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PJC finishes in 8th place, fall to Chipola
By Larry Cathey
The Paris News
Published March 23, 2008
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Something was bound to give in a game featuring two programs having one of their best respective seasons in school history.
Unfortunately for Paris Junior College, Chipola College's legacy is a little greater at this point in history, and the Indians used their size and depth advantage in an 84-66 victory Saturday afternoon in the consolation game of the NJCAA Tournament.
Chipola College, which entered the tournament as the odds-on favorite to leave Kansas as national champions, secured seventh place with the victory, while the Dragons finished eighth in the country.
“Chipola was everybody's favorite in the tournament,” said a red-eyed Ross Hodge, the Dragons' second-year coach. “We had to play a close to perfect game, but we just didn't do that today.”
The Indians (35-2) shot a blistering 65.5 percent from the field in the second half when they turned their eight-point halftime lead into a very comfortable double-digit advantage. They shot 54.1 percent for the game.
“I thought we got better every game we were out here,” said Chipola coach Greg Heiar, whose team lost to Seward County CC in the opening round of the tournament.
That proved to be unfortunate for PJC, which capped its first 30-victory season in school history.
Early in the game, it appeared the Dragons (30-7) were more than ready to face their biggest challenge of the season when they took a 19-13 lead with 8:42 left in the first half. But the Indians kept chipping away at the deficit and took a two-point lead with less than two minutes left in the first half.
That's when an old PJC ally officially became an enemy.
Chiplola's Clevin Hannah, who left the Dragons during the off-season, drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to help his team open an eight-point lead 1:01 before halftime.
“I wish he was wearing a Paris uniform, instead of a Chipola uniform,” Hodge said. “I thought those two 3's he hit right at the end of the first half really changed the complexion, and changed the momentum of the game.”
Those two 3's almost never happened. Hannah was on the bench with two fouls, and probably wouldn't have returned before halftime had he not noticed two of his teammates were also playing with two fouls.
“He looked at me and said, 'Are you done with me?'” Heiar said. “Once he hit the first one, I was like 'Uh-oh, here comes another one.'”
Hannah, who finished with nine points, said he just wanted to have a good game against some of his old teammates.
“It was pretty emotional for me,” Hannah said. “I wanted to come out and play well.”
Even if he didn't, he had plenty of other support from his fellow Indians.
Mario Little led all scorers with 21, and added five rebounds. Vernon Teel scored 18, and Gary Flowers had 14.
“Anytime Little and Flowers get it going, we're not going to get beat,” Heiar said. “They had it going today.”
Chipola outrebounded PJC 41-30, and grabbed 12 offensive rebounds. The Indians have three key players taller than the Dragons' tallest player. Seven-footer Jon Kreft had three blocks in the first half for Chipola.
PJC's Eric Tramiel couldn't decide how much of an advantage Chipola's height was, if any.
“It was a big advantage — their length,” Tramiel said. “It really wasn't, but it was. They just played harder than us.”
Tramiel led the Dragons with 19 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds in his last game in a PJC uniform. He was the only Dragon with more than three rebounds. Raymond Sims scored 13, and Ronnie Morgan had 11. Courtney Waters scored eight, Charles Funches had seven, and Mike Smith added six. James Livingston had two steals.
PJC made 20 of 51 field goal attempts (39.2 percent), and committed 18 turnovers. Chipola had 15 turnovers.
Although it wasn't the way he wanted to end the season, Hodge was still impressed with his team, as he had been throughout. Plus, the Dragons lost to what Hodge calls the “best team” in the nation.
“They might not win the championship, but they're the best team in the country…if that can be possible,” Hodge said. “Getting here in itself was special. This game was a reflection of our season by any means.”
PJC, which won the national championship three years ago, ended up going 2-2 at this year's national tournament.
CHIPOLA COLLEGE 84, PJC 66
CC 39 45 — 84
PJC 31 35 — 66
Chipola (35-2) — Mario Little 21, Vernon Teel 18, Gary Flowers 14, Clevin Hannah 9, Casey Mitchell 7, Malik Alvin 4, Mario Edwards 4, Antwon Hall 3, Jon Kreft 2, Joey Cameron 2. Free throws: 13-24. Field goals: 33-61 (54.1 percent). Threes: 5-12 (Hannah 3, Hall, Little). Rebounds: 41 (Hall 7). Assists: 12 (Alvin 3, Little 3). Blocks: 7 (Kreft 3). Steals: 2. Turnovers: 15. Fouls: 25.
PJC (30-7) — Eric Tramiel 19, Raymond Sims 13, Ronnie Morgan 11, Courtney Waters 8, Charles Funches 7, Mike Smith 6, James Livingston 2. Free throws: 22-34. Field goals: 20-51 (39.2 percent). Threes: 4-10 (Waters 2, Sims 2). Rebounds: 30 (Tramiel 11). Assists: 11 (Sims 3). Blocks: 2 (Morgan, Tramiel). Steals: 3 (Livingston 2). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 17.
NJCAA Scores
Tuesday, March 18
Salt Lake CC 65, Vincennes College 61
Southeastern Illinois 63, PJC 57
Three Rivers CC 83, Eastern Wyoming 70
Eastern Arizona 69, Walters State CC 53
Northeastern Okla. A&M 78, Shelton State CC 65
Seward Coungty 90, Chipola 84 (OT)
Wednesday, March 19
PJC 74, Vincennes University 67
South Plains College 88, Georgia Perimeter College 83
Indian Hills CC 75, Itawamba CC 73
Salt Lake CC 74, Southeastern Illinois College 45
Three Rivers CC 75, Eastern Arizona College 73
Thursday, March 20
Walters State CC 85, Eastern Wyoming College 77
Chipola College 76, Shelton State CC 75
Itawamba CC 83, Georgia Perimeter College 61
Eastern Arizona College 70, Southeastern Illinois College 59
Seward County CC 68, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 61
South Plains College 66, Indian Hills CC 61
Friday, March 21
PJC 71, Walters State CC 61
Chipola College 72, Itawamba CC 53
Indian Hills CC 76, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 75
Salt Lake CC 68, Three Rivers CC 50
South Plains College 77, Seward County CC 65
Saturday, March 22
Seventh Place — Chipola College 84, PJC 66
Fifth Place — Eastern Arizona College 70, Indian Hills CC 63
Third Place — Seward County CC, 81, Three Rivers CC 63
CHAMPIONSHIP
South Plains College CC, 67, Salt Lake CC 56
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