Johnson County Community College
Press Release

College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Director, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122

11/27/2007
Story by Tyler Cundith

JCCC downs two West Jayhawk teams

OVERLAND PARK, KS -- This weekend, the Johnson County Community College men’s basketball will play in the Jayhawk Shootout, an annual basketball showcase featuring East Jayhawk schools against West Jayhawk schools.  The Cavaliers got a jump on that showcase by posting two impressive wins over West Jayhawk programs at the Hutchinson Thanksgiving Classic last weekend.

JCCC opened play with a 60-54 win over Cloud County, then capped the weekend with an 80-68 win over Hutchinson, the No. 14 ranked team in the NJCAA D-I preseason poll.  The victories improve JCCC’s season mark to 5-1 overall.

In the win over the Thunderbirds Friday afternoon, the Cavaliers had overcome a poor shooting effort in the first half that resulted in a 10-point deficit at halftime.  

“We held Cloud to just 25 points in the first half, but we couldn’t get the ball in the basket,”  said JCCC head coach Mike Jeffers.  “We came out strong in the second half and within the first four minutes we had the game tied.”

JCCC did come out strong, and outscored Cloud County 45-29 in the second half.  Freshman Nafis Ricks led JCCC with 12 points and seven rebounds.  Freshman Kyle Speed and sophomore Q Totta followed with 11 and 10 points respectively.  

In the win over Hutchinson, it was JCCC’s defense that keyed the victory.  The Cavaliers forced 26 Blue Dragon turnovers which converted to 36 points for JCCC.  

The Cavaliers led by six at halftime and every time Hutchinson would make a run in the second half, JCCC would make a steal and basket in transition.  One of the biggest came midway through the second half. Johnson County led 54-43 when Hutchinson scored six points in a just three seconds.  Antonio Weary hit a 3-pointer and then was fouled after the shot. On the inbounds pass, Blue Dragon guard Blake Bales drained another 3-pointer.  

Guard Bobby Maze scored in transition with 10:23 left, cutting JCCC’s lead to just three, but then Weary missed an alley-oop dunk on a pass by Maze, and the Cavaliers went back down the court and got a basketball from Nafis Ricks, who finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

“That’s a credit to our team - they responded when they had to,”  said Jeffers.  “When Hutch would make a run, we would come up with a steal and score on our end.”

Ricks’ basket started a 19-7 Cavaliers run, and Hutchinson never challenged again.  JCCC had balanced scoring with Q Totta leading the way with 18 points.  Ten Cavaliers hit a basket and five had at least eight points.  Joining Totta and Ricks in double figures was freshman David Yadrich, who finished with 10 points.  Sophomore Melvin Cole hit three 3-pointers to finish with nine points.  Sophomore Jonathan Jackson had six points and six assists, and freshman Kyle Speed finished with seven points and five steals.

The Cavaliers face a busy schedule this week.  They travel to Salina, Kan., Wednesday night for a region battle with Brown Mackie College, followed by games with Cloud County and Northeastern Oklahoma A&M at the Jayhawk Shootout in Coffeyville, Kan, over the weekend.