Brunswick CC defeats Region 10 rival Caldwell Tech for Atlantic District Championship
Bolivia, NC – April 10, 2021
The stars were aligned just perfect in Bolivia Saturday night. With the Atlantic District Title and automatic berth in the NJCAA National Championship, the Brunswick CC Dolphins put together a solid first twenty minutes to take a commanding lead over visiting Caldwell Tech, 52-38. The Cobras did make a comeback, outscoring the #1 seed Dolphins by five in the second half. However, Brunswick was able to fend off Caldwell’s charge long enough to earn a 98-89 victory. With that comes an automatic berth in the April 19-24 NJCAA National Championship at the Sports Arena in Hutchinson, KS.
The stars I speak of were actually on the court. With All-region-10 1st Team and Newcomer of the Year Josiah Shackelford, fellow First Teamer Christian Koonce, and 2nd Team member Jalen Johnson netting 26, 16 and 16 respectively, the Dolphins left little doubt it was going to be their day. Shackelford and Koonce each with 8 rebounds, and Johnson’s 5 steals were all team leading. Shackelford and Johnson’s efforts coming off the bench. Oh, yeah, and did I mention that starter Reece McDonald chipped in with 17 points and 9 assist.
Then, there was this guy named Walter Shaw pacing the sidelines, who brought his own star power to the game. You see, on March 14, Coach Shaw collected his 400th career win at Brunswick, and just last week he was honored as the Region 10 Coach of the Year. Shaw is in his 21st season at BCC.
Combine all of the above with 53% shooting from the field (41-70), a modest 31% from three (4-13), 21 assist on 41 baskets, and only 9 turnovers, the Dolphins were swimming circles around the Cobras.
Brunswick is now 15-3 on the season, and awaits the seeding and pairings which will be released at 7:00 pm EDT, live on NJCAATV. Caldwell Tech finishes the year at 10-7.
This will be Brunswick’s second appearance at Hutch, both under the leadership of Coach Shaw. The first time was in 2010.
