Cougars Go Down Swinging In Championship

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Contact: Paul Ofria, Assistant AD/SID
pofria@manchestercc.edu
860-512-3354 (office)
Cougars Go Down Swinging In Championship
Roxbury Took Control Late In First Half; Held MCC’s Late Surge

BOSTON – The drama had been building for the better part of 12 months.

Manchester CC vs. Roxbury CC was junior college basketball’s Red Sox vs. Yankees; Jets vs. Patriots; Celtics vs. Lakers.

A year ago, Manchester took the championship game in a quasi-rout on a neutral court in Brockton, MA. This year it was Roxbury’s turn to shine, in their own gym, with their family and friends cheering them on.

Sophomores Jessika Holmes (Hyde Prep/Fairfield, CT) and Tommia Davis (Gloucester, MA) scored 17 points apiece as RCC beat MCC in the 2010-11 NJCAA Region 21, Division III Championship game 64-53 Sunday afternoon at the Reggie Lewis Center. Ericka Sagay (Bloomfield, CT) matched Holmes and Davis with 17 points while pulling down nine rebounds in her final junior college game.

“First of all, credit goes to Manchester,” Roxbury head coach Mark Leszczyk said as his team gathered around the basket to cut down the net. “I have to admit it felt good beating them after losing to them last year. I know this is Robert (Turner Jr.) and Peter’s (Harris) last go around and I want to say what a great job they have done over the past few years.”

Sequetta “Butta” Samuels (Charlestown HS/Boston) had 12 points for Roxbury while Jazlynn Canino checked in with 11 points and seven rebounds for Manchester.
Turner and Harris have stepped down in a mutual agreement with the school to concentrate on their full time jobs at the college. Turner was head coach for six seasons and posted a 99-37 career record, including two three seasons with 20-plus victories and an 84-12 record over the past four. Harris revived the program in 1999, took the team to the national tournament in 2002 and returned to assist Turner the past four seasons after resigning in 2005 as head coach.

The lead changed hands four times in the first half and the Cougars held a four point advantage after the first 14 minutes. The next five minutes would essentially determine the outcome of the game. Elise Chase (Vernon, CT) missed a foul shot with 5:10 remaining in the half that would have tied the game at 21-all. Samuels countered with a bombing three-pointer that sparked the Tigers to a 15-4 run, giving the hosts an 11 point lead at the half.

“The game went kind of as expected,” Leszczyk said. “We went a little bigger with our lineup – we went with Tommia Davis at point most of the game and she’s not really a point a point-guard, but we were trying to get a little bigger on the court. And we went with our big girl Tyler (Kimball) guarding Shorty (Shenielle Duncan-Clarke), which I thought slowed her down a little bit. Shorty took control more in the second half.”

Manchester, who finished the season with a 23-2 record, had a large contingent of boisterous fans who charter a bus for the 90 mile trip and helped make the gym of approximately 175 people come alive.

“Regardless of the win or the loss, I’m ok with earning another team’s respect. They were concerned. They saw that these girls weren’t going to just roll over,” Turner said. Roxbury beat his team by 57 points in a well -documented December game in Manchester. The rematch played out a little differently, though the result was the same. “Our girls played as hard as they could possibly play. I don’t have any problems with that.”

The teams played even over the second 20 minutes, with each scoring 28 points. MCC pulled to within six with just under two minutes left to play, but Roxbury (27-2) was able to hold off the defending champions and will move on to the National Championship Tournament in Rochester, MN starting on March 10. Manchester entered last year’s tournament as the seventh seed in the eight team field and finished fourth with victories over Brookdale CC and Anne-Arundel CC.

“Everyone played well. We played well, they played well,” Sagay speaking of her team first, then Roxbury’s. “I feel we turned it up too late. We did bring the score down to six.”

Duncan-Clarke (Bloomfield, CT) carried the ball with authority and to the basket more often than usual as Roxbury choked off many of her usual passing lanes. Duncan-Clark leads all NJCAA DIII in assists with 9.0 per game, but was only able to deliver five in the championship game. She managed to score 13 points and pull down seven rebounds while playing all 40 minutes.

Harris was proud of the players wearing the Connecticut blue and white: “they played as hard as they could and left it all out there and that’s all we can ask.”

Turner concurred. “Those last five girls on the court (Duncan-Clarke,Canino, Chase, Sagay and Callie Tambling) played very tough despite the physicality of the game and despite some of the calls and balls bouncing not in our favor a couple times. But that’s the game. That’s going to happen.”

Leszcyk went to his deep bench often and was able to wear down Manchester enough at the end to capture his first Region 21 DIII championship in his fourth season at Roxbury.

“I’ve got great kids. That’s what it comes down to,” an emotional Leszczyk said before joining his team to celebrate. “You are only a good coach if you have great players. That’s all I can say.”

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