Storm Headed to National Tournament

The SCC Storm overcame an up and down season and a long road trip to Dakota College at Bottineau, N.D., to win the District F Championship with a 72-69 decision over the lumberjacks. The win guarantees them a berth into the NJCAA DII National Tournament.

Expectations were high heading into this season. The team brought in sophomore transfers Josh Stroud and Rakeem Hicks, who were both highly regarded coming out of high school. But SCC struggled with chemistry, defense and poor shooting, while finishing the season 13-18.

The Storm advanced to the district final with a home win over Central Community College on Sunday, March 1. Following the win, the coaches reminded the players that all the preseason goals were still in place.

“One of our few goals we set this year was to make the tournament. The other is to win it and so far we are right where we need to be,” Assistant Coach Aaron Block explained. “The season wasn’t what we had planned, but we are still accomplishing the goals we set so far.”

Southeast hit arguably their low point in an 80-55 home loss to Hesston College on Jan. 24. After that, the Storm would go 6-3 the rest of the way, including an 84-81 OT win at Hesston.

“Plain and simple….our team started buying in (and) and believing in each other,” Block said about the turnaround.

SCC got off to a fast start in the district win over Dakota College, taking a 47-33 halftime lead.

“We did a great job sharing the ball and were fortunate to make some big shots early,” Block said.

The Storm finished with seven threes in the game. The lumberjacks made things interesting in the second half to take the game down to the wire.

Southeast was in control early in the second half with 51-36 lead with 15:00 minutes remaining. But Dakota College went on a 15-0 run to tie the game at 51 with 11 minutes to go.

“Bottineau’s pressure got us out of rhythm for a while,” Block explained.

Freshman Liam McCrae broke the run with a basket to make it 53-51.The two teams went back and forth and traded leads heading into final stretch of the game.

“Our kids did a great job of communicating to each other and keeping our composure,” Block said of weathering the furious Lumberjack rally.

The Storm took the lead for good at 68-66 after Synder Cenecharles scored on a nifty pass from Altez Davis from the high post.

Block said execution down the stretch was “critical” as SCC took the lead and made their free throws in the end to seal the win.

Cenecharles led the team with 13 points. Davis just missed a double/double with nine points and 11 rebounds.

The NJCAA tournament is March 16-21 in Danville, Ill. The pairings have yet to be determined.