Old and New Faces Make The Cut For 2021 NJCAA Championship

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Reposted in part from previous JHS post

The field is set, the Sports Arena is getting finishing touches, teams are practicing hard and will soon be packing and traveling. For what they hope is a week long stay in the Salt City (Hutchinson, KS), to make a run at a National Championship in the historic Sports Arena.

This year, “The Tournament,” will run from Monday, April 19 through Saturday the 24th. Normally the games are played in the third week in March. However, this year due to covid concerns it was delayed one month.

This will be the 73rd running of the “The Tournament” and the 72nd year its been in Hutchinson. The first NJCAA National Basketball Championship was held in 1948 in State College Field House in Springfield, MO. The next year the tournament moved to Hutchinson, due to the interest and persistence of the American Legion Lysle Rishel Post #68 and other community minded people. The event has been in Hutch ever since, and played in the Sports Arena since 1952. The first three years the event was housed in Convention Hall, in downtown Hutchinson.

Included in this years field of 24, two teams are making their first appearance in the Championship. Dawson CC (Glendive, MT) and Indian River State College (Ft. Pierce, FL). The Buccaneers won back to back Region 13 Championships, however, last year they lost at Region 11 Champ Indian Hills in the North Central District Championship. This time around, hosting the Warriors from Indian HIlls CC, in Glendive, the Bucs returned the favor edging out a 68-67 victory to earn their virgin voyage to Hutch.

The Buccaneers enter the tournament as the #19 seed and ironically, have a first round date with the other first timer, the Pioneers of Indian River State, who were issued the #14 seed. Indian River made the tournament as an at-large selection after losing to # 6 seed Chipola in the finals of the ever tough South Atlantic District.

Amongst the rest of the field you’ll find some of the usual suspects, many with national championships under their belt, and a few with multiple titles. You’ll also find some names familiar to tournament regulars, but haven’t showed their face in awhile.

Here is a run down of each of the participating teams participating in the 2021 Tournament:

Brunswick CC – Supply, NC – Dolphins – No. 24 seed – Region 10 – (15-3) – RV – beat Caldwell CC&T, NC (10-7) 98-89 in Atlantic District Championship – Second trip to Hutch – last in 2010.

Chipola College – Marianna, FL – Indians – No. 6 seed – Region 8 – (21-4) – last poll #9 – beat #17 Indian River State College, FL (18-3) 88-75 in South Atlantic District – 16th trip to Hutch – last in 2014 – 2nd place in 1974 & 2007.

Cochise College – Douglas AZ – Apaches – No. 20 seed – Region 1 – (11-2) – last poll NR – beat Arizona Western College (11-3) 83-62 in West District Championship – fourth trip to Hutch – last in 2015.

College of Southern Idaho – Twin Falls, ID – Golden Eagles – No. 3 seed – Region 18 – (21-3) – beat #13 Salt Lake CC, UT (20-4) 94-84 in Rocky Mountain District – 26th time in Hutch – last in 2018 – 3 time Champs (1976, 1987, 2011) – 4 time runners-up.

Cowley College – Arkansas City, KS – Tigers – No. 8 seed – Region 6 – (21-4) – last poll #15 – beat Hutchinson CC, KS (18-6) 116-107 in Plains District Championship – sixth appearance at Hutch – two consecutive trips to nationals – 2nd place in 1953.

Dawson CC – Glendive, MT – Buccaneers – No. 19 seed – Region 13 – (23-2) – last poll RV – beat #6 Indian Hills CC, IA (21-3) 68-67 in North Central District Championship – FIRST APPEARANCE AT HUTCH!

Holmes CC – Goodman, MS – Bulldogs – No. 18 seed – Region 23 – (15-3) – last poll NR – beat Northeast Mississippi CC (15-4) 81-56 in Gulf District Championship – 3rd trip to Hutch – last in 2018.

John A. Logan College – Carterville, IL – Volunteers – No. 4 seed – Region 24 – (18-4) – last poll #12 – beat #20 Vincennes University, IN (17-6) 77-68 in Central District Championship – fourth time at Hutch – 2nd consecutive appearance.

Kilgore College – Kilgore, TX – Rangers – No. 17 seed – Region 14 – (18-5) – last poll NR – beat #8 Trinity Valley CC, TX (22-2) 68-67 in the Mid-South District Championship – 6th appearance in Hutch – last in 2013 – Champs in 1956, 1958.

