The North Central Missouri College men, for the first time this basketball season, played a game on Tuesday night as a nationally-ranked team, as the #16 (NJCAA D-2) team in the country hosted the John Wood (Quincy, IL) Trail Blazers.
Perhaps its a lesson learned about “getting your opponents best shot”, or maybe it was a team looking forward to a brief break for Thanksgiving, but the Pirates came out of the gates ice cold, with the ‘Blazers leaping out to a 22-6 lead just five minutes into the contest. North Central needed a spark.
Providing the needed energy was freshman forward Atavian Butler, as the St. Louis native began driving with aggressiveness each time he touched the ball, and as Butler began to score points, and draw fouls, the energy level of the Pirates, and inside the Ketcham Community Center, changed with it.Â
North Central rallied to even John Wood, and although the Trail Blazers entered the locker room with a 47-43 lead, the Pirates appeared to be in a good place 20 minutes into the game. Â
In the second half, JWCC extended the lead to six, before a dominant surge by 9-1 North Central sent the Pirates to a 16 point night, with Butler joined by freshman forward Quinan Rieves in switching the momentum to the home team.
One more run of came in the final five minutes of regulation, as John Wood rallied to the cusp of a stunning road win, only to have a Pirate team earn a key defensive stop with six seconds remaining, with two Butler free throws icing an 85-83 win, sending the Pirates to 10-1, with a road trip to Southwestern Community College (Creston, Iowa) coming up on Saturday afternoon.
Of Butler’s career-high 32 points for NCMC, 22 of those came on two-point field goals, with the freshman going 10 of 11 from the charity line.  Rieves had 15 points for North Central (12 in the second half), with T.J. Babikir adding 13.
John Wood, now 2-8 on the campaign, had 21 points from Aaron Shoot, 17 from Kahoka native Chandler Bevans, and 11 points from Ragar McKinney. Â
In Tuesday night’s opener, the NCMC Lady Pirates improved to 8-3 with a 72-66 win over John Wood, despite a poor fourth quarter that saw North Central outscored by a score of 23-9, making for some anxious moments in the final minutes of regulation. Freshman guard Lily Osborn paced NCMc with 20 points, with Kortlyn Rounkles scoring 16, and Da’Briauna Bables 13.
Head Coach Jenni Croy said she hopes the poor finish goes into a “lesson learned” category for her team:
Tuesday night marked the return to Trenton of John Wood freshman shooting guard Mykah Hurley, who as a four-year letterman for Trenton High School, helped lead the Lady Bulldog program to unprecedented heights, including two Show-Me Showdown appearances (2017 and 2019), and three Grand River Conference championships. Hurley started for the Lady ‘Blazers and had two points on a first-quarter jump shot.
Lena Herrmann had 12 points, Emily Fuller 11, with Sidney Miller and Katie Conry scoring 10 each for JWCC, now 1-8 on the young season.
Tuesday night’s games were broadcast on Hot Country Z 101.7. The Lady Pirates will host the Missouri Valley JV on Tuesday night at 6 o’clock in their next contest.
