2001 NJCAA Division II National Champions
Johnson County earned its second trip to the national tournament in 2000-01, and when the tournament was complete, the Cavaliers were national champions.
Johnson County used the three-point shot as one of their key weapons throughout the tournament, particularly in the national title game. JCCC tied a school record sinking 15-of-30 three-pointers and blew the game open with a 29-to-8 run in the middle of the second half and cruised to a 91-76 win over Mott Community College of Flint, Mich., and their first national
championship crown. The Cavaliers went 4-0 in the tournament and finished the season with a school record 30 wins (30-6).
“This was our goal at the very beginning of the year,” said JCCC sophomore All-American Jimmy Hubbard. “This is what we’ve been working for , especially the sophomores for the past two years.”
Freshman guard Brandon Sims, who was named the tournament’s MVP, hit four three-pointers and led the team with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Sims averaged 20.8 over the four tournament games. Hubbard, who was an all-
tournament selection, also hit four three-pointers and finished with 21 points. Freshman point guard Chris Lollar, who was awarded the A. Fred Pohlman Sportsmanship Award, had 11 points and seven assists. Sophomore forward Joel Yeldell hit three from downtown and finished with 16 points, and sophomore center Mark DeBaun poured in 13 points and nine rebounds.
However, Mott’s run to the NJCAA D-II championship game went through three of the top five teams in the country. Johnson County, ranked No. 4 in the final NJCAA poll, made sure it wasn’t the fourth.
Mott (33-4) had other ideas early in the game, starting the game on a tear. Mott scored on 12 of its first 15 possessions and had an early 32-19 lead on Johnson County. But the Cavaliers remained undaunted.
The turning point wasn’t an offensive burst, but a change in the team’s defensive scheme.
“We changed our defense when we were down 13 points,” said head coach Mike Jeffers. “We switched from a man defense to a match up zone, and got back in the game.”
The defensive switch confused Mott and JCCC held the Bears scoreless the final six minutes, three seconds of the first half. The Cavaliers scored the final 14 points and followed with the first five of the second half, building a 51-40 lead.
While Johnson County was the most accurate three-point shooting team in the tournament, hitting 44.9 percent of its attempts, Mott did come back with some perimeter marksmanship of its own. The Bears hit four during a 16-5 run that produced a 56-56 tie with 13:43 remaining.
“We were hoping to get them to play our style (run-and-gun), but they did a better job of executing their game plan than we did,” said Mott head coach Steve Schmidt.
Johnson County then blitzed the Bears with a
21-4 run, capped by its record-tying 15th trey with 7:36 remaining. The Cavaliers then slowed the game down. Johnson County remained patient on the offensive end by working the ball inside and around the perimeter before finding the open shot.
JCCC head coach Mike Jeffers said his basketball team is the best he’s ever coached.
“This has been tremendous,” Jeffers said. “This is the greatest bunch of kids I’ve ever coached.”
The Cavaliers began the run for the title on Wednesday night by escaping with a 91-89 victory over a very quick Community College of Rhode Island squad. Hubbard secured the victory when he swatted away a three-point attempt at the buzzer. The victory was JCCC’s first in a national tournament. Johnson County lost both games it played in the 1976 national tournament.
The Cavaliers led by 12 points at halftime and built a 20-point lead early in the second half before Rhode Island battled back. Cavalier turnovers also helped in Rhode Island’s comeback, but JCCC won the battle on the boards, 62-35.
Hubbard led JCCC with 20 points, followed by Sims with 19 and DeBaun with 16. Hubbard also topped 1,000 points for his career in the victory, becoming the seventh player in JCCC history to score more than 1,000 points in a career.
In the quarterfinal round, Sims scored 21 points to lead JCCC to a 65-45 victory over Kirkwood (Iowa). Sims hit 8-of-12 shots and nailed two three-pointers. DeBaun added 10 points. Kirkwood fell prey to the first-round bye curse as one of three team to lose in its first tournament game.
The Cavaliers used an early 9-0 run to take the lead and then an 11-0 run late in the game put them ahead to stay.
“I thought we played a lot smarter and we stayed within our game plan,” Jeffers said. “You get to this point and its all about execution. Both teams are going to play hard.”
The semifinals presented a hostile environment for the Cavaliers, as they faced host Danville Area Community College. Because of the home-court advantage, many people picked Danville Area to win this year’s championship, but Johnson County had other plans.
The Cavaliers led 15-5 after a 10-0 run left Danville fans staring in disbelief. But the Cavaliers lead was short-lived as the Jaguars hit the next 11 points to claim the lead.
Johnson County had full control the rest of the way and handed the hosts a 65-57 loss. Sims again led the Cavaliers with 21 points and 11 rebounds. DeBaun added 12 points and Hubbard scored 11 points with four assists.
“They kind of played this up like Rocky and the Russians,” said Jeffers. “Rocky didn’t get back up this time.”
Danville struggled offensively and their strength this season has come from the free throw line shooting around 70 percent. But on this night, the Jags only went to the line three times – and only made one – eliminating their biggest strength. On the other hand, Johnson County went to the line 28 times.
“They (Johnson County) did a great job of not letting us get to the basket,” said Danville Area head coach John Spezia. “They’re also the best passing team I’ve played against in 10 years. That’s one of the key reasons they got us,”
Johnson County built leads as large as 13 points during a time it switched to a zone defense.