Mineral Area College – Park Hills, MO – Cardinals – No. 1 seed – Region 16 – (23-0) – last poll #2 – beat #18 Triton College, IL (20-4) 73-56 in the Midwest District Championship – 4th trip to Hutch – last in 2015.

Northeastern JC – Sterling, CO – Plainsmen – No. 22 seed – Region 9 – (15-5) – last poll RV – beat McCook CC, NE (14-11) 89-71 in the Northwest Plains District – tenth time at Hutch – last in 2014.

Northern Oklahoma College – Tonkawa, OK – Mavericks – No. 2 seed – Region 2 – (23-1) – last poll #7 – beat Northern Oklahoma – Enid (17-5) 66-64 in South Central District Championship – 4th appearance at Hutch – two years in a row.

Ranger College – Ranger, TX – Rangers – No. 13 seed – Region 5 – (19-4) – last poll RV – beat Western Texas College (15-8) 90-65 in Southwest District Championship – trip #5 to Hutch – three consecutive appearances – 2nd in 2019.

Shelton State CC – Tuscaloosa, AL – Buccaneers – No. 11 seed – Region 22 – (23-1) – last poll #4 – beat Wallace CC-Selma, AL (18-4) 71-55 in South District Championship – appearing for the tenth time in Hutch – 3rd consecutive trip.

South Georgia State College – Douglas, GA – Hawks – No. 21 seed – Region 17 – (22-3) – last poll RV – beat East Georgia State (9-15) 75-69 in Southeast District Championship – second time in Hutch – last in 2011 as Waycross College.

Southwest Tennessee CC – Memphis, TN – Saluqis – No. 23 seed – Region 7 – (11-4) – last poll NR – beat Cleveland State CC, TN (11-7) 70-59 in Appalachian District Championship – 12th trip to Hutch – last in 2016 – finished 2nd in 1998.

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2021 NJCAA National Tournament At-large selections:

South Plains College – Levelland, TX – Texans – No. 4 seed – Region 5 – (17-2) – last poll #1 – lost to Howard College 61-60 in Southwest District semifinals – ranked #1 and undefeated for most of year – on a two game losing streak – lost last game of regular season to #3 Odessa – Twelfth appearance at Hutch – 5th consecutive trip – 3 time Champs (2008, 2012, 2018) – 2nd place 2015.

Odessa College – Odessa, TX – Wranglers – No. 7 seed – Region 5 – (20-2) – last poll #3 – Lost to Western Texas in Southwest District semifinals – 9th time at Hutch – last in 2019.

Coffeyville CC – Coffeyville, KS – Ravens – No. 10 seed – Region 6 – (22-3) – last poll #5 – Lost to Hutchinson 76-75 in Plains District semifinals – making their 16th trip to Hutch – 5th consecutive appearance – 1 time Champ in 1962 – 2nd place in 2002.

Hutchinson CC – Hutchinson, KS – Blue Dragons – No. 16 seed – Region 6 – (18-6) – last poll RV – Lost to #15 Cowley College 117-106 in Plains District final – 22nd time playing on home floor – last in 2018 – 3 time champs (1988, 1994, 2017) – 2 time runners-up.

Indian River State College – Fort Pierce, FL – Pioneers – No. 14 seed – Region 8 – (18-3) – last poll #17 – lost to #9 Chipola 88-75 in South Atlantic District final – FIRST APPEARANCE AT HUTCH!!

Trinity Valley CC – Athens, TX – Cardinals – No. 9 seed – Region 14 – (22-2) – last poll #8 – lost to Kilgore 68-67 in Mid-South District final – ninth trip to Hutch – last in 2019.

Salt Lake CC – Salt Lake City, UT – Bruins – No. 12 seed – Region 18 – (20-4) – last poll #13 – lost to #10 Southern Idaho 94-84 in Rocky Mountain District final – trip #9 to Nationals – 2nd straight appearance – Champs in 2009 & 2016 – 2nd in 2008.

Vincennes University – Vincennes, IN – Trailblazers – Region 12(24) – #20 – Lost to #12 John A. Logan 77-68 in Central District final – Record 36th trip to Hutch – Record 9th consecutive appearance – 4 time Champs (1965, 1970, 1972, and 2019) – Runners-up in 1986 – Defending Champ as 2020 tourney cancelled.

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