Midland Crowned JUCO National Champs

MVP Rodrigue Mels leads way in battle of nation's pre-season top two

March 25, 2007

By Van Coleman

CSTV & Hoopmasters.com


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Pre-season No. 2 ranked Midland (Tex.) had its ups and downs this winter, but rolled through the field at Hutch this week culminating with a Championship game win over No. 1 Chipola (Fla.).

During a year where Midland dropped nine games, they stormed into Hutchinson with something to prove. They weren't picked by any of the JUCO experts to win the crown this past week. Many didn't have them making the quarter-finals. But the Chaparrals, after surviving their first round game with Aiken Tech 81-75, ran through the competition in Hutch in the quarters, semis, and last night's championship game by an average winning margin of 23 points an outing.

It was an impressive finish to a great week that saw Midland CC crowned the NJCAA National Champions.

National Championship Game: Midland CC, TX (29-9) 94 - Chipola, CC, FL (33-3) 75

In a game that might prove that three (or four) will definitely overcome two, no matter how good they are, the Midland Chaparrals won their second national title in a 94-75 battle with Chipola CC. It wasn't as easy as the final score might indicate, as it was two point game 62-60 with just over ten minutes to play.

Chipola had roared out of the locker room at halftime down 46-37. Ready to take it to Midland, the Indians went to their dynamic duo of Indiana bound JaMarcus Ellis and DeAndre Thomas, who combined for 15 points and headed a 19-7 run that closed the gap to 62-60. But at that point, 6-foot-3 Tournament MVP Rodrigue Mels put a dagger in the heart of Chipola's comeback with a deep three (one of six he had in the game). That not only took the air out of the Indians, but ignited his teammates once again. From that point on they retained control and went on to the 94-75 championship victory.

Midland was led by MVP Rodrigue Mels with 24 points and 5 assists, along with 6-foot 2 freshman Tyrone Appleton who added 21 points, including 4-threes of his own. They got solid support from 6-foot 3 Jordan Brooks, who added 15 points, and 6-foot 8 Nemanja Calasan, who finished with 14 points and 8 boards.

Chipola's top guns were the dynamic duo alluded to above, as 6-foot 5 JaMarcus Ellis scored a game high 27 points and pulled down 7 boards; while 6-foot 7 DeAndre Thomas contributed 22 points and 6 boards. Also in double figures for the Indians were 6-foot 7 Texas A&M signee Victor Dubovitsky, with 11 points, and available 6-foot point Ed Berrios, who finished with 10 points in the loss.

All-Tournament Team:

MVP- Rodrigue Mels 6-3 CG Midland CC, TX

Jordan Brooks 6-3 SG Midland CC, TX

JaMarcus Ellis 6-5 SG Chipola CC, FL

DeAndre Thomas 6-7 PF Chipola CC, TX

Omar Leary 5-10 CG Northeastern CC, CO

Daniel Payne 6-7 WF (FR) Coffeyville CC, KS

Robert Jarvis 5-10 CG Seminole State CC, OK

Donald Boone 6-3 SG Southwest Tennessee CC, TN

Nemanja Calasan 6-8 PF Midland CC, TX

Jacolby Davis 6-1 Georgia Perimeter CC, GA

Brad Garrett 6-3 SC of Southern Idaho, ID

Michael Hall 6-0 CG Lon Morris CC, TX

Artem Valov 6-9 C Three Rivers CC, MO

Top Small Player: J.J. Seymore 5-10 PG Coffeyville CC, KS

Sportsmanship: Mike Dominguez 6-3 Northeastern CC, CO

3rd Place Game: Coffeyville CC, KS (33-5) 91 - College of Southern Idaho (31-6) 86

After a horrendous shooting night on Friday night (2-for-31 from three), Coffeyville looked like it might start the same way on Saturday with the Ravens, not hitting their first basket until the 16:30 mark of the first half. But, this game wasn't going to be like the previous evening, as the Ravens tied the Southern Idaho Eagles at 12-all after a 12-4 run. They game went back and forth the rest of the half, with CSI grabbing a five point lead 37-32 on a late run before the buzzer.

The second half started out with Coffeyville burning Southern Idaho for a 14-2 run to go up 46-39 behind a couple long threes by 6-foot 7 freshman Daniel Payne. Coffeyville built their lead to double digits, before having to survive a late charge in the closing minutes that cut their advantage to three with eight seconds to play. But, as he had done all game, Payne stepped up to knock down two free throws to seal the Ravens 91-86 win over the CSI Eagles.

Coffeyville's top gun was Daniel Payne with 26 points including 5-threes, and 8 boards. He received solid support from 6-foot 6 Tarod Sanders, 6-foot 1 Aaron Jackson, and 6-foot 6 Barry Eberhardt with 10 points each. Eberhardt led all rebounders with 15 boards for the Ravens. CSI was led by 6-foot Adris Deleon who finished with 25 points off the bench. He got help from 6-foot 7 Juan Pattillo with 12 points and 7 boards. No other Eagles broke into double figures.

5th Place Game: Seminole State CC, OK (27-10) 73 - Lon Morris CC, TX (21-15) 58

This one was close throughout the first half, as Lon Morris clung to a 31-30 advantage as the two squads headed to the locker room at the intermission. But, 5-foot 10 scoring machine Robert Jarvis from Seminole State was about to change all that.

The explosive combo guard just flat out decided to take the game over with fifteen minutes to play. Jarvis hit a deep three that started a run that brought Seminole State from three down to up eight, and punctuated the run with a 25-foot plus dagger to put the Trojans up 58-47 with ten minutes to play. Lon Morris never put together that big run (although they cut it to seven on a couple occasions) as Seminole State won a hard fought 73-58 victory over Lon Morris.

Seminole State was led by Robert Jarvis with 28 points including 5-threes, 6 boards, and 4 assists. He got support from 6-foot 3 wing man David Thomas with 17 points and 8 boards. Lon Morris' top gun was 6-foot Michael Hall who finished with 17 points including 5-threes as well. He got help from 6-foot 5 Jerel Hastings and 6-foot 2 James Legan who chipped in 10 points each.

7th Place Game: Northeastern CC, CO (34-2) 94 - Southwest Tennessee (28-7) 80

Southwest Tennessee jumped out to an early 9-4 advantage over Northeastern Colorado, but that lead would go away in a hurry, as Northeastern went on a 17-3 run to go up 21-12 over Southwest. It remained an eight to ten point Northeastern lead the rest of the half, as the Plainsmen went into the locker room up 46-37 at the intermission over Southwest Tennessee.

The second half saw Northeastern build a 67-51 lead midway through the half, but Southwest wasn't done yet. The Salukis went into full court pressure mode, and chipped away at the Plainsmen's lead cutting the margin to just six, 77-71, with three minutes to play. But, Northeastern closed the door in Southwest's face hitting 13 of 14 free throws in the last three minutes to nail down a 94-80 victory over the Salukis.

Northeastern was led by 5-foot 10 point guard Omar Leary with 21 points and 5 assists. He got solid support from 6-foot 1 Jarvis Jackson who finished with 17 points, while 6-foot 7 Rashad Austin and 6-foot 3 Troy Smith chipped in with 16 points each. Southwest's top gun was sweet shooting 6-foot 3 Donald Boone who went off for a game high 32 points and pulled down 11 boards. He was the only Saluki to crack double figures.