Hutchinson wins NJCAA championship
Hutchinson’s sophomores weren’t about to allow a repeat after a runner-up finish in the 2016 NJCAA championship game.
Fourth-seeded Hutchinson (35-2) never trailed, built a double-figure lead by halftime and went on to an 84-58 victory Saturday night over No. 6 Eastern Florida State for the Blue Dragons’ first NJCAA title since 1994.
“We got off to a good start,” coach Steve Eck said. “Instead of hyped, they were very intense. They were very, very focused. There’s a difference between being hyped and being focused. Coming so close last year really motivated my sophomores to let our freshmen know what it’s all about.
“This is a materialistic blessing. My goal is to go to heaven, but while I’m on this earth, this sure feels good.”
Eck said he was relaxed.
“I didn’t worry about anything this week,” he said.
Sophomore Shakur Juiston, the tournament’s most valuable player, recorded double-doubles in all four rounds. He scored 18 points – many on lay-ins – and grabbed 13 rebounds against the Titans (31-6).
“I just play hard,” he said. “I’m not the most talented person in this tournament, but I just played very hard.”
Juiston said he couldn’t think of a better way to close his Hutchinson career.
“This is the end of the paragraph,” he said. “The whole story, this is the period.”
Juiston provided quite a few exclamation points with his play the past four days.
He had 29 points and 12 rebounds in the opener against St. Petersburg, 23 and 16 against Odessa and 18 and 15 against Northwest Florida State.
Juiston said the 74-64 loss to Salt Lake Community College stoked a fire in his belly.
“After the buzzer went off last year,” he said, “I just told myself that I’m never going through this again – never.”
Hutch had the right blend of talent this year, he said.
“Salt Lake was a better team last year,” Juiston said. “This year, we just had a whole bunch of people that just fit in, played their role and just worked. It’s just a blessing to even be here.”
Juiston said providing leadership was one of his roles.
“I just told them that every step of the way, any bad play, any bad possession, I was still going to encourage my team,” he said. “Any good shots, I would encourage them, too.
“I just had to take on that role to win and to be a champion.”
Freshman Devonte Bandoo scored a game-high 22 points and said the sophomores provided incentive based on last year’s title-game loss.
“This is a great feeling right now,” Bandoo said. “I really wanted to just play for the sophomores, because they’ve been here, and I didn’t want to go through what they went through.
“Shakur gave me this great speech how he wants to win (the NJCAA title), and that really motivated me to play extra hard for him and the sophomores. Shakur plays with so much heart (and) he encouraged me. Shakur, Samaje (Haynes-Jones), they have a lot of heart. They really got me going.”
Bandoo, who had 12 of his total in the first half including two three-pointers, finished hitting 10 of 17 shots. Among those was a breakaway dunk that pushed the Blue Dragons’ lead to 60-41 at the seven-minute mark of the second half.
He said he’s looking to repeat the celebration next year.
“We’re trying to go back to back,” he said.
The Blue Dragons will return some talented freshmen, including 6-6 Kai Mitchell, 6-8 Sal Nuhu and 6-6 J.J. Rhymes, who scored 11 points against Eastern Florida after leading the team with 20 in the victory over Northwest Florida State.
“They’re ready,” Juiston said. “Trust me, they’re ready.”
Rhymes, an all-tournament team selection along with Haynes-Jones, said the challenge to repeat has been issued.
“We’re going to come in this summer, work real hard, and do what we need to get us back here again next year,” he said. “Shakur is a good mentor. He keeps me level-headed when I get frustrated. I’m glad to help him win this championship.”
EASTERN FLORIDA STATE: Brewton 3-13 0-1 6, Abaev 1-2 1-2 3, Carter 5-9 4-4 14, Awad 1-10 0-0 2, Ali 4-13 0-0 12, Nuga 4-14 2-2 12, Farrakhan 1-6 0-0 2, Duran 1-3 0-1 2, Horchler 2-4 1-1 5, Nwosu 0-1 0-0 0, Solomon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-75 8-11 58.
HUTCHINSON: Juiston 7-13 4-5 18, Conley 3-5 0-0 7, Haynes-Jones 1-7 2-2 4, Rhymes 4-10 3-4 11, Scekic 2-4 0-0 4, Bandoo 10-17 0-0 22, Cotton 0-0 0-0 0, Hines 0-1 0-0 0, Nuhu 3-5 2-2 8, Mitchell 2-5 0-3 4, Webster 1-1 0-0 3, Patrick 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 34-69 11-16 84.
Halftime: Hutchinson 39, Eastern Florida State 16. Three-point shooting: Eastern Florida State 6-22 (Ali 4-8, Nuga 2-5, Abaev 0-1, Farrakhan 0-1, Horchler 0-1), Hutchinson 5-16 (Bandoo 2-7, Webster 1-1, Patrick 1-1, Conley 1-2, Rhymes 0-1, Haynes-Jones 0-4). Rebounds: Eastern Florida State 49 (Abaev 11), Hutchinson 45 (Juiston 13). Assists: Eastern Florida State 9 (Farrakhan 3), Hutchinson 29 (Juiston 7). Fouls: Eastern Florida State 15, Hutchinson 16. Fouled out: None.
This story was originally published March 25, 2017 at 11:12 PM with the headline "Hutchinson wins NJCAA championship."