Johnson County Claims Third DII National Title

Joplin, MO - No. 4 Johnson County (KS) defeats No. 6 Pima (AZ) 75-67 to win its third NJCAA DII national championship in program history, with its last coming in 2015.
Cavaliers’ Layla Scott (5'6''-G) was named the Most Valuable Player. Scott had 25 points in the championship game to go along with 4 rebounds and a steal. Layla finished this years tournament with 16.8 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, and 7 total steals.

Tale of the Title
The Championship game featured the number four and number six ranked teams, with both teams upsetting the top-two seeds in the semifinals of the tournament.
Pima came out scoring the first points of the game to take the lead, and both teams traded points the entire 1st quarter, with the Aztecs holding a 20-19 lead.
The second quarter was much of the same with neither team able to take much of a lead. Johnson County went into the locker room at half with a 36-33 lead.
The 3rd quarter had the same theme as the second with both teams trading baskets and neither able to take a large lead. The Cavaliers were able to enter the 4th quarter with a 55-53 advantage.
Johnson County was able to take their largest lead of the game at the 6:03 mark of the 4th quarter with a nine point advantage.
The Aztecs were able to reduce Johnson County’s lead by four with 2:11 left in the game but the Cavaliers were able to make clutch shots to hang on to a 75-67 victory.
Johnson County wins its second championship in program history and first since 2015.

Cavs win 2nd championship
The Cavaliers where able to claim a national championship after finishing as runner-ups in last year’s tournament.
The Cavaliers finish the season with a 34-1 record.
The Aztecs entered the national tournament as the No. 6 seed and a 26-5 record. The path for Pima’s national championship game appearance was a tough one.

Pima’s incredible runner-up finish
The Aztecs’ opening game was against No. 11 North Central Missouri who they defeated 74-65 to set up a match against the No. 3 seed Lincoln Land. Pima came out against the Loggers and played well for a 82-56 victory. The next match-up for the Aztecs was No. 2 CCBC Essex, which as an instant classic that finished with a 115-112 overtime victory.

Tournament Records Broken
This year’s tournament saw multiple tournament records broken:
Pima and CCBC Essex 227 combined points set a new combined score record.
CCBC Essex’s Gigi Gamble broke three tournament records:
Most 3 pointers made in a game (10 vs. Pima)
Most 2 point baskets made in a 3 games (39)
Most points in a tournament (117)
CCBC Essex’s Paige Smith (6'0''-G/F-1991) broke two tournament records:
Most 3 pointers made in 3 games (17)
Most 3 pointers made in 4 games (22)

Johnson County’s Layla Scott was named MVP of the Tournament. Fellow Cavaliers Yar Manyiel (6'0''-F) and Aa'Mya Stacker (6'0''-C) were named to the All-Tournament Team while Head Coach Ben Conard was named the Lorene M. Ramsey Coach of the Tournament.
9 teams were featured on the All-Tournament Team. Mesa Community College received the B.J. Graber Team Sportsmanship Award.

Tournament Awards
Rori Hoffmeyer of Pima (AZ)
Yar Manyiel of Johnson County (KS)
Kiley Sours-Miller (6'4''-C) of Pima (AZ)
Aa'Mya Stacker of Johnson County (KS)
Gigi Gamble of CCBC Essex (MD)
Jenna Twedt (5'8''-G) of Kirkwood (IA)
Paige Smith of CCBC Essex (MD)
Savannah Orgeron of Illinois Central
Chloe Watson of Mid Michigan
Megan Harrell (F) of Lincoln Land (IL
Charleece Davis (5'3''-G) of Lake Land (IL)
Destiny Bynum-Johnson (G) of Union County (NJ)

Courtesy of njcaa.org