The postseason run of the North Central Missouri College Lady Pirates ended on Saturday, with the women’s basketball program, for the first time, playing on the final day of the season.
With eight of the 16 teams that made up the original field in the Division Two national tournament eliminated, North Central suited up against regional rival Johnson County (KS) Community College, playing for fifth place at the event in Port Huron, Michigan.
The matchup proved to be a difficult one for North Central, as second-ranked Johnson County raced out to a first-half lead and held NCMC at arm’s length in the final 20 minutes, defeating the Lady Pirates 72-56.
The win ended the Cavaliers season with a record of 34-2, but short of the program’s goal of a national championship, after the Region 6 champions had lost in the national quarterfinals earlier in the tournament to eventual runner-up Morton Community College.
Johnson County was paced by 13 points from Jaylen Townsend, with Shonyah Hawkins and Kierra Prim each scoring 12, Mackenzie Hart 11, and St. Joseph Benton graduate Gabby Fuller with 10 points.
NCMC, finishing the year at 26-7, had 15 points from Nora Ford, with Maci Moore tallying 14, and Angel Wiggins, in her final game as a Lady Pirate, adding 11.
Ford was named to the All-Tournament team at the conclusion of the event, which saw a rally by #1 ranked Kirkwood (IA) Community College on Saturday night to win the national championship over Morton 49-44. The champion Eagles finished the season at 36-1, including a quarterfinal win to end the Lady Pirates championship hopes.
The men’s NJCAA D-2 national tournament was won by South Suburban (IL) College on Saturday night in Danville, Illinois, defeating Davidson-Davie (NC) by a score of 79-63, completing an unbeaten campaign.
The Lady Pirates played four games after a five-day period on their trip to St. Clair Community College, including a consolation round semifinal victory on Friday afternoon against Muskegon (MI) College, 60-52. In what would turn out to be North Central’s final victory of the season, Wiggins had 12 points and Moore 11. Muskegon, ending the year at 25-6, had 17 points from Julia Tierman and 10 from Karleigh Jeffries.
In the national quarterfinal loss to Kirkwood on Thursday evening, the Lady Pirates had a 16-15 lead after one quarter, courtesy of a Nora Ford buzzer-beating three point shot. A three-point play by Moore in the opening seconds of the second quarter pushed North Central’s lead to 19-15.
However, that would be the “high water mark” for the Lady Pirates, as the Eagles dominated the remainder of the half, scoring 19 unanswered points to claim a 34-19 halftime advantage. A 20-9 edge in the third quarter effectively ended NCMC’s upset hopes.
Kortney Drake led the eventual national champions from Cedar Rapids, Iowa with 20 points, while Tasia Jordan, Ashley Tull, and Jada Devine all contributed 10. North Central had 14 points from Ford, and Moore adding 11.
Hopes for an upset of Kirkwood were high in the Lady Pirates ranks coming into the game, as the 8th-seed from NCMC hammered Niagara County (NY) Community College in Tuesday night’s first round game, 75-50.
Ford had a strong game with 26 points, while Moore and Kennadie Crowe both had 13, with 12 of Crowe’s points coming in the first half. Kiya Marquez had 23 points for the ThunderWolves, while the Lady Pirates held the all-time leading scorer in Niagara County program history, Alaina Forbes, top just eight points. North Central dominated the middle portion of the game, outscoring Niagara County by a combined 40-23 over the 2nd and 3rd quarters.
The Lady Pirates had advanced to the national tournament in Port Huron by winning the Central Plains District championship game over Southern Arkansas Tech on Saturday, March 5th by a score of 87-54.
North Central dominated the second half in the team’s final game of the season at the Ketcham Community Center, pulling away from a slim 2 point halftime edge to return to the national tournament for the first time since 2014.
Nora Ford had 21 points, Angel Wiggins 17, Kennadie Crowe 16, Jasmine Taylor 12, and Maci Moore 11 points, with SAU Tech placing three players in double figures.
On that Saturday afternoon in Trenton, the North Central squads split the district championship games, with the Pirate men ending up one win shy of a fourth-consecutive berth in the national tournament, with SAU Tech shooting 65% from the field in a 99-76 win over the Pirates. Donovan Vickers led the Rockets with 25 points with K.J. Stewart adding 22. The North Central men had 20 points from Isaiah Ervin, 18 from Kolten Griffin, and 11 points from Sterling DeSha.
On the final Friday of February, North Central’s women and men each won Region XVI championships in Jefferson City with convincing wins over in-state rivals.
The Lady Pirates raced out to a 43-8 lead after one quarter in hammering an overmatched Metropolitan Community College squad, 86-62, with Ford scoring 23, Moore 13, and Crowe and Wiggins 10 each for North Central. Moore, Wiggins, and Crowe were all named Region XVI first-team players for NCMC, with Ford named Region XVI Most Valuable Player.
The Pirate men won the Region XVI title for the fourth consecutive year, rallying from an early deficit to defeat Metropolitan 89-78.
