(Youngwood, PA) Kevaughn Price scored 28 points and 6-foot-9 Jason Baker all 21 of his in the second half Sunday when the No. 11-ranked Butler County Community College men’s basketball team won its first regional championship in 21 years with a 99-88 victory over No. 7 Prince George’s Community College.
Derrick Anderson added 24 points for the Pioneers (20-3), whose ranking Monday moved to No. 7. As the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Region 20 champion, BC3 earned a berth in the Mid-Atlantic District tournament Saturday in Pinehurst, N.C.
“We’re playing at a very high level,” Anderson said.
“This team is playing phenomenal,” Baker said.
“Strong, and with a lot of heart,” Price said.
BC3 is expected to face No. 1-ranked Sandhills Community College in the Mid-Atlantic District tournament. Sandhills, the Region 10 champion, is 27-3 and has won 15 in a row. The winner advances to the NJCAA Division III national championship tournament March 15-18 in Herkimer, N.Y.
“Our goal is chasing better. ... Right now, they are playing at a really high level together. They are competing together. They are battling together. But they still have room to keep getting better. This isn’t a finished product.”
The Pioneers overcame a 10-point first-half deficit against Prince George’s, Largo, Md., to win their 10th consecutive game.
“Our goal is chasing better,” first-year BC3 coach Joe Lewandowski said. “We’re trying to get better. Right now, they are playing at a really high level together. They are competing together. They are battling together. But they still have room to keep getting better. This isn’t a finished product.”
BC3 this season has been ranked among 97 Division III men’s programs for the first time in at least 10 years.
Anderson was selected Sunday as the Region 20 tournament’s most valuable player. Price and BC3’s Todd Simons were named to the all-Region 20 tournament team.
Baker, the Pioneers’ tallest player, blocked six shots Sunday.
“He impacts the game in so many ways,” Lewandowski said. “You see the scoring. All the blocked shots. The rebounds. The intimidation factor of driving to the lane and worrying about him. And now, when he’s coming through and scoring 21 points in the second half, that’s just icing on the cake.”
“In the second half, he came alive”
Anderson had 12 rebounds, Price nine and Baker seven.
“(Baker) knew we were really going to need him,” Price said. “He didn’t score in the first half, but he was doing his part playing defense. In the second half, he came alive.”
BC3 led by as many as 18 points in the second half following a 43-43 halftime tie.
Baker was 0 of 7 from the field in the first half, and 7 of 11 in the second.
“First half, nothing was falling,” Baker said. “The game was still close. We went into the locker room and I was telling the guys, ‘The shots are going to fall.’”
Baker leads Division III with 119 blocked shots, and Anderson and Price are tied for fifth with 21.8 points per game.
The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for Prince George’s, which ends its season at 24-4 and was ranked No. 10 Monday.
Prince George’s reached the Region 20 championship game with a 106-77 victory against Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold, Md., in a semifinal Saturday.
The Pioneers reached the championship game with a 106-105 victory against Pennsylvania Highlands in a double-overtime semifinal Saturday.
Anderson against Pennsylvania Highlands scored 37 points, including a layup with six seconds left to lift BC3 to the Region 20 championship game.
Price against Pennsylvania Highlands had 22 points, Baker 19 and Simons 18. Simons scored 16 against Prince George’s.
The Region 20 championship follows those won by the college’s softball, golf and volleyball squads since May 2022.
Members of BC3’s 2023 NJCAA Division III Region 20 championship team are Anderson, guard, a Boardman, Ohio, High graduate; Baker, forward, Legacy Early College, Greenville, S.C.; Spencer Langas, guard-forward, Slippery Rock; Troy Loughry, guard-forward, Grove City; Price, guard-forward, Bishop Canevin; Austin Rodgers, forward, Butler; Cole Rodgers, forward, Knoch; Simons, guard-forward, Austintown Fitch, Ohio; and Anthony Watson, guard, Bethel Park. Christian Harbaugh is the assistant coach.
BC3’s women’s basketball team fell to Prince George’s 60-58 in the Region 20 championship game Sunday. Emma Johns scored 22 points for the Pioneers, who finished their season at 19-6 and with their best record since at least 2009 under first-year coach Lydia Roth. All-American Aslyn Pry had 13 points and Emma Monteleone 10 for BC3. Pry led the Pioneers with 14 rebounds.
The Pioneers reached the Region 20 championship game with a 70-43 victory Saturday against Anne Arundel in the semifinals. Johns scored 22 points, Hailey Metzger 12, Pry 11 and Monteleone 10.
Pry and Johns were selected to the all-Region 20 tournament team.
