Warrior men go out on top - claim victory in final Frontier - Mar 11, 2020
Junior Travis Yenor (6'7''-F) said it best when he said, "We had to grind like this to shine like that." And grind they did. In front of a rowdy crowd in the LCSC Activity Center on Monday night, the No. 7 Lewis-Clark State Men's Basketball team became Frontier Conference Champions for the last time, defeating No. 17 Carroll College for the second-straight year. The Warriors dominated the court, making big defensive stops and shooting the lights out to earn a 75-54 victory on their home court. "This means a lot," junior Damek Mitchell (5'9''-PG-98) said. "It's our last year. We have the toughest road trips; we wear our hard hats and we go get it done every week. I think we're the toughest team in the Frontier - by far." When the going gets tough, the tough win Frontier Conference Championships. After the best regular season in program history (27-3), the Warriors claimed one final victory in the Frontier Conference. "It's a great feeling," Mitchell added, "but we're not done yet. Every Warrior got in the game, and every Warrior made an impact. Josiah Westbrook (6'2''-G) led the offense with 19 points including five 3-pointers. LC State shot over 56 percent from the field in the win. "Our guys were dialed in," coach Austin Johnson said after winning his second conference title in as many seasons. "It feels awesome to be the coach of those guys. Those individuals are what has made this team and this program special. It feels awesome. "I didn't know how talented or athletic we would be, or all those intangibles," Johnson added, "but the most important intangible is toughness, and that's what this team has. They've shown that the whole year." Westbrook got the night started with a 3 out of the gate. He scored five-straight points as LC held the Fighting Saints off the board for the first four minutes. Another bucket from Westbrook was followed by a 3-pointer by Mitchell to make it 10-4 at 14:22. Yenor put up five-straight LC State points to kick the lead out to 10, 24-14, with 6:43 to play in the half. As the clock ran down under three minutes, Mitchell sparked a 9-0 run that featured buckets from Bob Boyd (6'1''-G) and Jake Albright (6'6''-F) to close out the half with the Warriors up 37-25. Westbrook opened the second half the same way he did the first, by draining a 3. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Westbrook and Yenor pushed the advantage to 50-35 at 14:02, and Yenor and Albright combined for eight in a row to make it 58-39 midway through. A basket by Hodges Bailey (6'2''-G) gave LC its largest lead of the night with a 26-point margin (72-46) with 3:28 to play. A triple by Jaxon Hughes (5'10''-PG) closed the game with the Warriors in front 75-54. Westbrook led LC with 19 points, including five 3-pointers. Yenor scored 15 points, Albright had 13 and Mitchell added 12. Trystan Bradley grabbed nine boards and Mitchell had eight rebound to go with eight assists. The Warriors shot 56.3 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3. They were 10-for-11 from the free throw line. They outrebounded Carroll 34-21 and had 19 assists compared to Carroll's eight. LC State held down Carroll's top offensive threats, limiting Shamrock Campbell and Dane Warp to 12 points each. Warp grabbed eight boards. "Hodges was awesome," Johnson explained about the junior's ability to contain Warp. "We made no adjustments. I told people our adjustments were we were going to play better. Hodges Bailey was an animal. That was as impressive a championship defensive effort as I've seen. "In terms of how we played, you couldn't ask for a better final game going into the national tournament." The Warriors earned the Frontier Conference's automatic bid into the NAIA DI Men's Basketball National Championships in Kansas City later this month. LC State will see what the bracket looks like and who it will face first on Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT via the NAIA's Facebook page.
Courtesy of frontierconference.com Frontier Conference Tournament Final: Lewis-Clark St. - Carroll College 75-54 Frontier Conference Tournament Semifinals: Lewis-Clark St. - MSU-Northern 73-68 Carroll College - Providence 69-65
All-Frontier Conference Awards 2020 - Mar 11, 2020
All-Frontier Conference 1st Team 2020
Warp
Mitchell
Huse
Diallo
England
Player of the Year: Zaccheus Darko-Kelly (6'6''-G) of Providence, MT Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Taylor England (6'7''-F/C) of Montana Tech Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Damek Mitchell (5'9''-PG-98) of Lewis-Clark St. Freshman of the Year: Dennis Flowers (6'2''-G) of Carroll, MT Newcomer of the Year: Sindou Diallo (6'3''-G) of Montana Tech Sixth Man of the Year: Jake Albright (6'6''-F) of Lewis-Clark St. Coach of the Year: Austin Johnson of Lewis-Clark St.
Johnson
