A Pair Of Tourney First Timers Battle It Out
In a game featuring two first time participants in the National Tourney, #14 seed Indian River State College (FL) squared off with Dawson CC (MT), the game in which understandably started out without a score by either team in the first two minutes.
The game progressed into a nicely entertaining game as both teams settled in and battled in which was anybody’s game deep into the second stanza. However, there were no lead changes and no ties after Indian Rivers All-Region 8, POTY Linton Brown (6’5″ SO from Wellington, FL) hit a three to break the ice at the 17:54 mark in the first half. Linton had game high 28 points in the 85-75 triumph.
The Buccaneers from Glendive, MT, won back to back Region 13 Championships but lost in the North Central District Championship in 2020 to Region 11 Champion Indian Hills CC (IA). That ended their dream of a national tournament appearance. This time around, Dawson returned the favor and upset the #6 ranked Warriors from IHCC to capture in the District finals to earn their debut performance on Sam Butterfield Court inside the Hutchinson Sports Arena.
And for the first time in awhile, two teams with no previous presence at the tourney met in first round action. The other team making the trek to the land of Oz was Indian River State College (FL). IRSC was an at-large selection from the always tough South Atlantic District.
Indian River (19-3) led by as many as 6 in the first half, and built their largest lead of 15 with just a minutes to play in the contest. The Pioneers worked into a 5 point halftime lead at 40-35. “The River” matched their first half advantage of five in the second half to post the final ten point margin.
Pioneers Head Coach Charlie Wilson, Coach of the Year in Region 8, was proud of his team, but still felt like they left a little on the court. When asked about their preperations for the maiden voyage to the big dance, Wilson replied, “We feel that playing in our conference regular season, the conference tournament, and state tournament are plenty to get us ready for something like this. Especially the last week (state tournament) and playing Chipola on Championship night.”
As far as Brown’s play, Wilson had these words, “LB has been one of the best players in the nation for us all year. So I’m excited for him that he at least got to show it here, on the national stage. He had 28 points in 37 minutes and went 12-19 from the field, he is usually more efficient than that, getting his twenty (points) on less attempts.” Wilson continued, “but sometimes at this point in the season you need to win ugly, but I think that getting that first one (win), holy moly, that’s a good thing.”
Supporting Brown for IRSC was Abdoulaye Thiam with 20 points (in 19 minutes of action) and AJ Cajuste with ten. Jacob Jackson was game high chairman of the board gathering 13 boards, ten of those on the defensive end. Thiam and Cajuste’s performances were in a reserve roll.
Dawson, now 23-3, was led by Jajuan Tot, a 5’10” FR from Dallas, TX. He finished with 16 points, 3 assist and 3 steals. Two others had double digits for the Buccaneers as Cordell Stenson and Kose Egule each had 12. Charles Lampten grabbed a team high 8 caroms.
The Bucs, normally a high pressure pressing team averaging over ten steals a again fell victim to their own poison as they committed 23 turnovers versus 16 for the Pioneers. Dawson’s presence in the paint was also huge in their downfall as IRSC dominated scoring in the paint 48-36, and out raced them to missed shots to the tune of 44-36.
Pioneers Coach Wilson added this about their opponent, “We weren’t as efficient on offense as we would like to be, but I give credit to Dawson on that. Coming in we were aware of their pressure and creating turnovers, one of the top teams in steals per game, and I worked harder on press break in preparation for this game than I have ever before.” Well coach, obviously it paid off.
Next up for The River is a date with #3 seed College of Southern Idaho (21-3). Only 3 time champions, four time runners-up, and appearing at Hutch for the 26th time. Game time is Wednesday, April 21 at 6:00.
