphy 0-0 0-0 0, Nicholas Wilson 1-4 2-2 5, Dane Dailing 0-1 0-0 0, Jayquan Hickles 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 26-74 17-24 77.
Des Moines Area `50 `37 `— `87
Milwaukee Area `37 `40 `— `77
3-pointers — DMACC 10-27 (Glenn 3-6, Lewis 3-7, Thomas 3-9, Desmond 1-1, Fisher 0-1, Winkel 0-1, Carson 0-2); MATC 8-28 (Taylor 3-7, Foxwell 2-4, Rosengarten 1-1, Wilson 1-4, Artis 1-5, Dailing 0-1, Williams 0-1, Horton 0-2, Clay 0-3). Rebounds — DMACC 45 (Carson 11); MATC 42 (Williams-Dryden 12). Assists — DMACC 17 (Shakur 5); MATC 10 (Taylor 3). Turnovers — DMACC 17, MATC 11. Total fouls — DMACC 15, MATC 12. Fouled out — none.
Records — Des Moines Area Community College 31-5 overall, Milwaukee Area Technical College 30-7 overall.
Macomb 94
St. Clair County 84
DANVILLE — Macomb Community College and St. Clair County Community College split its two regular-season meetings this year.
With each team winning on the other’s home court, the third and deciding game this season was a neutral site affair for the consolation championship at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.
The Monarchs claimed bragging rights with a 94-84 triumph over the Skippers as Juwan Maxey and Justin James combined for 43 points.
Consolation Championship
Macomb Community College 94, St. Clair County Community College 84
St. Clair County (84) — Tyler Hamilton 11-21 4-6 30, Daquan Coleman 4-10 0-0 11, Isaiah Jones 2-5 2-2 7, La’Tavius Vaughter 5-8 0-0 10, Zaveon Little 6-8 0-0 15, Zahki Fallen 3-9 0-0 7, Omari Byrd 1-2 2-2 4. Totals: 32-63 8-10 84.
Macomb (94) — Parker Day 1-6 1-2 3, Nate Brown 3-8 3-4 11, Josh Hines 4-11 0-0 10, Juwan Maxey 8-13 0-0 21, Tymias Williams 5-10 2-2 14, Justin James 7-12 5-5 22, Jotham Nweke 1-2 0-0 2, DaMaryon Fishburn 1-4 1-1 3, Tate MacKenzie 2-4 4-6 8. Totals: 32-70 16-20 94.
St. Clair County `44 `40 `— `84
Macomb `46 `48 `— ` 94
3-pointers — St. Clair County 12-28 (Hamilton 4-9, Little 3-5, Coleman 3-7, Jones 1-2, Fallen 1-5); Macomb 14-29 (Maxey 5-7, James 3-4, Brown 2-3, Williams 2-3, Hines 2-7, Fishburn 0-2, Day 0-3). Rebounds — St. Clair County 25 (Jones 8); Macomb 45 (Day 8, Maxey 8, Williams 8). Assists — St. Clair County 14 (Hamilton 6); Macomb 17 (Day 3, Maxey 3, Williams3, James 3). Turnovers — St. Clair County 8, Macomb 11. Total fouls — St. Clair County 14, Macomb 12. Fouled out — none.
Records — St. Clair County Community College 27-8 overall, Macomb Community College 31-4 overall.