Brown Mackie Men Advance,
Opposing Coach: Flax's Lions capable of winning it all
By BobDavidson, Salina Journal
March 3, 2010
Veteran Johnson County coach Mike Jeffers knows a thing or two about winning junior college national championships. After all, he led the Cavaliers to the NJCAA Division II title last March — his second at the school.
So it’s not fluff and puff when Jeffers says he thinks Brown Mackie could make some big noise later this month.
“I really think they’ve got a chance,” Jeffers said Tuesday night following the Lions’ 65-59 victory over Johnson County in the Division II Region 6 tournament championship at Banes Gymnasium. “If they take care of business Saturday (in the District 2 playoff game), they’ve got a chance to bring (the title) home.”
Brown Mackie (18-12) plays Clarendon, Texas for the district crown at 3 p.m. Saturday at Banes Gym, the winner gaining a berth in the NJCAA II tournament March 16-20 in Danville, Ill. The Lions have won two national titles under coach Francis Flax — 1999 and 2005.
Defense paved the way for Brown Mackie on Tuesday, as it has most of the season. Johnson County shot just 35.3 percent and had 18 turnovers — 11 during the pivotal first half.
“Their defense was the difference,” Jeffers said. “I told our guys after the game we battled, we played hard, we got beat by a better team.”
Flax had no qualms with his team’s defensive effort, either.
“We really got in them on defense,” he said. “We had them most of the time 30 feet from the basket trying to penetrate. We kept throwing guys at them.
“I’m just happy with the intensity we played with, especially on the perimeter. We defended the heck out of them.”
A 16-5 Brown Mackie run in the first half gave the Lions a 28-16 lead, and they were ahead 30-20 at intermission.
Johnson County made it interesting with a 9- 2 rally that got the Cavaliers within five (52-49) with 6:14 left.
Brown Mackie answered with an 8-2 spurt, Lewis scoring four, and led 62-51 with 3 minutes left. Johnson County got within six (62-56) with 1:24 remaining, but three Lion free throws clinched it.
Robbie Lewis led Brown Mackie with 17 points on 8 of 11 shooting and also had nine rebounds. Brian Word, David Sanders and Joe Penn chipped in 10 points apiece. Word, the team’s leading scorer at 17.8 points per game, was 5 of 14 from the field.
Brown Mackie shot 40.4 percent (23 of 57).
“I told the guys I thought we were a little tight offensively,” Flax said. “We acted like we were pressing everything on offense, and that starts with Word. He can’t do what he did tonight. He’s got to let this game come to him.”
Ronnie Boggs led Johnson County (15-17) with 19 points while David Luster had 18.
The Lions’ reserves outscored Johnson County’s backups 19-0 as Jeffers used just two substitutes the entire game.