“Their players competed, but the zone hurt them and that’s where we extended the lead,” said Jeffers.
2009 NJCAA Division II National Champions
The Johnson County Community College men’s basketball team are champions of NJCAA Division II basketball – again! The Cavaliers, led by head coach Mike Jeffers, captured their second NJCAA Division II National Championship by defeating Kirkwood Community College, 63-49, at Mary Miller Gymnasium in Danville, Ill. JCCC also won the 2001 national title.
Five months ago, Jeffers gave his 2001 National Championship watch to his mother to be placed on his father who had passed away. His mother asked him if that is what he really wanted.
“I told her that dad and my brother would be watching, and I just had the faith it would happen again sometime. I just didn’t think it would happen five months later,” an emotional Jeffers said. “I am so proud of these guys. These guys learned to come together and learned to trust each other. I told our guys before the game that the hard part is over. Getting here is the hard part, now this is the fun part.”
Defense was the key to the Cavaliers championship run. JCCC held their opponents to an average of 55.7 points and a shooting percentage of .378.
“Coach (Jeffers) knew we had the offensive firepower, but he told us it would be our defense that would win a championship,” said JCCC sophomore Nafis Ricks, the tournament’s MVP. “We’ve worked really hard and came together as a team.”
Ricks led the Cavaliers with 21 points in the final against Kirkwood, and finished the tournament average 16.3 points. Also in double figures were freshman forward Kenny Moore with 13 points and freshman guard Jared Henry with 11. Both players joined Ricks on the all-tournament team.
Moore averaged 14 points and let JCCC with nine steals all while playing with an injured shooting hand. In the opening round against Monroe, Moore had his leg cut from under him and he landed hard on his right wrist. He went to the line, shot an air ball, then missed the second shooting with his left hand.
“I thought it was broken,” Moore said. “But I got it taped and sucked it up. Nothing was going to stop me. I had never won a championship before I came to JCCC. This is the best move in my life coming to JCCC.”
Henry averaged 12 points, and hit 5-of-11 3-pointers, many coming at critical times in the game. The freshman from St. Thomas Aquinas really elevated his play as the season progressed, and emerged a key go-to player down the stretch.
“It’s all about the confidence to take those shots,” Henry said. “I had the confidence at the end of the season, but I didn’t’ when the season began.”
The Cavaliers used an assortment of defenses, which shut down Kirkwood. JCCC played a 2-3 zone most of the time, but switched to a 1-3-1 early in the second half. The Eagles scored just three points in the first seven minutes, 48 seconds of the second half as the Cavaliers opened a 34-26 lead. JCCC secured the national title by going on a 12-2 run at the four-minute mark opening up a double-digit lead. A minute later, sophomore Rory Spencer had a monster dunk in transition that was an exclamation point to the Cavaliers building a 16-point advantage.
The Cavaliers reached the championship game by downing a physical Phoenix College squad Friday night, 72-56. Defense was the key element for JCCC, as the Cavaliers held the Bears scoreless for seven minutes, 50 seconds in the second half, while going on a 13-0 run that extended their lead to 21 points. Johnson County frustrated Phoenix into 20 turnovers converting them to 22 points.
Sophomore forward Blake Baird recorded his best game as a collegiate player, scoring a game-high 22 points lead the Cavaliers. Baird hit 9-of-12 shots from the field, and was a perfect 4-of-4 at the line. Ricks followed with 12 points, and Moore chipped in 10 points.
Sophomore Fred Patton had a solid second half, scoring all eight of his points. Henry finished with seven points, freshman Darren Givhan added six and Spencer with five.
Johnson County opened the tournament with a 75-62 win over Monroe Community College. The Cavaliers got Johnson County had a screaming start to the game, jumping out to a 5-0 lead within the first minute, and extended their lead to 9-0 in the second minute of the game. The Cavaliers eventually built their lead to 24-8 with 10 minutes left in the half. Monroe did find its shooting touch, and closed the gap to eight points by halftime, 41-33.
JCCC came out of the break and picked up right where the left off, going on a 6-0 run. However, Monroe was able to keep the Cavaliers lead from getting out of hand, and after several key defensive stops and JCCC turnovers, Monroe were able to cut JCCC’s lead to just two points with 10 minutes remaining.
The Cavaliers were able to regain their composure, hit some key buckets and sealed the victory by going a perfect 8-for-8 at the line the final two minutes.
Moore led JCCC with a game high 19 points. He hit 6-of-10 shots, including a 3-pointer, and was 6-of-10 at the line. He also had three assists, two blocks and four steals.
Ricks and Henry followed with 17 points each. Both players hit 6-of-7 shots from the field. Ricks also was 5-of-6 at the line. Henry hit both his 3-point attempts and was 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.
Other key efforts were turned in by Baird and Spencer. Baird nearly had a double-double, finishing with 10 points and eight boards. Spencer also nearly posted a double-double, finishing with nine points and game high 10 rebounds. As a team, the Cavaliers shot 60 percent from the field.
Jeffers now stands 7-0 in national tournament as the Cavaliers head coach. He was named the National Coach of the Year following his team’s run through the tournament.