By Marissa VanWingen
The revenge tour continued for the eight-seed Ellsworth Community College as they knocked off their biggest rivals, Iowa Central Community College, on the largest stage of the NJCAA National Tournament Semifinals and in the Panthers home away from home, 85-70.
The two went back and forth early in the first half with four lead changes. The Tritons largest advantage was four (21-17) before Christian Johnson hit a long ball to cut the deficit to one. Charlotin stole the rock and went coast-to-coast to put the Panthers back on top. ECC then went on a 9-0 run, with the help of four points in a row from Jonovan Wilkinson, and led by double figures for the first time in the contest – 33-23. Iowa Central was cold from the floor, but especially from downtown. The Tritons had made 10 triples per game prior to Friday night's contest and were 2-11 at the half and 3-23 for the game.
ECC was four of 11 from deep in the first half but shot nearly 47 percent from the floor and were 10 of 12 from the charity stripe.
The advantage was cut to six in the second half (54-48) but the Panthers always had an answer. Wilkinson swished home a long ball to extend the difference back up to nine. The largest spread was 15 on a Jayden Pretty exclamation point dunk to make it 75-60.
However, ECC knew the game was not done until the final buzzer sounded. The Panthers had a large lead dissipate versus Iowa Central in the Region XI Final that the Tritons ended up winning by one.
ECC changed the narrative as Iowa Central was forced to foul. The Panthers were 7-10 from the charity stripe at the end of the contest and 23 of 31 for the game. Of the eight players that scored, five were in double figures. Wilkinson led with 19 followed by Eesher Singh Sarai with 16. On the glass, the Panthers nabbed 43 rebounds and were paced by Wilkinson with nine.
Not only did the team's on the court know each other well, Triton head coach Mason Denholm's dad - Jack Denholm - is the former ECC Athletic Director.
Following the next game ECC found out their opponent – Parkland Community College out of Champaign, Ill. The Cobras defeated the hosts Danville Area Community College 77-66 to advance to the championship.
For more photos from the tournament, visit: https://www.timescitizen.com/gallery/
NJCAA National Semifinals
Friday at Danville, Ill.
ECC: 42| 43 – 85
ICCC: 31| 39 – 70
ECC Scoring: Jonovan Wilkinson 5 8-8 19; Eesher Singh Sarai 5 6-6 16; Alex Charlotin 3 6-12 13; Christian Johnson 4 2-2 12; Jayden Pretty 5 0-1 11; Tanner Berggren 3 0-0 8; Jacob Khounsourath 2 0-0 5; Chase Low 0 1-2 1; McKale McGonigal 0 1-2 1.