PORT HURON, Mich. – The Johnson County Community College women's basketball team's trip to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament has come to an end. The Lady Cavaliers lost 69-55 to Morton College Friday afternoon in the consolation bracket, eliminating them from the tournament.
Johnson County finished 1-2 record in the tournament and close out the season with an overall record of 33-3.
For the second straight game the Lady Cavaliers struggled behind the arc. In their quarterfinal loss to Harcum a day earlier, JCCC was 0-12 from 3-point range. In Friday's loss, they weren't much better, making only 1-of-10 attempts, while Morton drained 11 long-range bombs.
Sophomore forward LaJahda Boyland recorded her best scoring performance of her career, finishing with 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting, with two free throws. Her 24-point effort ties the seventh-best game by a Lady Cavalier in national tournament play, and her 11 field goals tie the second most made in a tournament game. Boyland was the only JCCC player to post double figures. She also grabbed seven rebounds.
Sophomore guard Mackenzie Hart followed with nine points, six rebounds and five assists, and sophomore guard Lisa Thomas hauled down a game-high nine boards to go along with six points.
Other key efforts were posted by freshman forward Grace Lynch (7 points, 4 rebounds), sophomore guard Nariyah Simmons (5 points, 8 rebounds) and freshman guard Jazzy Klinge (2 points, 7 rebounds).
Morton had four players score in double figures, led by Kaylen Evans with 19, Mia Simpson posed a double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds.
For the tournament, Boyland was the top scorer and tied with Thomas as the top rebounder. She tallied 44 points and 25 rebounds over the three games for averages of 14.7 and 8.5. Thomas matched those rebound totals and was the team's second leading scorer averaging 10.3 per game.
Hart averged 8.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists in the tournament. Her 18 total assists tied the fourth most recorded in team history, and her nine-assist effort in the tournament opening win over Delta rank as the third most ever recorded.
Lynch scored in double figures in two of the three games and posted a scoring average of 9.7 points. She also shot 67 percent from the field with ties the second-best shooting percentage in JCCC tournament history.
Sophomore guard Aryannah Harrison also posted double digits twice and closed out the tournament averaging 8.0 points per game. She also connected on an impressive 53 percent of her shot attempts.
Freshman guard Saige Grampsas was 6-for-7 from 3-point range, all in the opening win. Her six treys in a game tie for second all-time, and her .857 shooting percentage is third best in tournament play.