John A. Logan College Volunteers
Vols Claim First National Championship With Come From Behind Finish Over Defending Champs
March 25, 2023 (Hutchinson, KS) – The John A. Logan College Men’s Basketball team captured the program’s first national title on Saturday in a thrilling come-from-behind 73-70 victory over defending champion Northwest Florida at the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. The victory was the 31st straight win for the team under first-year head coach Tyler Smithpeters.
Named the Coach of the Tournament, Smithpeters said he and the team never wavered from their belief of winning a championship, even after 2 early season losses could’ve caused some panic. “These guys believed that they could win a championship, and throughout the season, they never lost that focus. No matter what situation they have been in, they have kept their composure and found a way to win. They deserve all the credit and have been a pleasure to coach.”
Although a relative newcomer to the national scene of top Juco programs, the Volunteers have truly etched themselves as major contenders over the last decade. In their sixth appearance at Hutch, and 4th consecutive year to qualify, this was the program’s first trip to the final four.
John A. Logan entered the tournament as the No.1 seed after a 29-2 regular season run, which included a 27 game winning-streak and Central District Championship which auto qualified their appearance in Hutch. Logan finished the season with a 33-2 record and became the first No. 1 Seed to claim the National Title since the tournament started seeding teams when they changed formats in 2013.
Defending National Champs Northwest Florida State College built a 10 point cushion in the first half, but the Volunteers settled in, and chipped away the halftime deficit to 4, 43-39. Chad Baker-Mazara led the Raiders with 12 first half points. Quimari Peterson did what he could to keep the Vols close with ten of his own.
The second half was Logan’s time to shine, outscoring the Raiders 34-27. The Volunteers took their first lead in the 2nd half on a Peterson jumper, 49-48 at the 15:49 mark. They led briefly, 12-11, 7 minutes into the opening period.
But five straight pionts from Baker-Mazara returned NWF’s lead back to 4. Other than the 10 point advantage for the Raiders early, the game was primarily a two possession game. Neither team led by more than four points from the 15 minute mark of the second half. The 40 minutes of action had 11 ties and 11 lead changes.
Curt Lewis led the Champs with 18 points (10 in the 2nd) along with 7 rebounds. Peterson added 5 to his first half for a total of 15 points and game high 5 assists. Isaiah Stafford finished with 10. Elijah Jones had game high 12 boards.
The Volunteers KJ Debrick carded 9 points, but none where as important to the team as his old fashion three point play with :40 seconds to play. Debrick dove to save a ball from going out of bounds, and on the same possession scored on a lay-up and got fouled. The successful free toss gave the Vols their winning point, 71-68, but no one sensed that in the moment.
A free throw from Peterson with :18 ticks left advanced Logan’s lead to four, 72-68, but NW’s Kesean Pryor’s jumper six seconds later cut it to 2 at 72-70. Following a NW timeout, Logan’s Isaiah Stafford was fouled. Stafford drained the first FT, but missed the second giving the Raiders a shot to tie.
With the clock winding down, the Raiders looked confused about who would shoot the 3 to tie. Pryor was standing outside the arc, but decided to break for the basket for a possible rebound, but Niblack passed it to Pryor in the middle of his break to the hoop and forced him to recycle behind the line for a contested desperation three. The shot sailed off the mark. NW did control the rebound, but before being able to launch another three…time expired. The defending champs, the nation’s preseason #1 ranked team, ran out of time.
For his consistent outstanding play for the week, the Vols Quimari Peterson was named MVP of the tournament. Curt Lewis and Isaiah Stafford were both named to the All-Tournament Team.
In defending their championship of 2022, the Raiders ended the first semester with a 12-4 record. After reeling off six straight, NW ran into an Iowa buzzsaw, losing at Indian Hills and at Southeastern CC (both of whom were tourney teams). The Raiders lost twice more, to Ranger in Pensacola, and at Daytona State.
Questions were being asked, eyebrows raised, but none of those losses could be in any size, shape, or color, be considered a bad loss. Three of those teams made it to Hutch, and Daytona State was probably odd man out in the NJCAA’s restriction of three teams per District.
After the calendar change, NW started playing more Raider-like. Although losing at Chipola and in Raider Arena to Tallahassee, and again to Chipola before district play, NW still ended as Tri-Champs in the Panhandle Conference. The Raiders ultimately avenged all 3 of those set backs by defeating both Chipola and Tally to win the Florida State Championship (South Atlantic District) and auto bid to the national tournament.
Raider Head Coach Steve DeMeo on his team’s overall accomplishments, “we certainly didn’t go through the first part of the season like we had hoped, but 3 of 4 were on the road, and all four were very good teams. But we stayed together, kept focus, worked hard and in the end we’re pretty happy with the progress.”
DeMeo in his second, first year at NWF (won a national title in 2015 during his first stint), gave credit to John A Logan, “Congrats to Coach Smithpeters, he has a nice team, they played well down the stretch and deserve to win. Both teams played hard, we had our chances, just didn’t make enough plays at the end. They did. After what we’ve been through, and although we certainly thought we could win, I’m very proud of my team.”
The Raiders also had three in double figures. Leading the way was Baker-Mazara with game high 21 points. Pryor doubled down with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Niblack put in 13 to go along with 8 rebounds and 3 assists. NW finished the season 29-8.
This is the third runners-up trophy for the Raiders, all coming in the last 12 seasons. NWF also has three championships, the other coming in 1995.
The final stats were just as close as the final score, as they should be in a game decided by 3 points. Northwest Florida actually bested the Champs on FG shooting, both overall and from distance, but ball control was key, especially in the second half when Logan made their move.
Turnovers loomed large in the final outcome. Although NWF ended with just 11, Logan tallied only 5. Even more impressive, Logan only committed 1 turnover in the 2nd half. Points off T0s drastically favored the Vols 16-4.
2023 marked the first year that the Championship game was televised live nationally on ESPNU. Hats off to Dr. Parker and the NJCAA for working out that deal.
(Some of the content for this story was provided by John A Logan and Northwest Florida athletic pages)