HUTCHINSON, Kan. — In this time of postseason basketball dancing, the Salt Lake Community College basketball players were almost crowned kings of the junior prom at the Small Ball.
That was an excruciating almost for the Bruins.
What they hoped would be an NJCAA coronation celebration Saturday night instead felt more like a trip to the coroner's office after SLCC lost the junior college championship game 67-56 to South Plains College.
SLCC's players might have shed more tears than sweat on the Sports Arena court and locker room floor. That is saying a lot, considering the way the energetic and intense Bruins hustled and worked their way to a best-ever 32-4 record, a Scenic West Athletic Conference tournament championship and a second-place national finish.
The sadness was expected with the result. The Bruins, after all, seemed poised to win their school's first national title in any sport. They rallied from 11 down in the final minutes of their first-round win, cruised through the quarterfinals and semifinals, and then held a 13-point lead in the championship.
SLCC players and coaches might never forget how they gave up momentum and a 17-4 lead to the Texans out of Levelland, Texas. But teams they beat and many who attended the tournament might have equally lasting memories of their unusual, all-out defensive effort and a big week by undersized shooting guard Brian Green.
Coach Norm Parrish, who often said this squad wasn't his most talented but definitely his toughest, will remember how his players always gutted out their best effort.
"In our 36 games, I can only think of four halves where we didn't bring it, and there aren't a lot of teams in the country that can say that," said Parrish, whose 1994 team finished fifth in the school's only other NJCAA trip. "And I couldn't be prouder."
Green and point guard DaVell Jackson made the NJCAA All-Tournament team, and Green was named Outstanding Small Player. Though his team didn't get the ultimate prize, Green said he'll always carry fond memories of this squad that didn't have any highly recruited players but that played as a team.
"We didn't need any stars. I know me and DaVell got awards, but it's our team that helped us out. It's our coach that helped us out," Green said. "I'll remember this team forever."
One Division I college coach who watched most of SLCC's games said it had been many years since he'd seen a junior college program play defense like the Bruins. Before giving up 63 points to South Plains in the final 28 minutes of the finals, they made their tournament opponents look like confused Junior Jazz kids.
SLCC held its first three victims — Vincennes University, Southeastern Illinois and Three Rivers Community College — to a measly 31 percent shooting and 52 points a game. Even in the championship loss, the Bruins held the Texans 22 points under their scoring average and to just 42 percent shooting.
For the tournament, SLCC's swarming and physical defense pressured opponents into shooting only 33.8 percent overall and 27.5 percent from 3-point land. They also only let their four foes score 55.8 an outing, which was a point below their NJCAA-best points-allowed mark coming in.
"Our team all year has fed intensity off of our defense," Parrish said.
An offensive slump — created in part because speedy South Plains gave the Bruins a taste of their own defensive medicine — really dashed SLCC's title hopes. They missed 19 of 21 3-pointers and a slew of seemingly easy inside buckets en route to a 36.5-percent shooting night.
"Sometimes you just need the gates to open," Parrish said.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, they remained tightly shut on this important night. DaVell Jackson had 19 points, but he didn't get much help. Green, who had averaged 19 points, only hit 3 of 13 shots for seven points.
"We're a 51 percent shooting team and (Saturday) we shot 30 something," Parrish said. "Give them credit."
He certainly will give his Bruins credit, too.
SMASHMOUTH SQUAD: This would have been a good year for SLCC to start a football program, and the Bruins could've started the squad with the physical basketball team. Several bulky players — namely Yahosh Bonner and Dan Stafford — look like muscular linebackers. Starting point guard DaVell Jackson was even going to play football at UNLV before academic issues forced him to take a different route.
SLCC's football-like hard-nosed play showed up in games and in punishing practices.
The Bruins embraced the football theme, even getting pigskin jerseys with their numbers and names on them. The cheerleaders joined in the fun Saturday, wearing football shirts instead of their cheer outfits.
Jackson said they liked the pigskin comparison because the Bruins are "a bunch of rough-necked kids who play very hard, just like a football team. ... Everybody plays with a high intensity and we're all tough."
Center Kael Pope, who yells during games and then gets really loud when something happens, started it. Coach Norm Parrish said he loved that the team took on the intense personality of Pope, Bonner and Brian Green, their defensive sparkplugs.
"I don't want to be rude to 'em," Parrish said, "but if someone really examined them, there's something not right, which is good."
NEXT SEASON: SLCC loses all but one regular, center Pope, for 2008-09, making a return trip to "Hutch" a tough task. Point guard Dathan Lyles, who redshirted this season after earning All-SWAC honors last season as a freshman, will be back, as will third-stringer Drew Robinson. The Bruins are also excited to get big men Nate Bendall, a Skyline High center who's transferring from Utah State, and redshirting Krispin Banks into the mix.
The Bruins' biggest holes will be at shooting guard and small forward after losing Green, Vassy Banny, Chris Medina, Aaron Smith and Stafford.
The only player the Bruins get back in those positions is Austin Robison, a former Jordan High standout. Out of high school, Robison walked on at Utah, but he came to SLCC last season after serving an LDS mission. He played 12 games for the Bruins this year—even hitting 9 of his 15 shots—but then tore his ACL and had to sit the rest of the season.
Coach Parrish will also be busy fielding phone calls from interested four-year programs who hope to entice his value-increased sophomores to their teams.
BEST OF SHOW: Green led SLCC in scoring in the four-game tourney, averaging 16 points on 52 percent shooting. Jackson averaged 13 points and 4.5 rebounds. Backup center Papa Samba Guisse led the Bruins in rebounding with 6.5 boards per game to go with his nine points. Banny averaged 7.5 points and 4.8 rebounds. Power forward Andy Palmer came on strong the last two games, scoring 12 and 10 points despite playing with a torn tendon in his leg.
E-mail: jody@desnews.com