March 8, 2007

The wakeup call came at halftime of the Region IX semi-finals against Northwest Wyoming. When Coach Eddie Trenkle told his team they had 20 minutes to get it together, the team rallied around the bold statement of the usually soft-spoken Ochigbo Ameh.

"Everybody put their hand in the middle of the huddle," Trenkle said. "I said `fellas you have 20 minutes left.' Then O.C., who never says a word, looked at the team and said `Regional Champs on three.' It kinda caught everybody off guard that he would even say anything."

Well the sophomore transfer from Redlands Junior College must have traveled to Scottsbluff with a crystal ball.

The Northeastern Junior College men's basketball team beat Casper on Wednesday on the campus of Western Nebraska Community College to win the Region IX Championship. The next stop is the NJCAA Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.; on Mar. 20-24.

"It was a huge relief to get the title because that's been our number one goal all year so we could have a chance to get to Hutch," Trenkle said. "Last night was the first night I slept in a long time. The kids really played loose. I thought that if we got to the championship game, they would find a way to `will' themselves a win."

After battling through an overtime thriller in the semi-finals, the Plainsmen took the bull by the horns in the championship game. NJC crushed Casper, 90-77, and the game was never in question.

"Any time you play in close games it makes you understand the sense of urgency and the things you need to do to win games," Trenkle said. "The guys decided to jump out and get it done from the start instead of playing in another overtime game."

Casper's Josh Davis led all scorers with 23 points. But NJC's depth prevailed. As was the case for 30 other games in 2006-2007, the Plainsmen's committee of scorers proved to be overpowering.

Rashad Austin, Omar Leary and Shane Edwards were named to the All-Tournament team. The three didn't disappoint in the championship game with the help of a few other horses.

Austin carried the load in the paint with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Austin found his way to the free-throw line all night and hit eight of the 11 free throws he attempted.

"Rashad carried us through the tournament," Trenkle said. "The only had him down for seven rebounds in the semi-final game, but if you watch the film, you see he should have been credited with the 10, team rebounds they gave us. So he actually had a 28-point, 17 rebound performance."

Trenkle said Leary another key to the title.

"Omar just hit big shot after big shot," Trenkle said. "He carried us in that Northwest Wyoming game and he kept it rolling in the championship."

Leary kept pace with Austin, scoring 14 points. Leary dished out six assists; one of which a beautiful bounce pass through his legs to a trailing LaTravis Turner to finish a fast break.

Turner was all over the court in the championship game. The sophomore from Portland, Oreg.; scored 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. He created problems in Casper's the passing lanes all night, grabbing four steals and taking two all the way to the rim for dunks. Turner also chipped in a couple assists to finalize his work in Region IX.

"He's been disappointed in the way he's played the last three games," Trenkle said of Turner. "He told me he was ready tonight, and he set the tone for us defensively and offensively. He provided that initial spark that got us going, and he was that guy that helped get us over the top last night."

Edwards, NJC's regular-season leading scorer, dropped in 11 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Edwards added an assist, a steal and a block to the NJC victory.

"Shane has contributed in a lot of ways this year. One of the ways is offensive rebounding," Trenkle said. "I can't say enough about him."

Freshman Mike Dominguez had 16 points. The three-point specialist drained 3-of-7 from downtown. The native of Espanola, N.M., added three rebounds and a steal.

Sixth-man Troy Smith chipped in nine points in 15 quality minutes for the Plainsmen.

The No. 4 Plainsmen sit at 31-1 heading into what appeared to be their destiny all season long...the national tournament. Now that the pressure of winning the winnable games is off its shoulders, Trenkle's team can set its sights on a national title.